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Cover of Grenade

Grenade

Alan Gratz

Ages 12–18

211 pages · Released Oct 9, 2018

Content report card

What's inside

High confidence

Sexual content

LGBTQ+ themes

Substance use

What it offers

Educational value

A note for parents

Grenade is a WWII novel that unflinchingly depicts the horrors of war from two opposing soldiers' perspectives—a Japanese teen drafted as a student soldier and an American Marine. While the violence is present and intense (combat, death, trauma), it serves an educational and moral purpose: showing how fear and propaganda dehumanize people, and how compassion can bridge that divide. The book rewards empathy, critical thinking, and humanity in the face of war, making it suitable for mature middle-grade readers and up who are ready to grapple with difficult historical realities.

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From the publisher

Here it is! The hugely anticipated follow-up to Gratz's NYT bestselling, critically acclaimed phenomenon REFUGEE. This is another searing and heart-pounding look at kids making their way through war. A New York Times bestseller!It's 1945, and the world is in the grip of war.Hideki lives on the island of Okinawa, near J... Here it is! The hugely anticipated follow-up to Gratz's NYT bestselling, critically acclaimed phenomenon REFUGEE. This is another searing and heart-pounding look at kids making their way through war. A New York Times bestseller!It's 1945, and the world is in the grip of war.Hideki lives on the island of Okinawa, near Japan. When WWII crashes onto his shores, Hideki is drafted into the Blood and Iron Student Corps to fight for the Japanese army. He is handed a grenade and a set of instructions: Don't come back until you've killed an American soldier.Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa. He doesn't know what to expect -- or if he'll make it out alive. He just knows that the enemy is everywhere.Hideki and Ray each fight their way across the island, surviving heart-pounding ambushes and dangerous traps. But when the two of them collide in the middle of the battle, the choices they make in that instant will change everything.From the acclaimed author of Refugee comes this high-octane story of how fear can tear us apart, and how hope can tie us back together.

Shelved under

  • Juvenile Fiction

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ISBN 9781338245714 · Scholastic Inc.