Morris, Rudi, Beck, and Ivan have just graduated from high school.  They are the best of buds and they make pacts with each other.  But the Vietnam War is raging.  So when one is drafted, they all join up.  This is great news for Ivan, the son of a retired Marine Corp Captain.  What begins as a story about four boys who need to stay best friends even though they are now officially adults quickly turns into Ivan’s reality check as he sees the brutality of war first hand.  By the end, Ivan learns how hard he can push himself as well as how soldiers of Vietnam can get through the experience: by just continuing to move, even if the movement is just for the sake of moving itself, by realizing how “close to you are to horror every single day”, and by just snapping.  This is book #2 in a series of 4, with the 1st book focusing on the story of Morris in the Navy.  With a little gore because it is the Vietnam War, this is a worthwhile addition to Chris Lynch’s collection, though not with the depth and literary insight as Tim O’Brien’s novels. Recommended for all high school and public libraries.