Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn

Back to Bataan
written by Jerome Charyn          
published by Tribute Books 

find it here: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by Tribute Books for this book back in August. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: I really didn’t enjoy this book. I was expecting so much more after reading the synopsis.

This book is not a YA book so much as it is a middle grade book. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy middle grade books but this book just really fell flat and was not intriguing at all. For the most part, the sentences were short and choppy and the story just didn’t flow that well in my opinion. 

I could not connect with Jack, who is eleven and in grade school during this short story (about 80 pages on my Nook). His adventures and actions were not believable. I did like Mr. Fink and Arturo, which is surprising since Arturo was sort of the bully in the book. They were the most believable characters to me. 

Would I recommend it: No, I would not recommend this book. 

Will I read it again: No, I will not read this book again.

About the book – from the publisher: New York City, 1943. War is raging in Europe and the Pacific, while Jack Dalton is stuck attending Dutch Masters Day School. What Jack really wants is to enlist in the army, to fight…

Everything changes when Coco, Jack’s “fiancee,” throws him over for one of his classmates. Jack sees red and does something drastic. Then he runs away. Hiding out in a nearby park, Jack joins ranks with a group of vagrants and is soon under the sway of a man called the Leader, an ex-convict who is as articulate and charismatic as he is dangerous. The Leader turns Jack’s world upside down. To put things right, Jack must prove himself a braver soldier than he ever imagined.