Front Lines

Starred review from November 2, 2015
In this skillfully imagined alternate history, Grant (the Messenger of Fear series) envisions a 1940 lawsuit that leads to the draft and the right to enlist being extended to women. He then follows three teenagers who enlist after Pearl Harbor through basic training and on to North Africa. Rio Richlin, an aimless small-town girl, feels moved to enlist after her older sister dies in the war, and is joined by her boy-crazy friend Jenou Castain. African-American Frangie Marr, who dreams of becoming a doctor, enlists to help support her disabled father. And as a Jewish New Yorker, Rainy Schulterman needs little excuse to join the fight against Hitler. Grant pulls no punches about the sexism, racism, and violence his characters encounter. All of the protagonists are well-developed individuals, but also represent “every soldier girl who carried a rifle, dug a hole, slogged through mud, steamed or froze, prayed or cursed, raged or feared, ran away or ran toward.” This gripping and heart-wrenching tale, which promises a sequel, is particularly apropos considering the Armed Forces’ current reconsideration of the role of women in combat. Ages 14–up. Agent: Steve Sheppard, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams and Sheppard.

In Grant's alternate history, women could enlist and be drafted during WWII. The story follows four young women from their hometowns, to basic training, to the war in Europe. This audiobook is immensely enjoyable as both narrators are so accomplished. Chapter headings tell listeners who is the focus at the moment, so Therese Plummer varies her character voices only slightly. Interstitial chapters set in a hospital after the war are read by Erin Mallon, who sounds a great deal like Plummer. This is a story of war, and neither narrator diminishes the violence or glamorizes it. When the characters are scared, they sound shaky. When they're brave, they sound bold. They sound like real women, fighting for their lives. G.D. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2015
Three young women supply a gritty grunt's-eye view of World War II in the opener to an ultrahistory series. After a court decision declares women eligible for combat, aimless California farmer's daughter Rio Richlin volunteers for the Army, partly to avenge her sister's death but mostly to keep her best friend company. Diminutive, compassionate, and determined, African-American Frangie Marr enlists for the paycheck, but she also hopes for medical training. And Jewish Rainy Schulterman just wants to pour all her ferocious intelligence and steely will into killing Nazis. Switching among these three viewpoints, the narrative slowly constructs intimate portraits of each, as the "soldier girls" are tested in body and spirit, overcoming laziness, fear, and cockiness. They suffer through boredom, rough conditions, and incompetent commanders as well as routine sexism, racism, and anti-Semitism (authentically, highly offensive language is employed throughout). A framing device ponderous with foreshadowing--along with such standard teen tropes as love triangles and family secrets--keeps the plot moving, but it's the immersive, quotidian details that set up the gripping climax amid the chaos of combat. Bestselling science-fiction author Grant did his research (an extensive bibliography is provided), but the odd and likely unintended consequence of his premise is the erasure of thousands of military women who historically served and fought and died. Still, an engrossing portrayal of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. (Alternate history. 14 & up)

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November 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-This imaginative alternate history novel is told from the point of view of young women who enlist in the military during World War II. A court case decides that women can serve in the military and be drafted before World War II happens, and in the throes of war, teens from a range of backgrounds, religions, and races enlist for very different reasons. Though it is a lengthy tome, the story flies by and teens will stay engaged as they read the alternating women's perspectives and stories-from boot camp to assignments to actual war on the front lines. Grant does not sugarcoat the racism, anti-Semitism, and sexism that was so matter-of-fact in America at that time, so there is plenty of strong language. The main characters are all well-drawn, strong women, and the wartime events are well researched and accurate, even within the context of the alternate history plotline. Though the length may put some teen readers off, the alternative history and wartime plot, which reads like a movie, will appeal to many. VERDICT A first purchase for every teen collection, and an interesting series opener.-Heather Massa, East Rockaway Public Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2015
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* In many ways, Grant's latest feels like an old-fashioned war novelit begins with the soon-to-be soldiers at home, worrying about what they are going to face, and saying good-bye to family. Then they arrive at boot camp, building both combat skills and bonhomie. Finally, they find themselves in the thick of it, unprepared for the gravity of death, both witnessing it and serving it, while tapping heretofore unknown reserves of fortitude, resilience, and stony-eyed vengeance. The only difference, and it's a big one, is that women are in the battle ranks. Though women are not yet being conscripted in this alternate history of WWII, Rio, Jenou, Frangie, and Rainy sign up anyway. Rio's feeling a bit listless after her sister dies in the battle of Pearl Harbor, and her best friend, Jenou, makes a convincing case for signing up. Jenou says she wants to meet handsome officers, though in truth, she is desperate to escape her rocky home life. Frangie, an African American girl in Oklahoma, sees enlisting as an opportunity to get medical training she otherwise wouldn't be eligible for. Jewish Rainy is smart, capable, fluent in German, and wants to kill Nazis. Just because women are permitted to enlist, however, doesn't mean they are treated any more fairly. It's abundantly clear that Grant has done an impressive amount of research, not only into battle movements and period detailswhich are exhaustive, vivid, and clearly, grippingly writtenbut also the prevailing attitudes. In keeping with the historical period, the women face down plenty of prejudice, and Grant doesn't shy away from ugly language, particularly regarding Frangie, who endures a deluge of hateful slurs and more than one threat of rape. While there are enough military men open to women in their ranks, enlisting alone can't change deeply ingrained beliefs. There's no magical eraser for racism or misogyny here, except the rigors of the battlefield, where they prove their mettle. The history is certainly illuminating and fascinating, but where Grant excels even more is in the tight, propulsive, and immersive storytelling and compelling bonds among the multifaceted characters. Grant alternates among the four young women, interspersing their stories with letters and news bulletinlike summaries of historical events, framing the whole thing with commentary from the unnamed narrator, who sits typing the story in a military hospital, offering brief glimpses of the near future. Most of the pages are dedicated to Rio and Jenou, who blessedly get to stay together, ending up in a mixed-company platoon in North Africa. Rainy leaves New York with a stopover in intelligence training before heading to Tunisia to translate incoming communiques. Frangie heads to North Africa as a medic with an all-black battalion. Finally, the four women meet at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, grittier, bloodier, and tougher than when they set out. Though it's an epic story with a page count to match, the dynamic characters and urgent plot never get lost in the enormity of the historical moment. Grant's writing is remarkably tidy, cultivating a staggering amount of feeling out of only a few lines, and imbuing each figure with such depth and personality that, even if a character gets less than two total pages of attention, his or her death is utterly, completely devastating. This is a story about soldiers, and those soldiers never take a backseat to history. Given current headlines about women in combat, it's natural to assume this novel has an agenda, but Grant trumpets no cause, and while he makes a huge change to WWII history, he so unobtrusively weaves it throughout the story it's easy...