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Interviews | July 4, 2009

All posts by Jill Owens Powells.com Interview: Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea is a poet, novelist, journalist, and essayist who has been writing about the relationship between the United States and Mexico,... Continue »


  1. $17.49 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Into the Beautiful North

    Luis Alberto Urrea

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B for Buster

B for Buster Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Nicknamed after his hometown of Kakabeka, Canada, Kak dreams of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. So at 16, underage and desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists in the Canadian Air Force. Soon he is trained as a wireless operator and sent to a squadron in England, where he’s unabashedly gung ho about flying his first op. He thinks the night ops over Germany will be like the heroic missions of his favorite comic-book heroes. Good will vanquish evil. But his first time out, in a plane called B for Buster, reveals the ops for what they really are—a harrowing ordeal.

The bombing raids bring searchlights . . . artillery from below . . . and night fighters above hunting to take the bombers down. One hit, Kak knows, and B for Buster, along with him and his six crewmates, could be destroyed.

Kak is terrified.

He can’t confide his feelings to his crew, since he’s already worried that they’ll find out his age. Besides, none of them seem afraid. Only in Bert, the slovenly caretaker of the homing pigeons that go on every op, does Kak find an unlikely friend. Bert seems to understand what the other men don’t talk about—the shame, the sense of duty, and the paralyzing fear. As Kak seeks out Bert’s company, he somehow finds the strength to face his own uncertain future.

From the Hardcover edition.

Review:

"This story, told through the eyes of a 16-year-old who lies about his age to enlist, presents 'a gritty, unglorified picture of what it was like to be a fighter pilot during WWII,' according to PW's starred review. Ages 12-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

About the Author

Iain Lawrence is the author of numerous acclaimed novels, including The Lightkeeper’s Daughter, Lord of the Nutcracker Men, Ghost Boy, and the High Seas Trilogy: The Wreckers, The Smugglers, and The Buccaneers. The author lives on Gabriola Island, BC.

From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780440238102
Publisher:
Laurel Leaf Library
Subject:
Interpersonal Relations
Author:
Lawrence, Iain
Subject:
World war, 1939-1945
Subject:
Action & Adventure
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
Historical - Military & Wars
Subject:
Children's 12-Up - Fiction - History
Subject:
Historical fiction
Subject:
Action & Adventure - General
Publication Date:
January 2006
Binding:
Mass Market Paperbound
Language:
English
Pages:
321
Dimensions:
6.92x4.19x.92 in. .36 lbs.
Age Level:
12-17

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