In memory of my English grandmother Gladys Vallance Beadle who, like the soldier brides, sailed across the Atlantic to America to be with the man she loved, my granddad Edmund Beadle.

—Catherine

To the Bush Brats, in memory of our grandmother,
Mathilde Pangrazzi Bush

—Doris

Author Acknowledgment

A heartfelt thank-you to members of the WWII War Brides Association who fueled my enthusiasm and to the staff of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, who aided in my research.

Illustrator Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my models, especially John Young, Kyra Hissner, Jenna Colon, Adam Dickey, Bob Kubli, and Dave Young.

Text Copyright © 2013 Catherine Stier
Illustration Copyright © 2013 Doris Ettlinger

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews and articles. All inquiries should be addressed to:

Sleeping Bear Press^TM

315 E. Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 200
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
www.sleepingbearpress.com

Printed and bound in the United States.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stier, Catherine.
Welcome to America, Champ! / written by Catherine Stier ;
illustrated by Doris Ettlinger.

p. cm.

Summary: In 1945, when young Thomas, his mother, and his new baby brother leave war-torn England to join his stepfather, an American soldier named Jack, in Chicago, Thomas finds a way to give courage to a fellow traveler on the Queen Mary. Includes historical note about war brides.

ISBN 978-1-58536-606-4

[1. Emigration and immigration—Fiction. 2. Remarriage—Fiction.

3. Ocean travel—Fiction. 4. World War, 1939-1945—England—Fiction.

5. Great Britain—History—George VI, 1936-1952—Fiction.]

I. Ettlinger, Doris, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.S8556295Wel 2013

[E]—dc232012029990