Gabriel Greene is too young to join the military, but after Pearl Harbor he and his sickly older brother, Dallas, each take the other's name. The Army has special uses for soldiers as ferocious and tenacious as Gabe-- the First Special Service Force. From the start it's intended to go where other soldiers won't-- and soon Gabe and his fellow commandos will get their wish: combat. -- adapted from jacket The First Special Service Force is an elite...

His friendship with two Hispanic students offers fifteen-year-old Mick an alternative to the drunken savagery of his brother and the narrow thinking of his Irish-American neighborhood in Boston.

As he enters high school, fourteen-year-old Elvin continues to deal with his weight problem as he tries to find his place among his peers.

Arlo Brodie loves being at the heart of the action on the football field, and while his dad cheers him on, his mother quotes head injury statistics and refuses to watch, but Arlo's winning plays, the cheering crowds, and the adrenaline rush are enough to convince him that everything is OK, in spite of the pain, the pounding, the dizziness, and the confusion.