Dead in the Water (World War II Series #2)

by Chris Lynch

Overview

The author of the acclaimed Vietnam series sets his sights on World War II.

Critically acclaimed author Chris Lynch provides an action-oriented but thoughtful view of the US Navy's war in the Pacific.Hank and Theo are brothers who share everything, including a sense of duty a love of baseball. They have been inseparable for their entire lives. But when America is drawn into World War II, the young brothers find themselves fighting the same war on opposite sides of the globe.As an airedale in the Navy, Hank now lives aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown. His job is to assist the pilots who soar off each day to engage Japanese forces in the Pacific Ocean. It is a crucial and terrifying duty in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor.As the days at sea become weeks and months, Hank adapts to life apart from his family. He even adapts to the fear of torpedoes. But in an era of prejudice and segregation, it's Hank's choice of friends that might prove most dangerous of all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545523004
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Series:	Chris Lynch's World War II Series , #2
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 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

From WORLD WAR II BOOK TWO: DEAD IN THE WATER:This is a formal and solemn occasion. Everyone on board Yorktown is dressed in whites, and everyone not essential to the navigation of the ship is lined up at the rail on the flight deck. I'm embedded like an imposter among the fly guys who have become my friends. As we approach the island of Oahu and then drift along into the channel to Pearl Harbor, we see the people lined up on the beaches to cheer us. And cheer us they do, robustly, like we have already won some big important something, rather than just gotten started. I have heard, and felt, crowds cheering before, and I have been on the receiving end of those cheers in baseball parks all around the Delmarva Peninsula. But it would be shameful, wrong, and altogether misleading to claim that the experience approached this one in any meaningful way.Baseball is important. Baseball, in a way I truly believe, is exactly what we are here fighting for. And yet, at the same time, this is the first time anything ever made me feel like baseball was . . . small.

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

07/01/2014
Gr 5–8—Hank McCallum is a Navy airedale, helping prepare planes for the fighter pilots serving on the USS Yorktown as they battle the Japanese during World War II. Hank is proud of his work and his skill as a baseball player, until he meets Bradford, a fellow crewmember who plays in the Negro Leagues. Bradford opens Hank's eyes, not only to ways to improve his game but also to the condition of the African American Navy men, who are forced to wear white gloves and serve food to the pilots aboard the ship. As the war progresses, the battles become increasingly dangerous. When the Yorktown,badly damaged by torpedoes, has to return to Hawaii for repairs, Hank witnesses first-hand how his friend Bradford is confronted by the Hawaiian police simply for visiting the beach. But both men face an even greater challenge as their barely-repaired ship is sent out to intercept the Japanese forces near Midway Island. In The Right Fight (Scholastic, 2014), Lynch portrayed the U.S. Army's battles against the Nazis in North Africa through the eyes of baseball player Roman Bucyk. In this sequel, Lynch follows one of Bucyk's baseball rivals, who appears briefly in the opening chapters of the first title. The characters and situations in this story are compelling, especially Hank's love for his brother, Theo, and his fierce 10-year-old sister, Susan. The questions and challenges raised by his friendship with Bradford convey the unfair treatment of African American servicemen. The battle scenes are gritty and gripping, building to a shockingly abrupt and inconclusive ending (readers can infer what happened from the title of the book as well as from the actual events on which the story was based). Hopefully Lynch will address some of the unanswered questions about these characters in a later volume. This book will easily appeal to middle grade fans of World War II fiction and would make a good choice for historical fiction assignments.—Ashley Larsen, Pacifica Libraries, CA

School Library Journal

2014-06-04
In this second volume of his series on World War II (The Right Fight, 2014), Lynch turns his raw-boned storytelling talents to the Pacific theater.On board the aircraft carrier Yorktown, Hank assists pilots flying their Dauntless, Devastator and Wildcat aircraft to get off the deck without taking an unwanted swim. There is a modicum of action (like getting hit by a torpedo), there are burials at sea, a smattering of place names that ought to fire some probing of atlases: the Coral Sea, the Marshall Islands. But Lynch has other fish to fry. One is the racism encountered by Hank’s friend Bradford, both on the top deck of the carrier and when they have a shore leave. Hank is a bit of a naif, and it appalls him when Bradford is barred from the beach at Waikiki or when the officers order him off the flight deck. But both author and Bradford keep their cools, though the latter does speak his mind to a policeman on Waikiki: “I decided if any American ever wanted to put me off someplace where I have earned my place as much as any man alive, he was gonna have to work a lot harder to do it than last time.”Satisfied readers will look forward to the next volume in this worthy, low-key but piquant series. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews