I Mooched this book some time ago. I'd seen it on someone's blog, but, as usual, I can't remember whose. It's a middle grade/YA adaptation of Scott O'Grady's non-fiction work, Return with Honor. O'Grady was an F-16 fighter pilot in the mid-nineties, flying peace-keeping missions over Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was part of a NATO force which was patrolling the no-fly zones during the Serb-Croat war. This book tells the story of the mission when he was shot down in enemy territory and how he survived.I actually enjoyed the book. I'm no military history buff and I wasn't sure if this would be my cup of tea, but I thought a middle grade take on the subject would be a good introduction. And it was! It didn't delve into the political underpinnings of the unrest in the Balkans, but it told a good story of one man's experiences behind enemy lines. The storyline moved quickly and I was engrossed in O'Grady's survival attempt.
The book says it's for ages ten and up, but I might recommend it for slightly older kids. Perhaps a precocious ten-year-old would get it, but I thought some of the vocabulary might be over a ten-year-old's head, and the situation O'Grady found himself in was certainly scary, even for me at 33! It might be too much for younger readers. However, I would recommend this for anyone interested in military history, and certainly young readers with an interest in flying or the military. Three and a half out of five Whatevers.
