Each harrowing day of battle in France convinces 17-year-old Scott Pendleton Collins that he may not survive. In desperation he records his thoughts, fears and hopes in a journal he has carried since his first days of basic training at Fort Dix.

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-When Private Scott Collins’s journal begins, he is preparing, along with thousands of other young men, for D-Day, less than five weeks away. When it ends, Scott, now 18, is again waiting to cross the English Channel; he has been wounded in France and has been promoted to sergeant-not simply because he is a good soldier, but also because he has proven to be a “survivor,” when so many others have been killed. Readers observe Scott lose both his belief that the Allied invasion will end the war quickly and his innocence-he has seen hundreds die, some by his own hand. While no more graphic than the subject demands, this brief novel presents an accurate depiction of the horror of battle. The narrative voice is engaging and believable, with only a few lapses that sound like explanations provided for today’s readers. Scott emerges as a likable and realistic character, one who grows from youth to manhood in a matter of weeks. Young teens who appreciated Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line ought to be moved and drawn to the Journal as well. A short epilogue gives thumbnail sketches of the major players’ lives after wartime, and a photographic gallery helps set and expand the historical situation.-Coop Renner, Coldwell Elementary-Intermediate School, El Paso, TX Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publish Date : 1999-06-01T00:00:01Z