Growing up in the years following World War II, Joel Bloom always played soldiers with his friends. But by the time he's eighteen, the Vietnam War is in full swing, and it's not as simple as the war games he played when he was a child. Old enough to be drafted, Joel loves his country, but he knows that fighting in an unjust war isn't something he can do. After trying and failing to be a conscientious objector he leaves for Canada - a decision that will help him avoid the physical conflict of the war, but will create another inside of him that will take much longer to resolve. An insightful and compelling novel that explores one boy's struggle to understand himself and the harsh realities of life during wartime.

Author Biography

Mark Kurlansky is the bestselling author of Salt: A World History and Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World for adult readers, as well as their adaptations for children, The Story of Salt and A Cod's Tale. This is his first novel for teens. Mark lives in the USA.