The Art of Keeping Cool

Set in 1942, The Art of Keeping Cool (2000), a historical novel for young readers by American author Janet Taylor Lisle centers on thirteen-year-old Robert Saunders, who moves to a Rhode Island coastal town after his father deploys to Europe as a fighter pilot in World War II. Robert moves in with his father's parents—grandparents Robert has never met before; he also strikes up a friendship with his cousin Elliot Marks, whom he has also never met previously. As Robert adjusts to his new normal, he must come to terms with the effects of the war, growing up, and the legacy of family secrets.

The story opens with Robert and Elliot watching a series of huge naval guns being hauled through town en route to a local military fort. As they watch the display, Robert remembers the journey that brought him to this place. He, his parents, and his five-year-old sister, Carolyn, had been living on a farm in Ohio, but after his father joined the Canadian Air Force, Robert's mother decided to pack up and move herself and her children to the town of Sachem's Head, Rhode Island, where they moved in with the paternal grandparents Robert had never known. There he also met his Aunt Nan, Uncle Jake, and their son, the sensitive and creative Elliot. Robert quickly learned that Grandpa was mean and controlling, and, for some reason, no one in the extended family ever discussed Robert's father. Robert misses his father and thinks of him fondly. Papa has a bad leg, the result of a plane crash when he was younger, but that doesn't prevent him from being an accomplished pilot.

After the parade of guns, Elliot befriends Abel Hoffman, a local man, a German expatriate, and famous expressionist painter. Since Elliot is also an artist, the two form a bond, and Robert is drawn into their friendship. However, Abel is a person of suspicion in town because he is from Germany, the very country with which the U.S. is at war. Robert is among the suspicious, especially after he thinks he sees Abel "spying" on the nearby military base. After an attack on the base, Abel is arrested for espionage, even though he was only sketching the base and not spying on it as Robert had assumed. Later, the outraged citizens of Sachem's Head set Abel's home and paintings on fire. Devastated, Abel walks into the fire and commits suicide.



Around this same time, Robert and his family receive more upsetting news: Papa's plane has been shot down over the English Channel. As they await news of Papa's fate, Robert learns why his extended family never mentions his father and why he had not previously met his grandparents. Elliot knows the reason but is reluctant to reveal it by saying it aloud; instead, he sketches what happened, and Robert discovers the dark secret his family has been hiding. During an incident when Papa was a young man, Grandpa—ever volatile and quick to anger—blew up in a fit of rage and shot Papa in the leg. Aunt Nan says that Grandpa does not remember pulling the trigger. Because he is a doctor, Grandpa removed the bullet himself. Nevertheless, the incident was both physically and emotionally wounding for Papa, and he promptly left home, vowing never to return. The source of Papa's bad leg was not a long-ago plane crash as Robert had always been told; it was the result of Grandpa's out-of-control rage.

Meanwhile, Grandma had waited every day to hear from her son, but it was another three years before she received a simple postcard informing her that he had married Robert's mother. The following year, Grandma received another postcard informing her of Robert's birth.

The family receives word that Papa has survived his plane being shot down. He receives time off from fighting so he can recover. Now that Papa is going to get better and the secret of the family's past has been revealed, Robert and his extended family begin to talk openly of Papa when Grandpa isn't around. Since Grandpa goes on frequent house calls, the family finds pleasure and relief in being able to speak of Papa.



Robert and his family reunite with Papa, and when Papa eventually returns to the front lines, Robert has a newfound respect for and connection with his father.

The Art of Keeping Cool illustrates the impact war has on society and on those left behind. The specter of death is ever present. Papa's life is on the line as he fights, and his plane is eventually shot down. The naval guns are paraded through town, with everyone knowing what they will be used for. Abel flees the death grip of the Nazis for a better life in America, only to meet his demise.

The novel also shows how war can turn neighbors into enemies, even thousands of miles from the front line. Though the community has nothing to fear in Abel, he becomes a scapegoat for their anger toward Germany.



Robert learns that some wars happen inside the home, too. The secret his family had been harboring about the truth of Papa's bad leg demonstrates how destructive private wars can be. They can have reverberations throughout generations—just like military wars.