War is terrible. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Germany 1914: The everyday life of fourteen-year-old Paul is marked by passionate words full of enthusiasm for war. Paul's father and his older brother enlist as volunteers. "We'll be home by Christmas!" they say. But everything turns out quite differently than expected, and Paul's family nearly falls apart because of this war. Paul increasingly questions what his future will look like, what lies behind the grand words, and what his own words might be.