Reading Challenge Book Review #5

I just finished this contemporary fiction book last evening.

Another good one from this author.

I haven't read all of her books, but I've read several and have enjoyed every one.

This one was excellent!!

Story Summary

  The story takes place, for the most part, in Washington state.  (near Seattle).  Some of the book takes place in Iraq.

The main characters revolve around 2 families.  The main family is Michael and Jolene Zarkades and their 2 daughters, Betsy (age 12) and LuLu(age 4).  They are the typical suburban family:  Mom is in the National Guard part time and Dad is a criminal defense attorney.  Betsy is in junior high and LuLu, at the beginning of the book, is in preschool.  Michael's mom lives nearby and helps out from time to time.  Like most couples in the 21st century, they have many pressures----children, careers, bills, chores.....and their 12 year marriage is slowly falling apart.

Suddenly, Jolene and her best friend Tami, get called to serve in Iraq. They fly Black Hawks. Michael must stay home and manage the house, the children and his job.  It is agonizing for Jolene to leave but she is a soldier and made a promise to protect her country.  She writes letters and emails home describing life in Iraq somewhat differently from her reality.  She is trying to shield her family from the truth.

But...war will change Jolene.  In ways that her family would never guess!  When tragedy strikes, Michael must face some dark fears and fight a battle of his own......for his family.

MY THOUGHTS

This book takes an honest look at families who have a veteran or member in the current military. It really describes very well the toll that war takes on the American family and also describes the stresses of a modern marriage.

I found my self learning a lot about the war on terrorism that we don't hear about from the media.  Although this is fiction, the story-line is such that we know these things, like PTSD, and losing a limb, really do happen to our veterans. (post traumatic stress disorder).  It is VERY sad to me that our VA hospitals do not give the vets the kind of help they really need. (emotional/mental).  It also taught me to be thankful for all the people currently (and in the past) serving our wonderful country, the United States of America.

In in my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.