Great Battles for Boys: WW2 Pacific

Great Battles for Boys #5

by Joe Giorello

"A terrific, engaging read..." Amazon Top-500 reviewer

Great Battles for Boys takes young readers to the front lines of history's most important fights. In this episode of the best-selling history series, the story opens with the Flying Tigers, those wild American soldiers fighting Japan before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After the deadly surprise attack on Hawaii, the battles storm across the Pacific in the lethal "island hopping" military strategy that brought Victory Over Japan.


How did the Battle of Wake Island turn into "The Alamo of the Pacific"?
Who figured out the first fighter planes take off from ships in the middle of the ocean?
Why was the Doolittle Raid considered a suicide mission?
How did the young American men survive while fighting on strange and hostile islands such as Guadalcanal, Saipan, and Iwo Jima?
Each chapter of the book features dramatic true stories with historic photos, maps, and other awe-inspiring images. Written specifically for boys, with short chapters that get right to the fight, this book is sure to capture the attention of even the most reluctant readers.

"In Volume II of Great Battles, author Joe Giorello paints a vivid picture of events in WW II's Pacific Theater in a way that can make readers forget they aren't listening to first-hand accounts of the action. Combining his uniquely conversational style with myriad historical facts, plenty of interesting photos, and lots of fascinating, little-known anecdotes, Joe takes readers 'behind the scenes' and helps them to experience this vitally important chapter in our Nation's history. From the dark days following Pearl Harbor to victory ratified aboard the USS Missouri, Giorello covers it all - and never fails to capture the incredible sacrifice, unbelievable courage, and selfless service of America's bravest and finest. A great book with superb additional resources; I give it a 'must read!' -- The Reverend Charles F. Reynolds Chief Warrant Officer 3, USMC, Ret.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, World War II, Audiobook

178 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2016

About the author

Joe Giorello teaches a highly popular middle-grade class in the Seattle area called “Great Battles for Boys." Find out more at his website, http:// www.greatbattlesforboys.com, or at the Facebook page for Great Battles: https:// www.facebook.com/greatbattles

Reviews

[Tom Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book overall was about how Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and then Japan and the USA got into a fight and stared bombing and see who could take over the Pacific. Ultimately, the USA bombed Japan with two bombs called Fat Boy and Little Boy, which resulted in Japan surrendering.

A good part of the book was that it showed you all the things that are important in the story so that’s why. But I also liked it because they made it fun somehow so that’s why.

I did not like it because it gave you some stuff that wasn’t needed like, for example, the commander thought that was a good plan. You don’t need that so that’s why I disliked the book a bit.

I rated this book 5 stars because they only had a few mistakes so if they had more the rating would go down.

[Paige Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first try at this series as a possible one for my son (10). He just read Hero’s Don’t Run and wanted to learn for more about the Pacific theater of WW2. I’d seen a lot of advertising for this series and decided to give it a shot and I am SO GLAD I did! I absolutely loved it! Exactly the kind of age-appropriate stories about war that I want him to be able to devour. The writing is real and doesn’t gloss over the evil things that happened, but it is not overly gory or inappropriate. And the chapters all sequentially build on each other to result is a really great overview of the whole war that even connected some dots in my own understanding!
Overall I can’t recommend it enough! We’ll definitely be buying the whole series and highly encouraging the people to check out Joe’s work.

[Lisa Gusewelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a simplified version of the US v. Japan war in the Pacific during WWII, it is an engaging read for middle school students with well-chosen stories/vignettes to provide detail about military strategy (or in some places the wing and a prayer strategy), geography, and military technology.

[CHM · Rating 5 out of 5]

My name is Faxon and I'm 9 years old. This book especially helps kids who like to learn about battles. This series of books is for anyone who likes history of battles.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn’t as long as the other WWII book I have read recently (Guts & Glory World War II, check it out) but doesn’t cease to appease me nonetheless (gasp it rhymes). Unlike the other book I mentioned, this one focuses only on the war in the Pacific. There are other books covering other parts of the war, like Eastern and Western Europe (I hope they also have North Africa, but I don’t know). This book starts off with you feeling the shock (and for some, terror) of the Japanese bombing a (previously unknown) harbor, throwing the United States into the war. You then travel to the Flying Tigers, a couple hundred men forced to retire from the U.S. army to serve as mercenaries for the Chinese (who are getting their butts kicked by the Japanese). We then witness a detailed account of the grueling island hopping campaign, including Saipan, Midway, Guadalcanal, Unalaska, Iwo Jima, and many more. This book is packed with information, waiting to be absorbed by a reader like you!

[Tricia Mingerink]

Proofing this book before giving to my nephews for Christmas. It is well-written and hits many of the major battles. It also does a good job of providing context and the broader history and cultures. The battles are told with the factual details, even if those details are gory, but without the writing lingering in a gruesome manner that would be inappropriate for the target age-range.

Content Note: Quotes from soldiers are kept entirely accurate, including any language. D*** and h*** are the most common. No S*** or f-bombs. If you are uncomfortable with your younger boys reading that kind of language, you may wish to proof with a black market on hand.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book just a little bit longer than I'd like

I say it should be on the top Amazon 500!
Just maybe you could make it a little bit shorter.
I chose this rating because it had great graphics but it was a little bit to long.
I would recommend this book for my good friend Graham.
By the way, great book!
When is this review going to end?
This book is one of the best books I've ever read!

[A.N.G. Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to almost the entire series (minus the Civil and Korean War books) and absolutely loved them. If you are desperate to get your child to read and fiction just isn't cutting it, give this series a try! Its focus on leadership, bravery, mercy, and self-sacrifice deftly avoids glorifying war in any way, shape, or form, instead presenting tactics, strategies, the hallmarks of good and bad leaders with age-appropriate descriptions of the horrors that war entails. Excellent series!

[Rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

the enola gay crew on the b 29 that droped little boy on Japan

I was surprised that the japan did something called the batan death march

I would not change the ending because that means what if the U.S never dropped the nukes
and Japan might have not surrender

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Book taught me a lot about World War II but is a little boring.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good book

[Charles m smith jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested

Yes if you want a short history lesson on ww2 in the Pacific then you should read this book. It has a lot of good information.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

I like how the chapters are nice and short. I also like how they talk about who fought in the battle

[Heather Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud to my 6 year old. He loved it and we both learned a lot!

[Teller · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great history book.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book that cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had about the war in the Pacific.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for boys who are interested in WW II. It provides an overview of most of the battles of the Pacific. It doesn’t go into extreme detail so it’s a very good introductory book.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be one of those books that's just better in hand than through audio. It was factual and interesting, but I thought it would be more of a narrative than a textbook.

[Cammie Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this book for my summer tutoring. Kept him interested and we both learned a lot! Well written.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle grades telling of the events during WWII, in the Pacific arena.

[Daniel Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Battles for Boys: WWII Pacific, by Joe Giorello is a broad look at the history of the Second World War in the Pacific broken down into separate chapters covering individual battles. There are two things I really like about this book; first, it is historically accurate. That is so important when dealing with such a complex subject. The information is given in a well thought out manner that makes it easy for anyone to enjoy and understand. The author paints a clear picture of what is going on in each battle.

The second thing, which I love, is that the stories, although complete in themselves, do leave you wanting, and Joe Giorello has made that easy by referencing other books, films and best of all, website links, to more in-depth information. That will certainly appeal to younger readers for whom the ‘net is everything.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and even though I’ve read hundreds of books covering this topic, I learned even more from Joe’s well-researched work. I can easily recommend it to anyone, and don’t let the ‘Boys’ in the title scare you away. It is great for adults too.