The Right Fight (World War II Series #1)

by Chris Lynch

Overview

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

There are few things Roman loves as much as baseball, but his country is at the top of the list. So when it looks like the United States will be swept up into World War II, he turns his back on baseball and joins the US Army.Roman doesn't mind. As it turns out, he is far more talented with a tank than he ever was with a baseball. And he is eager to drive his tank right into the field of battle, where the Army is up against the fearsome Nazis of the Afrika Korps.The North African terrain is like nothing Roman has ever known, and desert warfare proves brutal. As Roman drives his team deeper into disputed territory, one thing becomes very clear: Life in wartime is a whole new ball game.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545522960
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/07/2014
Series:	Chris Lynch's World War II Series , #1
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	864,323
Lexile:	980L (what's this?)
File size:	8 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.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2014
Gr 8 Up—Lynch ("Vietnam" series, Scholastic) begins a new war series, this time set during World War II. Professional baseball player Roman Bucyk realizes that U.S. involvement in the current European war is imminent and decides to enlist. Roman is sent to the African front, first to Algeria and then to Tunisia, where his mediocre baseball talent takes a backseat to his earnest enthusiasm for fighting against the Nazi regime. An often overlooked portion of the war effort, the Allied battle with the German Afrika Korps is well delivered through a first-person narrative and a series of letters to Hannah, his fiancé. The letters also illustrate how the women at home, like Hannah, did their duty by serving in the Women's Army Corps and other military organizations. Roman's youthful optimism, bravado, and fear allow readers to experience a firsthand look into a soldier's life, from long days waiting for orders to the perilous battle arena. Perhaps most affecting is the portrayal of friendships with Roman's military unit, which help highlight the lifelong bonds fellow soldiers formed during and after this war.—Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI

School Library Journal

11/04/2013
The prolific Lynch follows his Vietnam series of novels (including I Pledge Allegiance and, most recently, Casualties of War) with one set during WWII. This first book follows Roman Bucyk, a minor league baseball star who enlists in the U.S. Army in 1941, where he discovers a talent as a tank driver. As Roman’s journey takes him from the last baseball game of the season through training and finally being sent overseas, he witnesses and reflects on the horror of war and the righteousness of taking the fight to the Nazis. As the campaign in North Africa intensifies, Roman’s newfound bond with the rest of his tank crew is tested, as is his relationship with his fiancée, Hannah, back home. Lynch doesn’t pull any punches in this slim but powerful volume, chronicling Roman’s exploits with an almost dreamlike sense of atmosphere, coupled with a keen ear for dialogue and intense battle scenes. Though aimed at younger readers, Lynch doesn’t write down, instead offering a powerful taste of war on a personal level. Ages 10–14. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

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

2013-10-02
All the sizzle, chaos, noise and scariness of war is clay in the hands of ace storyteller Lynch. The proceedings open with a baseball game, an image that could not be more peacefully patriotic than a slice of apple pie in the days preceding World War II. War looms, and narrator Roman Bucyk has enlisted while the country is still neutral. But Bucyk has a bead on things: "The Nazis hate baseball. This I know. And I hate the Nazis." Roman is no rube; he is just full of bravado and bowled over by feelings of honor and integrity. He gets the girl of his dreams to agree to an engagement, and then it is off to basic training. Lynch serves all this up with a gathering sense of drama, though he keeps the braggadocio to a level that allows readers to see the wide-eyed apprehension behind the bluster. Then, in a smart and entertaining move, Lynch situates the action not in the well-worn Pacific or European theaters, but in North Africa, introducing readers to Algeria, to the strangeness of having to fight the French, to Djebel Hamra and Sidi Bouzid as the fighting clanks toward Tunisia. As he did with his four-volume Vietnam series, Lynch effectively takes readers back to the good war. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews