Post by lovelytreez on Apr 7, 2016 21:28:11 GMT
Michael Grant has written over 150 books, most of them co-authored with his wife Katherine Applegate but Front Lines is my first experience of his writing - I now can't wait to investigate his other novels, I might be gone some time! His latest novel is set in the mid 1940s and it is an alternate history of America's involvement in World War 2, with females being sent to the front lines for the first time.
An anonymous narrator relates the stories of three American recruits who hail from very different backgrounds - Rio Richlin, a farmer's daughter from California, Frangie Marr from Tulsa who faces a double dose of discrimination as a result of her gender and skin colour and Rainy Schulterman, intellectual Jewish New Yorker. I was pleased that there wasn't too much romance and more of a focus on the realities of life in the army and how these teenagers, both male and female, struggle to adjust to life at the front. It was also refreshing to hear the stories of soldiers involved in North African operations, a location often overlooked in YA novels about World War II.
Michael Grant doesn't hold back in his presentation of the brutality of warfare so those of a nervous disposition might be traumatised by the graphic detail. I can't wait for the next in the series to see how army life continues to mould the characters' personalities, for better and for worse.
An intelligent, fast paced opening to an exciting new series with extremely engaging characters. Highly recommended for older teens and even young at heart adults!