Product Description

Nicknamed after his hometown of Kakabeka, Canada, Kak dreams of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. So at 16, underage and desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists in the Canadian Air Force. Soon he is trained as a wireless operator and sent to a squadron in England, where he’s unabashedly gung ho about flying his first op. He thinks the night ops over Germany will be like the heroic missions of his favorite comic-book heroes. Good will vanquish evil. But his first time out, in a plane called B for Buster, reveals the ops for what they really are—a harrowing ordeal.

The bombing raids bring searchlights . . . artillery from below . . . and night fighters above hunting to take the bombers down. One hit, Kak knows, and B for Buster, along with him and his six crewmates, could be destroyed.

Kak is terrified.

He can’t confide his feelings to his crew, since he’s already worried that they’ll find out his age. Besides, none of them seem afraid. Only in Bert, the slovenly caretaker of the homing pigeons that go on every op, does Kak find an unlikely friend. Bert seems to understand what the other men don’t talk about—the shame, the sense of duty, and the paralyzing fear. As Kak seeks out Bert’s company, he somehow finds the strength to face his own uncertain future.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1052570 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-10
• Released on: 2006-01-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–Filled with Buck Rogers-inspired dreams of heroic battles against the forces of evil and partly to escape an abusive, alcoholic father, 16-year-old Kak lies about his age to enlist in the Canadian Air Force in 1943. He becomes a wireless operator, flying night bombing raids over Germany from a base in Yorkshire. His fellow crew members on the antiquated Halifax bomber, B for Buster, have no idea Kak is underage, but his secret is well known to squadron member Donny Lee, another native of tiny Kakabeka. Before his own final flight, Donny urges Kak to reveal his age to their CO and be sent home, but the teen refuses, unable to imagine the overwhelming fear and terrifying dreams he will experience after his first mission. Kak's one solace is his growing friendship with Bert, the caretaker of the homing pigeons that are sent along on every op to carry back news of the fates of any bombers that don't return. One pigeon becomes Kak's good-luck companion. The pigeoneer's own secret past gives him a particularly deep empathy for Kak's fears and efforts to comprehend the nature of bravery and duty. Just as he did so masterfully in Lord of the Nutcracker Men (Delacorte, 2001), Lawrence captures the eagerness and idealism of the new recruit slowly turning to disillusionment and horror as he experiences the grim realities of battle and death. This is a lyrical coming-of-age novel and a fascinating bit of aviation history.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. Set during the spring of 1943, Lawrence's novel is a harrowing account of combat told from the perspective of 16-year-old Kak. Like Jack in Harry Mazer's The Last Mission (1979), Kak lies about his age in order to join the air force. But Jack, a Jewish American, wants to fight Hitler; Kak, nicknamed for his tiny Canadian hometown, just wants to flee his loveless, abusive parents and "like Captain Marvel . . . change [himself] from a boy to a hero." After his first "op," though, Kak is deeply shaken. Bert, who cares for the pigeons, finds a way to comfort the boy by putting a prize pigeon in his care. The dense mechanical specifics of planes and equipment may slow some readers, but the tender lessons of courage that Kak learns from Bert and his bird are captivating. In Kak's young, raw voice, Lawrence writes a gripping, affecting story about the thrill of flying, the terrifying realities of war, and the agony of reconciling personal fears and ideals with duty and bravery. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap
Nicknamed after his hometown of Kakabeka, Canada, Kak dreams of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. So at 16, underage and desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists in the Canadian Air Force. Soon he is trained as a wireless operator and sent to a squadron in England, where he?s unabashedly gung ho about flying his first op. He thinks the night ops over Germany will be like the heroic missions of his favorite comic-book heroes. Good will vanquish evil. But his first time out, in a plane called B for Buster, reveals the ops for what they really are?a harrowing ordeal.

The bombing raids bring searchlights . . . artillery from below . . . and night fighters above hunting to take the bombers down. One hit, Kak knows, and B for Buster, along with him and his six crewmates, could be destroyed.

Kak is terrified.

He can?t confide his feelings to his crew, since he?s already worried that they?ll find out his age. Besides, none of them seem afraid. Only in Bert, the slovenly caretaker of the homing pigeons that go on every op, does Kak find an unlikely friend. Bert seems to understand what the other men don?t talk about?the shame, the sense of duty, and the paralyzing fear. As Kak seeks out Bert?s company, he somehow finds the strength to face his own uncertain future.

Customer Reviews

A Boy And His Bird
Young Kak is only sixteen when he runs away from home, pretends he's an orphan, and winds up far away from his native Canada overseas in the wilds of Yorkshire (England) on an air base preparing to train for the flight crew of a Halifax bomber. The first man he runs into is someone from his home town, Donny Lee, the only one in England who might guess his secret--that he is underage.

Thus the novel depends on an amazing coincidence which cripples its credibility right at the start. However, once that nonsense is out of the way, we get a tender and yet exciting war story about the relationship between a flight crew and their pigeon. Yes, you heard me right, apparently before each sortie over occupied Europe a homing pigeon was brought on board and used for all sorts of things, but in Kak's case, little Percy, exquisitely described by teacher Lawrence, becomes his only friend. At first Kak is turned off by Bert, the pigeoneer, dirty and messy, slovenly and fragrant, butb then when he finds out Bert's "back story" he becomes more sympathetic, if horrified. Because there but for the Grace of God went he himself.

All the boys in the flight crew carry a lucky charm of some sort; one carries a handkerchief doused with a woman's perfume somewhere on his body, and young Kak wears a ring with a ray-gun on it. He is a comics fan and loves SUPERMAN and BUCK ROGERS. The epilogue reveals that all of this story was based on reality, and it is Lawtence's tribute to the brave Canadian boys who went to war against the Nazi menace.

I didn't realize this was a book meant for kids, but it did strike me as improbable the ultra clean language of these bombadiers. About the raciest thing any of them says is "Wheezy jeezy,"--oh, and one of the British speakers under extreme provocation exclaims, "What a bloody balls-up." Outside of that, dialogue is not Iain Lawrence's forte, but he is such a good storyteller that you will forgive him such primness.

B For Buster review
Desperate to escape from a negligent home with an alcholic father, 16 year old Kak lies about his age and enlists in the Canadian Army. He expects it to be like the adventures of his favorite comicbook heroes, where good vanquish's evil and after it's over everything is going to be fine. After his first op in a plane that has had almost every part of it reparied, he realizes that the ops are really terrifing and he finds himself scared to even get back on the plane. He finds himself befriending the pigeoneer and finds comfort in talking to him and spending time with the pigeons. Kak cant keep this up forever and after his friend from his hometown dies he realizies what can hapen to him or his crew at any time. Even though it started out slow, I thought this was very well writen and anyone who enjoys reading books about World War II should pick up "B For Buster".

A SUMMER READING I ACTUALLY ENJOYED
I chose this book off a list of books to read over the summer. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good WWII story that really shows the psychological toll the war took on its soldiers as well as page-turning action. A book that I thought would take me a month to read, I read in three days. Its one you can't put down.