Back to Bataan — Jerome Charyn

Gr 7-9-- Depressed after his father's death at Bataan during World War II, Jack Dalton, 11, faces a host of problems. He's tired of being a scholarship student at an exclusive private school, and angry after being thrown over by his so-called ``fiancee,'' Mauricette, for a bullying rich kid, Arturo. When his anger boils over, he sets a fire to his rival's mansion. Thinking that he has destroyed the entire house, Jack runs away and falls in with a gang of criminals, the leader of whom is appropriately called, The Leader. However, before he can exert an evil influence over Jack, the boy is rescued, eventually assists the police, and becomes a hero. This is a strange novel. The narrative is told mostly in the first-person, present tense, but readers never come to know Jack very well. His downfall and his recovery come too quickly, and the entire business about his love life is simply bizarre. (Jack is inspired to commit arson after attending an engagement party for preadolescent Mauricette and Arturo.) Charyn achieves a mysterious overall tone, and conveys a certain surreal quality, but young people are likely to find this story baffling. --Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL