Button War, The: Tale Of The Great War, A

Description: Award-winning author Avi pens a stark, unflinching tale of ordinary boys living during WW1 as tensions - and desperations - mount among them. The first button they found. The second button they stole... Twelve-year-old Patryk has never left his Polish village and doesn't know much about the outside world. Then one August, with the clatter-clatter of an aeroplane, the Great War explodes into his village. As the Germans and Russians fight for control, Patryk and his friends begin their own battle to find the best military button. It starts as a dare, but soon the boys find themselves trapped in a dangerous war. Just how far are they prepared to go to win? "An important and honest book that crowns no heroes"-Lauren Wolk, author of Wolf Hollow "A powerfully evocative WWI novel"-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Review: In this arresting, unsettling novel for 9- to 14-year-olds [...] the author is so sparing with description and language, and the lines of dialogue are so clipped and abrupt, that the story feels both real and like a dread allegory. -- Meghan Cox Gurdon * The Wall Street Journal * Darker than the Newbery Medalist's usual fare, this powerfully evocative WWI novel set in Poland parallels a child's game with the war raging in the not-so-distant background. * Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review *
Author Biography: Avi is one of the most celebrated authors writing for children today, having received two Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, a Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, a Christopher Award, a Newbery Medal, and two Newbery Honors. He lives in Colorado.