Casualties of War (Vietnam Series #4)

by Chris Lynch

Overview

"The best Vietnam War novels yet for this age range." -- Kirkus Reviews

Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck are best friends for life. So when one of the teens is drafted into the Vietnam War, the others sign up, too. Although they each serve in a different branch, they are fighting the war together -- and they promise to do all they can to come home together.Of the four, it's Beck that has the most to lose. He's the smart one of the bunch, and he could be -- SHOULD be -- going to college. His parents certainly think so. But he has a pact to honor, and so Beck enlists in the US Air Force.As their tours of duty near completion and the war itself spirals further out of control, the four best friends are at last on a collision course. Will they all survive long enough to be reunited?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545520249
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Series:	Chris Lynch's Vietnam Series , #4
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	276,609
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 15 Years

About the Author

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.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt from Casualties of War:I am aware that spraying chemicals by the thousands of gallons is kind of a funny way of not killing people. But, short of mutiny, it is the best I can do. I have made a decision to fulfill my duty without deliberately and consciously taking one person's life. My goal when I leave Vietnam will be to have learned everything possible about the machinery of organized killing, without actually killing.That's my pledge to myself, to keep me right. It was a pledge that got me into this thing, and it's a pledge that's going to get me out.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Chris Lynch's World War II series:

* "An 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


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 Books

 

From the Publisher

Lynch's Vietnam War series concludes with the final narrative of four friends caught in the chaos of war. Morris, Ivan and Rudi have told their stories; it's Beck's turn. Beck, now in the Air Force, was always the smart one, the one bound for college. Upon discovering Beck's plan to enlist, his father had said, "The universe has better plans for you." And in Vietnam, Beck does feel as if he has "just been handed the keys to the universe itself." He is, literally, above it all, as he watches the war from on high in his C-123 aircraft, his goal somehow to not kill anyone as he defoliates forests with Agent Orange. He finds the countryside gorgeous and rues the "danger and destruction in all its variety and in every direction." Beck's hope is that when the friends get back together, no matter what else has happened, "the universe will tilt back where it belongs." This volume lacks the sharp character development and pacing of its predecessors, as much of the narrative concerns all four players and how to contrive the requisite reunion. When it does occur, it brings disastrous results and an abrupt ending to the series. An excellent war saga that will leave readers feeling they have been through something monumental. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews