Michael Grant

For fans of Girl in the Blue Coat, Salt to the Sea, and The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, the second book of New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant’s epic alternate history is a coming-of-age story about three girls who are fiercely fighting their own personal battles in the midst of the greatest war of all time. The summer of 1943, World War II. With heavy memories of combat, Frangie, Rainy, Rio and the rest of the American army are moving on to their next target: the Italian island of Sicily. The women won’t conquer Italy alone. They are not heroes for fighting alongside their brothers—they are soldiers. But Frangie, Rainy, Rio, and the millions of brave females fighting for their country have become a symbol in the fight for equality. They will brave terrible conditions in an endless siege; they will fight to find themselves on the front lines of WWII; and they will come face-to-face with the brutality of war until they win or die.

Silver Stars

Libby G

The second book in the ‘Front Line’s’ series by Michael Grant was much better than the first installment. It still dragged on in places, but the themes and characters were really starting to gain momentum. 

The story starts off with Jenou asking Rio about what it was like her first time. If these were normal girls Jenou could have easily been asking Rio about losing her virginity but it only takes a paragraph to realize that is not what Jenou is talking about. 

Rio is starting to gain a reputation amongst the other soldiers as being a cold-blooded killer. Rio fights this reputation and nickname ‘Killer Rick’ for a long while before eventually admitting to Jenou later in the book that she did in fact enjoy killing the Germans. 

This book was a lot darker than the first, not that the first was all sunshine and daisies to begin with. Rio is struggling to come to terms with who she is, Frangie is struggling with her faith and starting to notice the real horrors of war, and Rainey, poor Rainey, gets to see firsthand the brutality of the Nazi’s. 

The three characters grow up a lot during the duration of this book more so than in the other one. It was brutal and heartbreaking to read. Rio remarks at one point that when the first member of their squad died there were days to mourn, by the second it was only a few hours. 

Again, I felt the story lacked vivid imagery to put myself in the characters shoes but in this book, it didn’t bother me as much. 

Something else that bothered me was that it would drag on occasionally. My eyes would glaze over certain paragraphs describing the battles or military movements when it would get wordy. 

I would be super invested while reading the book but if I set it down for more than a day I would sort of forget about it. It didn’t nag at me the way I like books too. 

All in all it was a solid sequel and I am definitely going to start the third installment.

Jacob Lamb

The second novel in the epic new young adult series that Michael Grant is calling his best yet! It's WWII but not as you know it from school. This time the girls are on the Front Lines and not on the Home Front. Summer 1943. The enemy has been bloodied, but Nazi Germany is very far from beaten. Now the American army is moving on to their next target: the Italian island of Sicily. With heavy memories of combat, the three young soldier girls - Rio, Frangie and Rainy - now know what they are willing to do to save themselves, and understand the consequences of those actions. On the front lines, they will again come face to face with the brutality of war until they win or die, while simultaneously fighting their own personal battles. No one will emerge unscathed. In the tradition of The Book Thief, Code Name Verity and Between Shades of Gray, Front Lines gives the experience of WWII a new immediacy while playing with the 'what ifs?' of history. Exclusive Front Lines story, Dead of Night to be 2017 World Book Day book. Praise for Front Lines: "What if American women had fought alongside men in World War II? Michael Grant gives us a magnificent alternate history that feels so real and right and true it seems impossible that it wasn't. Every one of these fictional soldiers has wrapped herself around my heart." (Elizabeth Wein, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity) "Michael Grant is a master of twists that not only tear at his readers' consciences, they hold a mirror up to our here and now and insist we consider what might otherwise be. Front Lines is a masterpiece of speculative story crafting." (Andrew Smith, Printz Honor winning author of Grasshopper Jungle) Front Lines was shortlisted for Feminist Book of the Year in the Maximum Pop Bookish Awards. Michael Grant has lived an exciting, fast-paced life. He moved in with his wife Katherine after only 24 hours. He has co-authored over 160 books including the bestselling GONE series but promises that everything he writes is like nothing you've ever read before!

Silver Stars

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