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The Last Mission (Laurel-Leaf Historical Fiction) |
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| Author: Harry Mazer Published: 1981-02-15 |
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List price: $6.50 Our price: $6.50 |
Usually ships in 24 hours As of: November 19th, 2008 06:23:17 PM |
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Customer comments on this selection. The ugly reality of war vs. a boy's romantic dreamsWhen 15-year-old New Yorker Jack Raab uses his older brother's birth certificate to lie his way into the Army, his head is filled with dreams of glorious battle. He hates Hitler on behalf of his fellow Jews everywhere, and considers seeing the Nazi dictator dead a sort of personal mission. Big for his age and training among boys who actually aren't much older, he's surprised at just how easy it is to pull off the deception. Soon he's training as a B-17 bomber's waist gunner, and then he's off to an air base in England. But not before meeting a girl named Dotty, who also believes he's 19. War's reality hits young Jack in the face soon enough, once he starts flying missions over Germany. 25 of them, the magic number that sends any airman who's still alive back to the U.S. - but that last mission, for Jack, ends on the ground in Nazi Austria after his plane is shot down. He's the only survivor, and by this time the only thing he wants on earth is to go home to his family. Author Mazer wisely refuses to airbrush or mute the realities of war as Jack experiences it. The raw language of both barracks and battle zone, the terror and exhaustion of crewing a B-17 on a 9-hour mission over the enemy's homeland, the sheer ugliness of death and the even greater ugliness of hatred, all come through as if the reader is right there with him. This former teacher of 15-year-olds absolutely loved this book!  Jack RaabJack Raab is a 15 year old kid who wants to become a hero. He lies about his age to get into the U.S Air Corps. At his base is england he flies many missions.On his last mission his plane gets shot down, and jack lands behind enemy lines. Jack gets taken to POW Camp with the Germans. This is a very good war book for readers. But should only be read for young adults for swearing. The Last MissionJack Raab is a very young and brave soldier and is a 16-year-old Jewish boy who lives in New York. In the beginning of the book, he took his 19-year-old brothers birth certificate to get into the air force in England during World War II. Later, since the air force thinks that he is 19, they let him join the air force and become a gunman in the center part of the plain. He has always wanted to shoot a gun. He also joined the air force because he hated Adolf Hitler, and he had Jewish relatives in Germany. A couple of days later, he went to training in Miami. While he was there, he met Dotty, and they became best friends. Soon he had learned everything he needed to know about shooting a gun and about the air force, he went to his base in England. About a month later, he went on his last mission over Pilsen, Germany. He got shot down so he jumped out of the plain and used his parachute. When he landed he was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. He thought he would make to Hitler's base and kill him, but his plan didn't work out. A couple of weeks later, they heard on the news that Hitler had been killed. As soon as the Germans heard that Hitler was killed, they let Jack, Stan, and every other prisoner of war go. When they were set free, they took one of the German soldiers pistols, and drove out of the town they were in. About 20 minutes later, they came to the American soldiers, and went home. So do you think this looks like an interesting book? A Boys New Life...This is an outstanding novel taking place in 1944 during World War II. Fifteen year old Jack Raab has always dreamed of becoming a hero. Jack decides to leave New York City, his family, friends and lie his way into the U.S Air Corps. At their base in England the crew has flown many missions. The war is near to an end, Hitler is close to defeat. Their last mission over occupied territory is destined for disaster. Jack's plane is shot down; he's the only one of his crew who made it out alive. He is taken prisoner and sent to a German POW camp, where his experience was terrifying! This is a teeth chattering book with great detail and suspense. I would recommend this book to anyone from young adults to seniors. The author does extremely well with making you feel like you're in the middle of everything. Harry Mazer is an incredible author who's written many great books such as, Snow Bound and Who is Eddie Leonard. In my opinion, this book's a historical classic! Outstanding Book!I never thought that I was going to read an intense war book with such a good and meaningful ending. "The Last Mission" is a story of a fifteen-year-old boy who lies about his age to get into the airforce during World War Two. He wants to be a hero, but when he is put to the test during the war, he regrets his decision greatly. The book is filled with intense action scenes with good details to really make you feel like your right there with the characters. Throughout the book, you wonder how the author could make such a tradgic book have a good ending. The truth is that the ending isn't such a happy one, but more of one with a great lesson to it. I would definatley suggest this book to higher aged teens due to language and certain scenes in the book. I can almost guarantee that anybody that reads this book will get something great out of it! |
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