Private Peaceful forces himself to stay awake all night by remembering how he got to where he is today: a soldier in the Great War. He can't fall asleep so he must think of everything that he can from home and his family. He starts from the first day of school and ends right up to before he sat down for watch. The chapters are both moving and informative, with characters so real that they could be people you grew up with. This novel earned particular points with me for three reasons: it went in a direction that I didn't expect at the end; the situation and the characters had me talking to the narrative aloud, which is something that doesn't happen that often; and I became so engrossed in the story that when my roommate said "Um" next to me, I jumped and yelled at her to leave me be because I was in the middle of a war. Historical fiction is not my go-to genre at all and I fell in love with this book. Excellent, excellent read.