[1] The books follow Adam Pelko, the son of a navy commander stationed at Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese attack of December 7, 1941.
They hear airplanes flying overhead and Davi cheers because he believes these are American planes, but Adam sees they're really Japanese, soon their rowboat explodes, and a piece of wood penetrates Martin’s chest.
Once the Japanese attackers leave the harbor in the morning, Adam runs home with a rifle and makes sure his mother and sister, Bea, are okay.
Critical reception for the Boy at War series has been mixed to positive,[3][4] with Booklist and Publishers Weekly both giving the first book starred reviews.
[5][6] Kirkus Reviews panned the first novel, saying that the writing had a "stilted, wooden quality" and that Mazer "does not effectively involve the reader with the requisite emotional intensity or dramatic narrative".