Before the United States entered World War I, young Americans went to France to be fighter pilots, joining the Lafayette Escadrille. This fictional version follows a laconic Texas rancher, an eager Nebraska kid, a Black boxer already in France, and a New York swell, as they arrive green for training, get their baptism by fire when German planes ambush them on their first mission, and graduate to heroics. Rawlings, the Texan, falls in love with a young woman he meets at a bordello. Keeping their eyes on them are Captain Thenault and Cassidy, the resident ace, who keeps a pet lion. Can the boys measure up?

This is the story of a ten-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle, who has just moved to a new neighborhood, has no friends, and is the target for the local bully and his gang. His parents are leaving for a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, so they are too busy to attend to his problems. His sister is distracted by her cellular phone, and the grandmother is obsessed with UFOs and aliens. Lucas is constantly being beat up by the obese yet intimidating neighborhood bully. Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard; He kicks it, stomps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it with a hose. This terrifies the ants, who call Lucas the Destroyer. One wizard ant, known as Zoc being a hopeful and adventurous type, is trying to solve this dilemma. He tries to devise a magic potion that he believes will solve all their problems. As the plan to shrink Lucas down...