"Don't Be Give Up"

"Don't Be Give UP." The story of a young girl growing up in a Colorado coal mining town during World War II.

"My Grandma's indomitable spirit strutted through my life when I was a child in the 1940s. If I complained that a job was too hard, she'd scold me in broken English, 'Don't be give up.' This could have been the motto for Americans during World War II."

Seen through the eyes of a young girl, history and narrative merge to explore the war on the Home Front. At first the war is exciting for Shirley and her sisters as they play spies, war games with icicles, buy War Bond stamps, and "can" dirt for winter mud pies.

The war becomes more serious when every Christmas is marked by another empty chair at the table. Shirley's uncles go into the army and her aunt leaves home to marry a soldier.

Everything in Shirley's daily life is affected by the war from the rationing of food to the news reports that give her nightmares. Worse than that are the long silences from her uncles. Anxiety is heightened when three soldiers from Crested Butte are killed.

Told with humor and pathos, "Don't Be Give Up," is an important reminder of the sacrifices made on all fronts to protect American's freedom.When