“Stay low, don’t bunch up, and run like heck”.  This is what 18 year old Ray is told when he is about to land on the beach for the invasion of Okinawa – one of the bloodiest battles in the World War II Pacific War.  The book Grenade by Alan Gratz is about two characters – Ray and Hideki.  Ray is from Nebraska and quit his life on the farm to fight for the Marines.  Before he knows it, he is handed an M-1 rifle, a helmet, and a uniform and shipped off to Okinawa, an island off of Japan, to fight for the U.S.  In the beach invasion, he expects to be charging in, with explosives all around him. However, when he arrives, the beach is empty, and he is forced to keep moving towards the mainland and clear out family tombs and caves of the local people.  Ray knows he was sent here to help win a strategic battle in WWII, but he doesn’t want to kill innocent Okinawans. On the other side of the battle a boy named Hideki lives in Okinawa, and goes to a local school. As the U.S bombings start, he is given two clay grenades from his instructor in the Blood and Iron student corps.  He is told that one is to kill as many Americans as he can, and the other is to kill himself. Troubled and not sure of himself, he sets out with his fellow students to hide in caves, ambush American camps, and run away from the fighting. He doesn’t know what has been captured or given up, he only knows the enemy is everywhere.  Both Ray and Hideki will have to find their way through the horrors of war, heart pounding escapes, and the monsters on both sides to find their true selves. Will Ray adjust to life on the battlefield and survive the invasion? Will Hideki get away from the fighting to save himself? Or will the war take both of their lives? Read Grenade by Alan Gratz to find out!