They call them "clay kickers," the four English teenagers who are fighting in WWI, not in the trenches but beneath them, where they dig a seemingly endless tunnel below the western front's no-man's land; but to what end, for, frustratingly, their mission is kept secret, even from them. Together the boys make a motley crew: Thomas, a former coal miner; George, a London street urchin; shy Charlie, whom the boys call "mouse"; and annoyingly self-important Frederick, an Eton student. Thirteen-year-old protagonist Thomas has a second, self-imposed mission as well: to find his older brother James, who is missing in action. Meanwhile, interspersed is the story of a young, unnamed English soldier fighting in the trenches. Who is he? And what is the four boys' secret mission? Hutton has done an excellent job of capturing the claustrophobic condition of life underground, evoking the horror of WWI, and creating characters who are individual and fully realized. There is no secret that this is an excellent addition to the surprisingly scant literature of the First World War.

Thirteen-year-old Irish-born Thomas Sullivan runs away from home to join the English army during World War I.He wants to escape a life of grinding poverty in the coal mines of Dover and is intent on finding his dearly loved older brother, who signed up to fight but has been reported missing in action. Thomas fails to enlist due to his youth but is illegally recruited through the machinations of George, a Cockney street urchin. On the troop train bound for Ypres and the Western Front, they join abused runaway Charlie and stuck-up Eton scholar Frederick. The boys discover that their actual role is not to fight the Germans but to be sappers, whose job is to dig tunnels under the trenches, where they plant explosives to blow up the German lines and ultimately turn the course of the war. The narrative seamlessly blends historical fact with the intense personal experiences of the four boys—all white—as they learn to cope with the horrors of trench warfare. Each brings a special skill to the mix; Thomas' mining experience, Charlie's artistic skills, Frederick's writing ability, and George's all-round confidence and determination. The design includes a few black pages with white text, describing Thomas' brother James' traumatic experiences.A captivating tale of down-to-earth heroism and a personal exposé of life in the trenches from the perspective of likable, engaging characters. (Historical fiction. 10-14)