This review contains major spoilers, so if you want to read it do not read further.

Sentries is a book that explodes at the very end. Both literally and metaphorically. Until this end, all the reader sees is the stories of four different teenagers who are trying to live their lives. There is a farmer, an illegal immigrant, an up and coming musician, and a Native fighting their heritage. In between these vignettes, there are shorter pieces about the fate of three different soldiers in war. None of this connects until the last short piece, which begins to describe how the fourth war will be nuclear, and begin with a click. It then goes into a description of a white tiger and cubs who turn to look at the sun and... click. The end. What makes the ending so horrifying is the fact that there is no warning. None of the vignettes say anything about impending war, which is apt in a time when war can be started in a second. One gets to like the characters just as they all die. Its understatement and shocking final word is what makes the novel so effective.

Strange story about four different people; a girl who wants to be allowed to farm sheep alongside her family, a Mexican who sneaks across the border to pick beets etc. The story doesn't really seem to come together - kind of weird. ( )

Boring cover – very 70s. 4 separate kids across America try to find what they are looking for out of life, interspersed with tales from different wars. Not one of Paulsen’s best although there is one harrowing story about the Korean war where a sniper called Ray is forced to use his talents in the most terrible way.p.61 –72 about a soldier who realizes the reality of war too late. (WW2)