A journalistic, accessible adaptation of the earlier book for adult readers, this account by a survivor's son centers on the famous photo of six Marines raising a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. The accurate, engaging text provides the men's pre-war backgrounds, their war service to that time, what they actually did on the island and afterward, and the consequences of the famous photo. Bib., ind. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Newly adapted from a bestseller for adults, Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima by James Bradley with Ron Powers, adapted by Michael French, focuses on one of the most famous of war photographs: the image of six marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. Bradley, son of one of those marines, investigates the lives (and deaths) of the six, closely examining their experiences to detail the brutal battle on the island, the contrast between the sense of victory projected by the photograph and the more ambiguous circumstances behind it, and the bond-raising value of the photo (and of its surviving subjects) to the Treasury Department. A photo insert adds to the immediacy of this memorable work. ( May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 7-10-The American flag being hoisted over Iwo Jima during World War II is a ubiquitous image, and students are repeatedly told that it represents the struggle of war and the triumph of freedom. Reading this magnificent book will make those concepts tangible. A son of one of the "flag raisers," Bradley tells the story of six young men, from different backgrounds and varying experiences, who came together at one moment during "America's most heroic battle" to be spontaneously immortalized by an Associated Press photographer. Solidly adapted from the adult bestseller (Bantam, 2000), this work builds from introductions to the men and the war to a narration of the bloody conquering of the important island, concluding with the celebrity-encouraged by FDR-that followed the picture's worldwide publication. The dramatic fighting, heroic behavior, and patriotic celebrations in which these half-dozen humble individuals played a role are all captured. The author's authoritative sources include the elder Bradley's papers and rare familial recounts of the experience, hundreds of interviews, and a visit to the site of the action. And while justly proud of his father and his country, Bradley strives for fairness and historical accuracy, pointing out that this was the second flag raised that day, the first having been taken down as a souvenir for an officer. History is thus made personally authentic in these pages. A book that deserves a place on school reading lists and in every library.-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.