"The best Vietnam War novels yet for this age range." -- Kirkus Reviews
Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck were best friends. So when one of them was drafted into the Vietnam War, the others signed up, too. They promised to watch out for one another. They pledged to come home together.Now, that pledge has been broken. One of the four has been killed in action. And the remaining three are the only men alive who know the awful truth about their friend's death.Each is left to deal with their secret in his own way. One of them will accompany his friend's body home to Boston. One of them will defy orders in an act of protest. And one of them will decide it's up to him to single-handedly win the war.In the end, Vietnam may claim more than their lives. As the war grinds on, their very souls are at stake. And their shattered friendship will prove either their salvation... or their ruin. Praise for Chris Lynch's Vietnam series:"The best Vietnam War novels yet for this age range." -- Kirkus Reviews"Lynch brilliantly captures the war in small details." -- Booklist"A fine balance of thoughtfulness and gritty action." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksPraise for Chris Lynch's World War II series:*"A expertly crafted war story with fluid prose, bleak humor, careful attention to historic detail, and a view of 'The Good War' worth pondering." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review"All the sizzle, chaos, noise and scariness of war is clay in the hands of ace storyteller Lynch." -- Kirkus Reviews"Though aimed at younger readers, Lynch doesn't write down, instead offering a powerful taste of war on a personal level." -- Publishers Weekly Chris Lynch is the author of numerous acclaimed books for middle-grade and teen readers, including the Vietnam and World War II series and the National Book Award finalist Inexcusable. He teaches in the Lesley University creative writing MFA program, and divides his time between Massachusetts and Scotland. From VIETNAM #5:It has to stop somewhere.It looks like it's just gonna go on and on and on, but that would be such a nightmare, it's the kind of nightmare that nightmares have nightmares about. It has to stop somewhere. Somebody's got to do something.This war, or some version of it, seems to have been going on for centuries. Nobody has had any success in ending it over all that time, and I see no indication that anybody is going to manage any different any time soon.Somebody's got to.So it looks like it's up to me. If nobody else is going to do what needs to be done, then I will. Praise for Chris Lynch's Vietnam series:"The best Vietnam War novels yet for this age range." -- Kirkus Reviews"Lynch brilliantly captures the war in small details." -- Booklist"A fine balance of thoughtfulness and gritty action." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksPraise for Chris Lynch's World War II series:*"A expertly crafted war story with fluid prose, bleak humor, careful attention to historic detail, and a view of 'The Good War' worth pondering." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review"All the sizzle, chaos, noise and scariness of war is clay in the hands of ace storyteller Lynch." -- Kirkus Reviews"Though aimed at younger readers, Lynch doesn't write down, instead offering a powerful taste of war on a personal level." -- Publishers Weekly
