Alan Gratz visited my school and told the students the inspiration for this book. Gratz learned that in 1945, middle school students in Okinawa were conscripted into the Japanese army and given two granades. One was to kill the American "monsters" that were coming, and the other was to kill themselves. This grabbed my attention as well as the students, and this book did not disappoint. The story follows two soldiers--Ray, an American who is unused to killing, and Hideki, a 13-year-old from Okinawa who has his two grenades. In alternating chapters we learn about their families, their fears, and what they face in the brutal battle for the island of Okinawa. It is heartbreaking for the reader, as well as Hideki, to realize that the Japanese never intended to stop the Americans. Rather, they used Okinawan children to slow their advance. Alan Gratz books are wildly popular, and this one fits right in with his other action-packed books with war as a backdrop. Read a great story and learn about history with this well-written historical fiction story.
No comments:
Post a Comment