B for Buster

Rating:
Summary: Richie's Picks: B FOR BUSTER
Review: As someone who couldn't kill another person for any reason, and who cannot condone governmental-sanctioned killing of any kind, World War II is an extremely complicated topic for me. The ongoing extermination of all those people by Hitler's forces would be something--if I had been alive at the time--I couldn't have just ignored. My response options wouldn't have been as simple as merely running away from the insanity, in the manner that I intended to avoid involvement in the Vietnam War, had it lasted a little longer.

"Is there anybody here who thinks, that
Followin' the orders takes away the blame
Is there anybody here
Who wouldn't mind a murder by another name
--Phil Ochs, "Is There Anybody Here"

Over the years I've gotten to know survivors and relatives of survivors of the Concentration camps, victims and relatives of victims of the Japanese Internment camps, as well as relatives and many family friends who fought for the US in The War.

In my search for great books about WWII, LEFT FOR DEAD, THE DIVINE WIND, THE ART OF KEEPING COOL, and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER top my list of recently published YA literature relating to that period of history.

The latest YA tale set during World War II to intrigue me is Iain Lawrence's B FOR BUSTER, the story of a sixteen-year-old Canadian boy who has snuck away from his mother and abusive father, lied about his age and background, and finds himself in 1943 Yorkshire, England as a wireless operator in a squadron of the Canadian Air Force.

"I set the frequencies on my wireless. I fitted the screwdriver into the slot and turned it back and forth to match the numbers on my flimsy. It was a chore I had done so often, on so many [training] flights, that I found it hard to believe that I was doing it now on the way to Germany, astride a belly full of bombs. Then I grinned inside my mask to think that I was already on the battlefield, fighting in the boundless world of Superman and Buck Rogers, on a fabulous field that stretched in all directions and rose from the earth to the heavens. I imagined the people below turning their faces to the sky, telling each other, 'Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane. It's--the Kakabeka Kid!' "

By the time this first op (mission) is complete, "Kak" and his fellow trainees have a rather different view of what they've gotten themselves into.

"When I was still in school I read a story about a boy who had to choose between two doors. Behind one of them was a beautiful princess who would love him forever. Behind the other was a tiger who would kill him.
"I didn't remember anything else about the story, only those two doors and the boy's terror as he stepped forward to open one of them. But in the morning, at breakfast, I knew exactly how he felt.
"I stared at my plate and waited for the loudspeaker to come on, for that English WAAF to tell me if I would fly or not."

The squadrons are sent out on bombing missions every night the weather is right. For Kak, nightmares follow missions follow nightmares as their patched-up Halifax, "B for Buster" repeatedly makes it to the various target cities and (barely) back while, one by one, other squadrons are blown out of the sky, leaving empty beds in the bunkhouse that are repeatedly refilled.

"And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?" --U2

The author is supremely successful in portraying the sights, sounds, smells, and sweat of the plane and the incredible danger Kak's squadron is up against, as well as the destruction for which they are responsible.

But Iain Lawrence's inspiration for writing this book involves the pigeons. Each of the Halifaxes carried homing pigeons who could be sent off to the base with a message, if a plane was fortunate enough to survive an "unexpected" landing, whether due to attack or to malfunction. And it is Kak's relationship with the slovenly, mysterious Burt the Pigeoneer that makes B FOR BUSTER an extraordinary tale. Taking refuge in the pigeon coop between ops, Kak comes to depend on the birds and their enigmatic keeper for his very sanity and survival.

"I stared at the pigeoneer. 'But what if lightning scared him so much that he couldn't fly home?'
" 'Wouldn't 'appen, sir. Not to good birds like 'im and Percy. They want to get 'ome so badly that they keep on going, scared or not. That's courage, sir.'
" 'No,' I said. 'Real courage is not being scared.'
" 'Oh, no, sir. Pardon me.' He tipped his head, as though saluting.
'Real courage is carrying on though you're scared to bits. It's doing what you 'ave to do. Birds are scared of lightning; men are scared of dying. Anything else wouldn't be proper, sir. But we all 'ave to carry on. Every little thing. Men and birds and fish and worms, we all just carry on.' "

Readers won't learn anything about the causes or large-scale troop movements of World War II, for it is Kak's very personal perspective that we are tracking here, from utterly naive boy--who witnesses horrific sights of death, destruction, and ghosts--to a young man whose every future day will be colored by the War.

