Rylant shines in this fiction work about World War II. This book shows the brutal honesty of what life was like in America during the months leading up to the war and the years that followed. The most poignant part of the book were the raw emotions of what life was like on the front lines and what the soliders, few more than boys, endured during their time overseas.
Unlike most stories told about World War II, this book does not focus on just one event (the Holocaust, Hiroshima, the bombing of Pearl Harbor). Instead, it envelops all the stages of the war through one soldier’s eyes including his return after the war. When you read it you feels as though you are sitting and listening to the soldier's first hand memories of his time leading up to and in the service.
This book could not have been written better. The size of the book is small but it really packs a punch that the reader will feel right down to their very core. This would be an excellent book for struggling readers when working on a WWII unit. I would definitely say this should be only high school and above because it does contain sex, underage drinking, and very vivid accounts of the atrocities of war.
A must read for all.
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