Book excerpt: During the last years of World War II a young paratrooper—lost and scared in the Belgian forest—has little to rely on buy his memories . . . memories of his boyhood growing up poor in the cotton fields of Georgia, surrounded by the warmth and love of family and friends. Working hard, playing hard, watching out for five brothers and sisters and a girl named Ruthie, it is clear that the boy who becomes a soldier has learned to listen to his heart. Told in a flowing Southern vernacular and in strong and beautiful paintings that contrast the harshness of war with the beauty of the rural South, Peggy Mercer and Ron Mazellan have created a tale that is heart-piercing and haunting in turns—but unfailingly reminds us that we share a basic humanity.