B FOR BUSTER, is filled with action, and shows what It's really all about. (The reality Army recruiters like those in the Michael Moore movie couldn't begin to duplicate.)



Rating:
Summary: B For Buster review
Review: Desperate to escape from a negligent home with an alcholic father, 16 year old Kak lies about his age and enlists in the Canadian Army. He expects it to be like the adventures of his favorite comicbook heroes, where good vanquish's evil and after it's over everything is going to be fine. After his first op in a plane that has had almost every part of it reparied, he realizes that the ops are really terrifing and he finds himself scared to even get back on the plane. He finds himself befriending the pigeoneer and finds comfort in talking to him and spending time with the pigeons. Kak cant keep this up forever and after his friend from his hometown dies he realizies what can hapen to him or his crew at any time. Even though it started out slow, I thought this was very well writen and anyone who enjoys reading books about World War II should pick up "B For Buster".

Rating:
Summary: Dramatic adventure set during World War II
Review: Kak is desperate for a chance to get away from the dark presence of his family and create a brighter future for himself. The one chance for him, Kak decides, is to enlist in the Canadian Air Force. By doing so, he hopes to become a part of the Allied bombers during WWII. He dreams of showing off the honor of being a hero to his hometown of Kakabeka. Kak has one little secret, though --- he's only sixteen.

He is trained as a wireless operator and sent to a squadron in England. It is the spring of 1943 and the war is still going strong. When Kak arrives at an airfield in Yorkshire, his secret is immediately put to the test. His fellow hometown schoolmate, Donny Lee, is stationed at the airfield and is shocked to see Kak walk into the mess hall. Donny threatens to expose Kak's secret in order to save Kak's life, but relents when he sees how desperate his young friend is.

Kak meets his commanding officer, Uncle Joe, and is assigned to B for Buster. B for Buster is an old Halifax Mk 1 that has seen better in its day, but is considered reliable just the same. When his crew is taken to their assigned hut, they realize just what Buster has seen by the scarce number of occupied cots in the hut. The next day, they go on their first test flight in B for Buster, and Kak is chilled by the story of the Halifax's previous crew.

While they are gearing up for their first op, Lofty, the plane's pilot, goes on a "passenger trip" with another plane. The almost twenty-year-old is considered to be an adult by Kak and wants to be a bush pilot after the war. Buzz, the mid-upper gunner for Buster, is a former railway worker whose only goal in life, it seems, is to complete a crossword puzzle he cut out from a newspaper on his first day in England. Will, the navigator, would rather write poetry than study law, and Simon, the loud Australian, is the loudest gardener Kak has ever met. Ratty, the mysterious American, would like to see Berlin, and Pop, the flight engineer, just wants to make it home safely.

Time goes by and Donny Lee takes Kak for a ride out into the surrounding countryside. They take Donny's old black Morris automobile and Kak experiences just how crazy a ride it can be. But that's nothing compared to what it can be when a crew of seven ride in it, as Kak has witnessed before. The two schoolmates bond over stories of their hometown, and Donny tries once again to talk Kak into quitting the air force while he has the chance. Kak is excited about flying, though, and the ride that day seems to foreshadow the many dramatic changes that lie ahead.

Then the day finally comes, and B for Buster is called on for its first op. Kak is excited and feels as though it will be like a comic-book adventure where good beats evil. He is even a little too sure of himself, when he is given the task of watching over the homing pigeon that has been assigned to the op and is rude to the kind dismal pigeoneer named Dirty Bert. Kak is in for a reality check, however, when he experiences his first of many frightening flights and finds the outcast pigeoneer as one of the only friends who seems to understand him and his fears.

B FOR BUSTER is a dramatic adventure set during one of the greatest times in history. I recommend this book to anyone who has studied World War II and would like to read fiction set during that time period, as well as to those who enjoy reading dramatic novels. I thought it captured the importance of animals, specifically homing pigeons, and the various roles they take during wartime very well. Told through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old boy, B FOR BUSTER shows readers the excitement of being a hero and the grim realities they face.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This book, though long and detailed for the young adult audience, is extremely well written. It starts slowly, the first 50 pages or so, as we learn about Kak's fears. But, as the aerial bombings begin, the story, the writing, becomes fast paced and beautifully told. I love "Nutcracker Men" and I loved "Buster".