On the Wings of Heroes

Award-winning author Richard Peck tells the story of life on the home-front during World War II

Davy's older brother Bill is training as an Air Force pilot and is then sent to fight the battles of World War II. Davy is left at home in a town that suddenly seems occupied entirely by kids and old people. But his father, a veteran of World War I, is at home, running a gas station, and Davy clings to any insights he can get from his larger-than-life Dad. Davy also wants to help out the war effort in any way that he can. There's lots of paper and metal-collecting to do, through which Davy and his best friend meet some particularly quirky old folks. But everything changes when Bill goes missing in action. Davy wonders if life will ever return to normal.