CRACKER IS ONE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMYS MOST VALUABLE WEAPONS a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs traps and the enemy The fate of entire platoons rests on her keen sense of smell Shes a Big Deal and she likes it that way Sometimes Cracker remembers when she was younger and her previous owner would feed her hot dogs and let her sleep in his bed That was nice too Rick Hanski is headed to Vietnam There hes going to whip the world and prove to his family and his sergeant -- and everyone else who didnt think he was cut out for war -- wrong But sometimes Rick cant help but wonder that maybe everyone else is right Maybe he should have just stayed at home and worked in his dads hardware store When Cracker is paired with Rick she isnt so sure about this new owner Hes going to have to prove himself to her before shes going to prove herself to him They need to be friends before they can be a team and they have to be a team if they want to get home alive Told in part through the uncanny point of view of a German shepherd Cracker is an action-packed glimpse into the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a dog and her handler Its an utterly unique powerhouse of a book by the Newbery Medal-winning author of Kira-Kira.
