Blindspot

By Kevin C. Pyle

The forest outside Dean Tollridge's new home is filled with traps, ambush sites, and enemy outposts that are ideal for 11-year-old Dean to launch war campaigns with his friends. In school Dean ignores his teacher in favor of planning war strategies. Using expressive panels in the green and brown tones of camouflage, writer-artist Pyle looks at a boy's fascination with war and adventure--and, like many boys, his ignorance of danger and consequences. The mission that Dean and his friends undertake, which is highlighted by full-color panels depicting the soldiers the boys imagine themselves to be, eventually leads the kids to destroy an old shack in the woods. In an instant, the boisterous fun becomes serious, and adult life intrudes on a boy's world.  Booklist