First published 1999
Jake Branford lives and breathes military history. The thirteen-year-old devours every Civil War book he can find and dreams of battlefield glory. When Hollywood arrives in his town to film a war epic, Jake can barely contain his excitement. He sneaks onto the secret movie set, determined to witness the action up close. The filmmakers welcome him into their production, and Jake feels like he has stepped into his favorite history books. Cannons boom around him. Soldiers charge across smoky fields. Jake throws himself into the role of a lifetime. But the line between performance and reality begins to blur. The violence feels too authentic. The fear in his fellow actors' eyes looks genuine. Jake realizes he has stumbled into something far more dangerous than moviemaking. War stops being an adventure from his books and becomes a terrifying reality he must survive.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, thriller, action
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, reality-blurs-with-fiction
Period: Civil War
Library Binding · Bt Bound
Content warnings: violence