I Pledge Allegiance

October 24, 2011
Lynch (Inexcusable) has trouble finding the emotional core of his Vietnam War novel, first in a planned series, making the story’s outcome feel both inevitable and pointless. When Rudi—one in a group of four tight-knit 18- and 19-year-old friends in Boston—gets drafted, the rest of the boys honor their pledge to enlist, each joining a different branch of the armed forces. While this all-for-one commitment isn’t beyond belief, Rudi is portrayed as mentally incompetent and is unlikely to have been accepted for service, undercutting the premise. Issues like the morality of the war and the protests are glossed over as the book thrusts the narrator, Morris, into his new life in the U.S. Navy. This is a fairly ordinary war tale, as new soldiers are introduced (with the usual archetypes, from the scared kid pressured into enlisting by his family to the token tough black man, an awkwardly handled character, especially in light of racial unrest in the Navy during Vietnam), followed by the expected battles, tragedies, and inability to explain the horrors of war. Ages 9–12.

October 1, 2011
In his nightmares, high-school senior Morris sees "torn flesh and burned flesh and the end of everything we know, all dying there in the scorching jungle of Vietnam"; he and his friends die, and it's his fault. Ivan, Rudi, Beck and Morris have been friends since fourth grade. Now the war in Vietnam looms, and they pledge to not go voluntarily. But when Rudi receives his draft notice, they all sign up, each with a different branch of the military. Morris signs with the Navy, figuring he somehow can watch over his friends and keep them safe from the USS Boston, a heavy guided-missile cruiser. He later realizes he can't, but it's his "small crazy," a belief that keeps him sane in the midst of war. Initiating a new series with this volume, Lynch offers something valuable: a very good war novel for a preteen and middle-school audience, with enough violence to be an honest portrayal of war, but without the sex and rough language that often keep such novels out of the hands of a ready audience. The story stays rooted in Morris' first-person point of view, with flashbacks to develop characters, though Morris is the only one fully realized. Morris is an innocent caught in the winds of war, and young readers will eagerly anticipate future installments in the series. (Historical fiction. 9-14)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-Beck, Ivan, Morris, and Rudi have stuck by one another since the fourth grade: missing movies due to groundings, standing up to bullies, and staying unified even when they all like the same girl. A year older than his buddies, Rudi receives a draft notice first and his friends follow him to Vietnam. Morris joins the Navy; Beck, the Air Force; Ivan, the Army; and Rudi, the Marines. Stationed on the USS Boston, Morris has a much different view of the war than his friends. His outlook changes when he is reassigned to patrol the rivers of Vietnam. While he gradually drops contact with Ivan and Beck, he takes comfort in letters from Rudi, even as Rudi grows more comfortable with the violence that has become familiar to them both. Lynch delivers an action-packed examination of the bonds and trials of friendship. Rudi and Morris are the most developed characters; Beck's and Ivan's stories seem left for the focus of a sequel. There are guns, napalm, missiles, and rockets, though Lynch largely brushes over discussion of America's involvement in the war, an omission that will lead to questions from savvy readers. Teens may be willing to tackle this story, if only for the weapons.-Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Grades 8-11 While growing up together, four friends pledge to look out for each other, and so when one decides to enlist during the Vietnam War, the others do, too, in different services. This compelling novel, the first in a series, follows Morris, who joins the navy. Morris is stationed on a cruiser that patrols the waters off the coast of Vietnam, shelling inland positions when called upon. He witnesses one battle, but when his ship is pulled from duty, he finds himself part of the Brown Water Navy, which is involved in ferocious fighting on the rivers of the Mekong Delta. Lynch puts his readers in the center of intense conflict, conveying what it feels like to face a largely unseen enemy firing from the jungle. He also manages to evoke other, unforgettable Vietnam conditionsheat and humidity, intense tropical storms, and ever-present fear. Readers will likely seek out future volumes in the series, each of which will focus on another of the four friends and his war experience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)