Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The experiences of female soldiers in the military are plainly and honestly depicted…an immersive, powerful tale.
C. Alexander London
Front Lines does what great epics are meant to do: tells us the human side of history with honesty, wit, and clarity. Just because it didn’t happen this way, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Andrew Smith
Michael Grant is a master of twists that not only tear at his readers’ consciences, they hold a mirror up to our here and now and insist we consider what might otherwise be. FRONT LINES is a masterpiece of speculative story crafting.
Booklist (starred review)
★ “The history is illuminating and fascinating, but where Grant excels even more is in the immersive storytelling and compelling bonds among the multifaceted characters. Just as classic war novels demonstrate how war can reveal common humanity, Grant’s exploration of women in battle is no different.
Elizabeth Wein
What if American women had fought alongside men in World War II? Michael Grant gives us a magnificent alternate history that feels so real and right and true it seems impossible that it wasn’t. Every one of these fictional soldiers has wrapped herself around my heart.
Wayne K. Maynard
Fascinating and powerful. This alternate history of WWII is relevant to the American military today, where men and women serve side by side. Men have no monopoly on courage or determination, and they never did. A great book.
Deborah Taylor
One of the strengths of the novel was the way it personalized the World War II era. Despite being alternative history, the well-researched narrative will make this accessible to students seeking to understand a different time.
Crystal Perkins
An AMAZING start to a new series featuring three diverse heroines who have to deal with sexism, racism, and the truth of war while still trying to keep hold of their humanity. This book will pull you in, and never let you go!
Faith Hochhalter
This is a book that should be read by everyone. The story was heart wrenching as well as heart-warming. War is dark and ugly and there were times that reality made the story difficult to read and yet I couldn’t put it down.
Michael Cart
Vivid and visceral, Michael Grant’s remarkable work of alternate history brings World War II to breathtaking life. With its cast of memorable and appealing characters, Front Lines is irresistibly readable and absolutely unforgettable.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-10-06
Three young women supply a gritty grunt's-eye view of World War II in the opener to an ultrahistory series. After a court decision declares women eligible for combat, aimless California farmer's daughter Rio Richlin volunteers for the Army, partly to avenge her sister's death but mostly to keep her best friend company. Diminutive, compassionate, and determined, African-American Frangie Marr enlists for the paycheck, but she also hopes for medical training. And Jewish Rainy Schulterman just wants to pour all her ferocious intelligence and steely will into killing Nazis. Switching among these three viewpoints, the narrative slowly constructs intimate portraits of each, as the "soldier girls" are tested in body and spirit, overcoming laziness, fear, and cockiness. They suffer through boredom, rough conditions, and incompetent commanders as well as routine sexism, racism, and anti-Semitism (authentically, highly offensive language is employed throughout). A framing device ponderous with foreshadowing—along with such standard teen tropes as love triangles and family secrets—keeps the plot moving, but it's the immersive, quotidian details that set up the gripping climax amid the chaos of combat. Bestselling science-fiction author Grant did his research (an extensive bibliography is provided), but the odd and likely unintended consequence of his premise is the erasure of thousands of military women who historically served and fought and died. Still, an engrossing portrayal of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. (Alternate history. 14 & up)
