Search and Destroy

By Dean Hughes

Book Overview

Rick Ward wants to go to war.He doesn't know why. Maybe he's running from his dad, who has an uncontrollable temper. Maybe he's running from a lost love, his high-school sweetheart, who is a stranger to him now. Or maybe he's just running -- to find himself.Desperate to experience real life, Rick enlists in the army with the Charlie Rangers, a special unit in Vietnam. They infiltrate the jungle, kill with precision, and get out quickly. Rick isn't sure he can shoot anyone, but he wants to be tested, like his heroes, Hemingway and Conrad. If he can see the heart of darkness and survive, he'll be a man -- and finally have something to write about.But as Rick discovers, war isn't what anyone -- either the protestors, the politicians, or the writers -- say it is. It's far bigger, scarier, and more complicated than anything he could ever have imagined.Dean Hughes captures the sights and sounds of war -- and the courage of a young soldier fighting to survive.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068987023X
• ISBN13: 9780689870231
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Gritty Message - Worthy Read

One description of war is mostly mundane boredom interrupted by moments of intense action. Dean Hughes' book subscribes to this premise. Rick is a teen, recent high school graduate, who volunteers to fight in the Vietnam War. Expect to read heavy handed dialogue about the struggle to maintain one's humanity while fulfilling one's duty as a soldier to kill. The author may have overdone this message at the expense of developing characters beyond superficial personalities, such as Rick's ex-girlfriend and Ken,his mentor in the bush. Hughes succeeds in showing war as less than romantic, while the common soldier is heroic in fighting for his country and protecting his comrades in the field. Expect graphic death scenes which hammer home Hughes' themes because they are brief moments in the book. This book makes for a great book study conversation. Consider it.

Gritty

Although the book was presented as a book for adolescents, it was targeted more for early adult. It follows some of the more disturbing parts of the Vietnamese war through the eyes of a late teen who has little clue of what he wants out of life. He learns that war is indeed hell. I would recommend this as reading for any late teen considering joining the military.

Reprinted from the Aug 2006 "The Historical Novels Review"

Rick Ward, a confused boy from Long Beach just out of high school, drifts into the army. He may be running away from an overbearing father, a pointless existence of beach parties, or perhaps he just needs to do something meaningful. In that spirit he goes to Vietnam and volunteers for the Charlie Rangers, an elite group who infiltrate the jungle to beat the enemy at their own game. He wants to be tested, to experience life like his heroes, Ernest Hemingway and Joseph Conrad. Most of all, he longs to be a man. He discovers that nothing about war is what he or others had thought. He finds himself in a restricted world of just he and his team, trying to survive in a jungle hell, where the highest honor is not fighting for his country, or even just surviving, but helping a buddy to stay alive, to make it back to `the world.' This is a powerful story about how war profoundly changes a man. The ugliness of war screams off the pages--its horror, hypocrisy, and utter futility. The author does a marvelous job of blending this with the larger realities of the Vietnam era, not shrinking from the controversies but not taking a stand either. The truth is too complex, too overwhelming for any one individual to understand. In the end, it is the individual's humanity that counts. This skillfully written book is highly recommended for teens and adults.

Soldier Boy

One of the Greatest books I ever read. Has a big part in my heart.