Morpurgo, Michael

This is a novel of identity, loss and the lingering effects of war. Michael does not remember his father, who died in a Spitfire over the English Channel. And his mother, heartbroken and passionate, does not like to talk about him. But then Michael's aunt gives him a medal and a photograph, which begin to reveal a hidden story. A story of love, loss and secrets. A story that will change everything--and reveal to Michael who he really is.

Fourteen-year-old Thomas Peaceful decides join the British Army to prove himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself.

In 1940 England, stuck in a train tunnel while German fighter jets fly overhead, Barney hears an unlikely story of a highly decorated World War I soldier who once had a chance to kill young Adolf Hitler.

As a young boy, Michael is told not to stare at his grandfather, disfigured in World War II. When Michael spends summers with him in the Scilly Isles, he gets to know the man behind the scars.