This book is part of a previously established 10th grade curriculum that I walked in on. I had never even heard of it until now. In the beginning, I was skeptical of its place in the curriculum as I saw the faces of disgust on the kids as we trudged through graphic description after description of the bloody warfare.

I'm not entirely interested in war or anything related to historically significant battles, but by the time I got to chapter 6, this book wouldn't let me put it down. Looking at it holistically, I have to say that it's a beautifully written novel with grandiose statements about the most insignificant little matters of trench warfare. I loved how, despite being a book covering lofty subjects like life, death, love, enemies, it still a book about boys being boys.

I love this book. I love it and am so glad I was forced to read it. Now that the students are in chapter 10, I've had a few tell me that they finished the book early. They couldn't drop it either.