Code of Honor is a 2015 young adult thriller by Alan Gratz, the author of the acclaimed Prisoner B-3087 (2013) and Ground Zero (2021), among other novels. The book follows main character Kamran Smith after his brother, Army Ranger Darius Smith, is discovered cooperating with al-Qaeda. The novel deals with issues of Persian-American identity in the wake of 9/11, and the struggle of remaining loyal to the people one loves and trusts, even when the... Read Code of Honor Summary

Originally published in 2005, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, is a middle-grade work of historical fiction by Joseph Bruchac. The story is based on historical events and narrated by Ned Begay, a Navajo man who refers to readers of the book as “My Grandchildren.” Looking back on his youth, Ned reveals how native Navajo speakers were recruited by the US military to use their unique language skills in... Read Code Talker Summary

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Cold Mountain (1997) is a novel by Charles Frazier. It tells the story of W.P. Inman, a deserter from the Confederate Army who attempts to return home to his romantic partner, Ada. The novel won the National Book Award and was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name. This guide refers to the 2011 Sceptre edition. Content Warning: The source text contains discussions of racism, violence, abuse of women and children, and... Read Cold Mountain Summary

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Confederates in the Attic is a non-fiction book written by Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Tony Horwitz. The book is a mixture of ethnography—the study of a specific group of people in a specific place—and travel writing, where Horwitz attempts to dive deeply into his childhood fascination for the American Civil War by traveling through the deep South, visiting Confederate battlefields, museums, and monuments, and interviewing the locals that he comes into contact with about their relationship to... Read Confederates In The Attic Summary

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Cynthia Kadohata’s Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam is a work of historical fiction that centers around a dog, Cracker, and her handler, Rick Hanski, during their deployment in Vietnam. It is aimed at an audience of middle-grade readers but is also an enjoyable and educational read for adults. Told from the perspective of both the canine and human main characters, Kadohata reveals the vitally important work conducted by military dogs and their handlers during... Read Cracker Summary

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Carol Matas is the author of the 1993 novel for young readers, Daniel’s Story, and she published the book in conjunction with the United States Holocaust Museum Memorial exhibit Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story. Like the museum exhibit, Daniel’s Story presents a researched account of what it was like to grow up in Nazi Germany and live through the Holocaust. Before she wrote Daniel’s Story, Matas published two historical novels about the Dutch resistance during... Read Daniel's Story Summary

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Days Without End (2016) is a novel by Irish author Sebastian Barry. Days Without End is Barry’s ninth novel and received considerable critical acclaim. The novel won the 2017 Walter Scott Prize, was listed at number 74 on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best books of the 21st century (2019 edition), and made BBC News’s 2019 list of the 100 most influential novels. The novel also won the 2016 Costa Book Award, making Barry... Read Days Without End Summary

In Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, writer Erik Larson traces the Lusitania’s final journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The Lusitania is a British passenger liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Company. First sailing in 1907, the Lusitania quickly sets records for the fastest journey across the Atlantic Ocean, stealing the coveted Blue Riband away from Germany.Dead Wake follows the Lusitania’s final journey, which took place during the first week of May 1915... Read Dead Wake Summary

Dear John is a novel published in 2006 by Nicholas Sparks, a best-selling American romance writer. In 2010, the book was adapted into a feature film starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Dear John tells the story of star-crossed lovers: John Tyree, a soldier on leave, falls for Savannah Lynn Curtis, a visiting college student. After 9/11, John must choose between duty to his country and the people who love him, both of whom he... Read Dear John Summary

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The narrator and protagonist, Sergeant Nathan Marx, sets the stage in the early paragraphs of the short story. The year is 1945, and he has just arrived to Camp Crowder, Missouri, after fighting in the war in Germany. Marx explains that he has undergone significant changes since his time as a combatant began, and he describes his transformation as beneficial: “I had been fortunate enough to develop an infantryman’s heart, which, like his feet, at... Read Defender Of The Faith Summary

Desert Exile tells the story of the author Yoshiko Uchida and the Uchida family’s experience as Japanese-Americans interned in concentration camps by the U.S. government after the Pearl Harbor attacks during World War II. The book follows a linear narrative arc that details the Uchidas’ experience, while Uchida often reflects discursively, using one point in her life as a vortex for connecting that moment to another memory and in turn creating a larger impression of... Read Desert Exile Summary