Born in Paris, as a young boy Yves Masson experienced the hardships of German occupation. Not yet five years old when he is strafed by German dive bombers, Alain learn about war, the random checkpoints and round-ups manned by the occupying army, the lines for food and the increasing scarcity of basic nutrition needs, the horrors of friends taken away, and the nightly fear of being buried in bombing raids. With his friends, Alain survives although being almost shot more than once. Never giving up hope, he welcomes the Allies who liberate Paris and thanks the GIs who freed him from oppression and gave him some of their food. After serving in the French army during the Algerian war, 15 years late, he left France for New York City in 1965 and became a United States citizen in the early seventies. He lived in New York, Georgia, and California, and has made Florida his home state since 2011. After working as a marketing executive in Corporate America and running his own consulting firm, Yves turned to the arts. He is an accomplished portrait artist, but he feels it is more important to share his life experiences with his readers. Yves knows what war does to people and especially to children. His ability to describe the daily fears, the devastating hunger pains, and the despair of deprivation and coercion draws his audience into the struggle for survival of his young characters.