Tank Boys — Stephen Dando-Collins

Published to coincide with the centenary of the outbreak of World War I in 2014, this is a gripping story that brings to life for young readers one of Australia's military victories. Central to the story is 'Mephisto,' a German tank captured by Queensland and Tasmanian soldiers of the 26th Battalion in 1918. Housed today in the Queensland Museum, it's the only surviving WWI German tank in the world. Tank Boys focuses on three boys, two under-age 16-year-old Australians who capture the tank, and a 15-year-old German conscript in the tank's crew. During the battle for the tank, the Australian boys take pity on the German boy, and smuggle him back to their lines in Australian uniform, to save him.