The best book in the eighth grade, in my opinion is “Brothers In Arms” by Paul Langan. I can easily explain the whole book, and tell you why this book is important but I’d like you to read a quick summary.

The big white van turned the corner, bam! bam! bam! Martin’s life changed forever. In the book Brothers In Arms Martin Luna is in deep trouble. Just a couple months ago a horrible tragedy took his little brothers life away, and threatened to take him too. His mother now decides they have to move to keep Martin out of trouble; only things end up getting worse. Martin is not ready for a new life, he only wants revenge, but his mother disagrees.

In this book the main character is Martin Luna a sixteen-year-old gang member who wants revenge for his little brothers death. On the other hand there is his mother who disagrees and only wants the best for her last baby. Martin is torn between the two, his old neighborhood and revenge or his new life and moving on.

Martin hated that his little brother always followed him, but now that he is gone he regrets pushing him away. Martin seeks only for revenge. To pull him away his mother moves him to a new city. Their life turns into a big situation of disagreements.

These disagreements are really about revenge and fear. Martin is having feelings of avenging his brothers’ death; after all it was his mother who said, “Make sure you take care of your brother.” Now Martin is living with the guilt of not protecting his younger brother. Revenge is the only way he knows to help him alleviate the pain of his brothers’ death. On the other hand his mother is still grieving the loss of her youngest son and living in fear at the potential loss of her oldest. Martin’s mom pleads with him to not seek out to destroy his brother’s killers. She says, “Tell me you won’t and I will believe you.” The thought of loosing both sons is too much for her to bear.

Throughout the entire book there is a constant battle of emotion between Martin and him, and his mother. Martin is constantly feeling conflicted, one minute he wants to find and kill his brothers murderer and the next minute he can hear his brothers voice saying “This is not the way.” This internal struggle is happening throughout the entire book. At the same time martins strongest family influence, his mother, is trying to teach him that some things have to be let go.
In the final chapter of Brother In Arms, Martin takes the right path due to his mothers and brothers’ strong influence. He realizes that the gang was only using him to fight their battles by lying to him saying it’s all to avenge his brothers’ death. Martin decides he would rather live with the thought of his brother being proud of him rather than the thought of regret put on him by his family.

Now, try to explain to me, that this book ISNT great; I believe this book can really pull in any reader. Its strong family influence and mature word choice can really impact anyone’s life. Believe me when I say this book Brothers In Arms really is the best book of the eighth grade. ?