Lost in the Pacific, 1942 by Tod Olson is set in the Pacific, close to Canton Island during WW2. The genre of this book is non fiction.

The major character of this book is Eddie Rickenbacker, a racecar driver and WW1 fighter plane ace. Eddie was a Medal of Honor recipient and was America’s most successful fighter pilot during WW1. Rickenbacker was 52 at the time. He is seen in the book as serious with very good leadership skills. He appears in the story as a V.I.P. being transported to Canton Island for a top secret mission. When they get close, they can't find the island, run out of fuel, and crash in the ocean. Rickenbacker has the role of being in charge in the story.

The minor characters in this story are Bill Cherry the pilot, Jim Whittaker- the co pilot, Hans Admonson- Rickenbacker’s escort, John Deangelis -the navigator, James Reynolds -the radioman, Alex Kaczmarczyk- the engineer, and Johnny Bartek -the other engineer. They all connect to Rickenbacker because they are transporting him.

(WARNING the next paragraph contains spoilers. If you don’t want the book to be spoiled stop reading.) The story starts right into the action with the events leading up to the crash. Then the book goes into a flashback of the crew getting on the first plane that has one of its brakes fail causing the plane to jerk in one direction during take off. After getting on a different plane they take off without difficulty.

Fast forwarding to when they are starting to crash (The climax) The plane runs out of fuel and they have to survive a crash at sea. Everyone lives but they still have to survive the days at sea. They drift for many days and see some planes, Kaczmarczyk dies, and on the final days, they split up the three rafts and each raft ends up on different islands.

To me, this book is a very good book and is fun to read. You get to learn about the will to live and bravery. I suggest this to all ages because it is an easy read while also being challenging.