Race Against Death: The Greatest POW Rescue of World War II (Scholastic Focus)

Ages 9 to 12, Grades 4 to 7

A thrilling account of the most daring American P.O.W. rescue mission of World War II.Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America entered World War II, and a new theater of battle opened up in the Pacific. But US troops, along with thousands of Filipino soldiers who fought alongside them, were overtaken in the Philippines by a fiercely determined Japanese navy, and many Americans and Filipino fighters were killed or captured.These American and Filipino prisoners of war were forced to endure the most horrific conditions on the deadly trek known as the Bataan Death March. Then, the American servicemen who were held captive by the Japanese military in Cabanatuan Camp and others in the Philippines, faced beatings, starvation, and tropical diseases, and lived constantly under the threat of death.Unable to forget their comrades’ fate and concerned that these POWs would be brutally murdered as the tides of war shifted in the Pacific, the US Army Rangers undertook one of the most daring and dangerous rescue missions of all time. Aided by the “Angels of the Underground,” the Sixth Ranger Battalion and courageous Filipino guerrilla soldiers set out on an uncertain and treacherous assignment. Often called the Great Raid, this remarkable story remains largely forgotten.Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson presents an extraordinary and unflinching look at the heroic servicemen and women who courageously weathered the worst of circumstances and conditions in service to their country, as well as those who answered the call to save their fellow soldiers.

About the Author

Deborah Hopkinson is the highly acclaimed author of thrilling, accessible, and compelling nonfiction for every reader. She has written over forty award-winning books, including Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist and Sibert Honor Book; D-Day: The World War II Invasion that Changed History; We Had to be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport, which was a Kids' Book Choice Award Nominee and a Sydney Taylor Notable Book; We Must Not Forget; and her series for Grades 2-5, The Deadliest, which are action-packed, photo-filled nonfiction titles about disasters throughout history. Deborah lives outside Portland, Oregon.