Grenade

When fourteen-year-old Hideki is drafted to fight for the Japanese in World War II, his superiors tell him it's his duty to protect his island, Okinawa. Ray, a young American Marine, is in a fight of his own, on the same island. But everything changes when Hideki and Ray face each other in battle in Grenade by author Alan Gratz.

Man. This may very well be the grittiest middle grade novel I've read in my life, or at least since I've been past middle grade age. And even if you've also grown past the young readers this novel targets, don't mistake it for a juvenile storybook or something.

This isn't a nostalgic, romantic, or watered-down tale, to make war look like a grand and glorious adventure, merely a mechanism for building heroes. It's show more a gut-wrenching, violent, tragic story of the impossible costs of deadly conflict. While it's not gratuitous in its horror, like a book that would give me nightmares, this novel makes no bones about conveying that war is just that.

A nightmare. A waking one.

And yet, it isn't a dark story for the sake of darkness. It's a human story. A nuanced story. A story that might make your soul cry. Hideki's and Ray's experiences and reflections reach to a critical level past the surface of things, as this isn't a journey of easy, surface answers.

The ending of Part One is painfully brilliant, and, man, how the sober, overall ending manages to be triumphant is incredible.

Read it. If your soul cries, let it. Oh—and after the last scene, do not skip the Author's Note. show less

Grenade plunges readers into the fierce Battle of Okinawa during World War II through the gripping perspectives of Hideki, a 14‑year‑old Okinawan drafted into the Japanese army, and Ray, a young American Marine making his war debut. The parallel storytelling builds relentless tension—and when their paths collide, students are forced to think about humanity amid horror. With its short chapters, authentic emotional beats, and tough moral questions, it’s a compelling choice for readers who loved Refugee or are ready for more historical fiction. Plus, it sparks powerful discussions about empathy, duty, and the true nature of bravery.

Hideki Kaneshiro is an Okinawa school boy when the US military lands on the island, April 1, 1945. Conscripted by the Japanese Army to be part of the Blood Iron Student Corps which was made up of school age boys. Given two home made grenades and told to go kill an American soldier with one and himself with the other, a terrified Hideki headed out to fight. Finding his dying father and from him learning of the deaths of his mother and brother, Hideki feels he will be killed soon.

The other part of the novel follows young American Marine, Ray Majors, during the landing and subsequent battles with the Japanese for dominance of Okinawa. Majors is appalled by the use of Okinawan civilians as hostages and suicide bombers by the Japanese and show more the realization he must kill those hostages if he wants to survive.

Gratz tries to make the reader understand how war affects everyone and how fear will make a normally sensitive, kind individual into a murderous killer. Having read several books about the battle for Okinawa written by men who fought there, Gratz does a good job of capturing the horror and terror of the place while moderating it for young readers. show less

First sentence: An American bomb landed a hundred meters away--Kra-KOOM!--and the school building exploded.

Premise/plot: Grenade is set towards the end of the second world war in Asia; Okinawa to be precise. It has dual narrators--for a bit--an American soldier (Ray) and an incredibly young drafted from [middle] school boy (Hideki). These two will come face to face--each with a grenade--and well, you can guess the rest.

War is front and center in this one, namely how horrible, atrocious, evil, horrifying, terrifying, traumatic, and always, always, always wrong it is. Each chapter features another layer of trauma.

My thoughts: Grenade is super-intense and heavy. I personally did not care for it. The reason why I did not like it probably show more (may not) bother you. So this one may still be a good fit for you.

One reason why I didn't particularly care for this one is the spiritualism. Maybe that is not the right word. There is a character that speaks with the dead, communes with the dead, gives messages from the dead, etc. There's also a strong belief in generational curses. It's just--for me--an odd read. show less

About ten years ago, I visited Okinawa and spent a week there with a peace organization. When one of my grandchildren told me they were reading a book about Okinawa called "Grenade", I knew it was abut the Battle of Okinawa. This book is awfully bloody and quite honest about the toll of war on civilian as well as military lives. Everyone who survives is traumatized by their war experiences. Gratz pulls no punches but he carefully describes the true cost of war and the dehumanization of total war. This is an impressive book if, in my opinion, a bit too bloody for middle school readers.

Publisher's blurb:
It's 1945, and the world is in the grip of war. Hideki lives with his family on the island of Okinawa, near Japan. When WWII crashes onto his shores, Hideki is drafted into the Blood and Iron Student Corps to fight for the Japanese army. He is handed a grenade and a set of instructions: Don't come back until you've killed an American soldier. Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa.
This is Ray's first-ever battle, and he doesn't know what to expect or if he'll make it out alive. He just knows that the enemy is everywhere, with ambushes and dangerous traps. But then the two of them collide in the middle of the battle...and choices they make in that single instant will change everything.

My comments:
Not show more bad. Easy to read format which constantly swaps between the two protagonists, Ending is a little out there ( no spoilers here) but it is good to see the war from different perspectives. Very interesting historically with the Okinawan's seeing themselves as very separate from the Japanese people. Boys will like as there is plenty of action. Fast-paced book for those who might get distracted with something not as fast paced in the plot. show less

Powerful story about the battle on Okinawa during WWII with characters on both sides. It shows the horror of war without being too graphic. It also explains the some of the history, culture and viewpoint of the Okinawas.