From School Library Journal Grade 6-9 In his anti-nuclear book, Paulsen does not explore the holocaust's aftermathhe just shows the promise of youth unfolding and stops it with a powerful "CLICK"the sound of the bomb being dropped. Paulsen interweaves the developing stories of four teenagers with vignettes about veterans of three wars. The focus storiesa Native American girl denies the heritage that her grandfather tries to force upon her; an illegal alien looks for a better life as a migrant worker; a Montana farm girl tries to convince her father that the farm offers her the life that she wants; and a teenage rock star shuns the lure of drugs to hone his soundare not completely satisfying as the protagonists are more archetypical than real. The self-contained war vignettes concern Lucky, who loves the fury of battle until his limbs are blown off in Vietnam; a farm boy fighting in World War II whose hopes and dreams are destroyed by the schrapnel that severs his spinal cord; and a sharpshooter, sent to Korea, who is destroyed by the terrible need to kill children who are assisting in the massacre of his unit. This emotionally charged story in particular is beautifully crafted and stunningly written. The final vignette focuses on a Bengal tiger and her cub as a flash starts World War III, and all of these lives are gonenot just the young men who fight for their country, but the young (and old) everywhere. Paulsen concentrates on depicting a generation struggling to realize its future, unaware of impending disaster, and he manages to involve readers despite the rigid, choppy format. The ending doesn't work within the structure of the book, but it does serve to emphasize the effects of nuclear war on innocents. Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. - from Amzon