In 1943, they said Dena looked like Lena.
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Library of Congress public domain photo of 24 year old Lena Horne by Carl Van Vechten, 1941

Praise for Will and Dena:
 
Will and Dena is impressive.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
__ Lew Berry 
     

“In Will and Dena, we witness the evolution of a remarkable man.  Will is a gentle, polite, somewhat awkward, and unlettered country boy who is armed with a phenomenal baseball talent. Under the tutelage of a wise and caring father, and with the steadfast love of a beautiful girl, he emerges to become a brilliant soldier and a solid figure of a man….  Bob Rogers’ story is peppered with memories of days in the old south during the forties; hog butchering, chicken feeding, cooking on wood burning stoves and making do….  A great read.”

__Barbara P. Grainger, English teacher
  

“Readers will find Will and Dena both a beautiful love story as well as a walk through the times of World War II….  I loved the way that Bob Rogers wove the works of Langston Hughes into this book….  Readers will be captivated by Will and feel his struggles….”
       __ Joyce M. Gilmour
for Military Writer's Society of America
      
“Reading Will and Dena was like sitting on the sidelines and watching the action.  I felt like I was there.  I enjoyed every word.  You will too!”
__Audrey Quick Battiste, librarian
  
“Bob Rogers' story-telling in Will & Dena, engages the imagination for those who missed an era forever renowned for its honor [– America’s greatest generation].”
__Pat J. Schulz, publisher, ENHEART Publishing, Inc. and author, Making Sweet Lemonade
  
"Will and Dena: Love and Life in World War II represents historical fiction at its finest. Author Bob Rogers skillfully conveys the irony of a country that both combats racism abroad while simultaneously promoting the most insidious form of racism within its own borders." 
  __ Shelley Kirilenko,
author, The Blue Kimono 

Will and Dena Reviewed in Jonathan Maley's Blog

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The story of Will and Dena is that of one couple among millions of young lovers caught in the snare of World War II.  Along their journey, they met friends who sacrificed for them and they met others who would rather see them dead.  Their struggle begins in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina and passes through Massachusetts, Virginia, and Indiana before ending Italy's Garfagnana.

Discussion Questions for Will and Dena
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Discussion Questions for Will and Dena

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Will and Dena

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Front Book Cover of Will and Dena

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I

n the spring of 1943, Hitler and Mussolini were near the apex of their powers.  During the same spring, Will, a lumberjack and amateur baseball player, falls in love with Dena, a beautiful and head-strong co-ed.  While a world war rages, their dreams are threatened, first by classism when Will is declared “not good enough” to be a suitor for Dena’s hand.  Meanwhile, a group of powerful businessmen have designs to exploit his extraordinary baseball skills for their financial gain until the Ku Klux Klan intervenes. 

Will finds refuge in the US Army’s 366th Infantry Regiment and the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division fighting Hitler’s Wehrmacht in Italy.  He bonds with three members of his infantry platoon.  Their leader called them the Four Musketeers.  Their generation has been called America’s greatest.   

Together, the friends become a tight-knit family, at times fighting among themselves, and at other times, uniting to take on all-comers – other American servicemen, perverse use of courts-martial, and the Wehrmacht.  They pool their skills to make the best of army life while continuously evolving their own unique reasons why they should fight the Germans.  They meet and embrace Italian partisans in their homes and side by side on the battlefield against the Germans. 

In the face of hardships and death, Will is challenged with finding purpose for his life. During Italy’s harsh Tuscany winter in the middle of a war, can Will find his path to the life he and Dena dreamed?

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© 2009-2010 Books by Bob Rogers, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.