Heroes
I was skeptical about reading another Alan Gratz novel after reading Two Degrees last year. However, when I saw that it was another historical fiction novel, I decided to give it a chance. I am happy to read that Alan Gratz went back to writing historical fiction, which he is great at. Unlike Two Degrees, there isn’t any modern social agenda promoted in this novel. It is a great story about the events of Pearl Harbor, a friendship, and a young man finding the courage within himself that he didn’t know existed.
Typical of Alan Gratz novels, he doesn’t sugar coat historical events and there are some scenes that may be too gruesome for some readers. There is one point when the USS Arizona explodes and there are details about the raining down of body parts (109), as well as mentions of seeing dead bodies of sailors in the water in various points. When escaping a capsizing ship, the boys also hear sailors tapping out SOS and have to make the difficult decision to leave them knowing there was nothing they could do to save them (62-65). That would be the one word of caution for parents – please consider the sensitivity of your reader in regards to the details of war.
The story centers around two friends – Stanley Summers and Frank McCoy. Their father’s are both in the Navy and stationed in Hawaii. Stanley’s mother is of Japanese ancestry which makes Stanley partially Japanese. However, it is important to note that both Stanley and his mother are American citizens who were born in the US.
Stanley is Frank’s first real friend out of all the places they have lived. A tie that binds them is their love for comics and central to the story is their attempt to create a comic hero to write about. Frank is the writer and Stanley is the illustrator. Another component to the story is that Frank suffers from extreme fear. The story opens the day before the attack. A young boy is being bullied by two other boys. Stanley steps in to stop the bullies and in the process is beat up himself. Frank watches everything unfold and never steps in. This becomes a point of contention between them for the rest of the day and Frank is ashamed and terrified to explain to Stanley that he suffers from extreme fear.
Another key character is a man named Brooks Leonard who is Frank’s sister’s boyfriend. Brooks takes Stanley and Frank on a tour of the USS Utah the morning of the attack and that is where they are when the bombing starts. From there, the action is set in motion with one event after another that challenges their friendship, their survival, and their character. One of the great aspects of this book is that the reader can watch and learn from Frank’s internal struggle with fear and his desire to overcome it. He learns to act in spite of his fear. At no point is there a message to not be afraid, but the message is that you can still act when encompassed by fear – to be brave, to be courageous. Despite the world crashing down around them, these brave young characters become the super heroes of their comics and risk their lives to save sailors who have been harmed by the Japanese attacks. There are many aspects of scripture that could be tied to this story and the idea of fear – so I would definitely highlight and lean into that discussion with your reader as a way to explore Frank’s character.
Noteworthy quotes:
“How do you think you can write about heroes if you can’t be one yourself?” (29).
“What did my dad see in me that I didn’t see in myself?” (98).
“There was a part of me that wanted to run even now. A big part of me. But there was an even bigger part of me that knew that standing up for my friend was right. That this was a good fight. One worth getting hurt for” (116).
“But fear was no excuse for them to be distrustful” (121).
“But of all the things in the world I was afraid of, I suddenly realized that my greatest fear was being too scared to do the right thing” (163).
The book is set into three stages – the before, during, and after. In the after section, Gratz conveys the tragic act of prejudice that was projected onto those of Japanese descent. Stanley and his mother are fortunate to be in Hawaii which didn’t feel quite the far reaching effects that those on the mainland felt when their businesses and homes were taken and they were sent to live in internment camps by the US Government. Stanley is now part of the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV) and is digging graves. He claims that he isn’t doing it to atone for what the Japanese did, but because he wanted to honor the fellow American soldiers who died. “I’m burying heroes” (204).
The book ends with Frank, his mother, and his sister being evacuated with other families to California. Frank wants to make sure that Stanley and he remain friends and leaves him with the text for a comic based on a hero of Japanese descent. Gratz finalizes the story with a bit of the comic story they created and a brief bio of what happened to them when they grew up. The entire piece is a work of fiction.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and I think it offers a glimpse into a perspective that is often not told in WWII – that of the Japanese Americans and the response to them. Gratz does not explore this in detail but leaves an opening for readers to continue exploring on their own.
Additionally, there is an Author’s Note at the end that discusses the historical aspect of the novel with added details about the timeline of certain events and why he chose to make some changes with his artistic license.
If you have a lover of history and action packed war stories, then I would recommend this Gratz novel.
