On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck

A sacred Halloween ritual was pinning horns. If a Halloweener could get into a car, he'd jam one end of a stick into the horn on the steering wheel and the other end into the back of the seat. Then he'd run like the devil while the car owner had to come out and unstick the horn before the battery ran down. Car horns went off all over town. One went off right then, over on Summit. Dad was waiting for business, and the windows were down for bait. (18)

Richard Peck's On the Wings of Heroes tells the story of Davy Bowman, whose homelife has been turned upside down by World War II. His older brother is off to train, and ultimately fly, B-17s overseas. This breaks his father's heart, who fought in World War I and thought he was making the world a safer place for his sons. Instead, rations and scrap drives become everyday occurrances, and Davy must adjust to all these changes.

AMY