Lynch ends his evocative and eloquently straightforward Vietnam War historical fiction series with a pitch-perfect closer. Morris leaves the fighting behind to accompany the body of his boyhood friend and soldier comrade Rudi back to Boston to be buried. Sharpshooter Ivan wrestles with personal and professional demons back in the war zone, and their other buddies om baseball days to the realities of jungle warfare are the narration as well. While this series is accessible to reluctant readers, it is hard-hitting and accurate, making it appropriate for those familiar with Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels (1988) but not quite ready for Tim O'Brien's adult classic The Things They Carried (1990).

Previous installments featured the perspectives of four friends as they experienced the Vietnam War in different branches of the military. Here they come together to mourn the loss of one of them, the remaining three each grappling with secrets surrounding his death. As with other books in this series, the emotional complexities and violence of war are handled with sensitivity and grace.

Gr 5 Up-Four best friends all sign up to fight during the Vietnam War. Though they promise to come home together, one friend doesn't survive and the remaining three must grapple with the truth about his death. The narrative switches among the various first person perspectiveseven that of Rudi's ghost. A haunting and unsettling series that tempers the violent aspects of war just enough for the audience, without sacrificing the bitter and heartbreaking emotional truths.