Review

Adam Pelko is the main character in this historical fiction book, A Boy at War, by Harry Mazer. Adam is 15 and spent all his life moving around to military bases. He has long black hair that gets in his face a lot. Adam's dad is a Navy lieutenant who is stationed on the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor. His name is Emory J. Pelko and he is hardly ever at home. Adam also has a mom and a little sister. His mother's name is Marilyn and his sister's name is Bea. This book takes place in Hawaii on the island of Oahu in Honolulu. This book takes place in December 1941, the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The event that starts this book is when Adam has his first day at civilian school. When he stands up to introduce himself, Adam makes a complete fool of himself. The conflict the main character has is to be friends with a Japanese boy named Davi even though his father says it will look bad for the whole family. Adam kept asking himself if he should be Davi's friend or not. When Adam and Davi go fishing, they get involved in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Adam got mad at Davi for being Japanese. After the attack, Adam went to Davi's house to apologize and then became better friends with Davi. I don't admire this character because he should have listened to his father and stayed away from Davi. But instead he went fishing and almost got himself killed. The timing, warships, and the attack on Pearl Harbor are all historically accurate, but all the characters are fictional. I recommend this book to any 5th grader who likes books that make you feel like you're in the book.
AW 8/22/06