Description In a tiny Russian-occupied Polish village, twelve-year-old Patryk and his friends entertain themselves with dares—some more harmful than others— until Germans bomb the schoolhouse and the Great War crashes in. The ringleader of the friends devises the best dare yet: whichever boy steals the finest military button will be king. Newbery Medalist Avi delivers an unflinching tale of boys in wartime determined to prove themselves with a dare that spins disastrously out of control.