VVMBookBlog

It’s a dog story. It’s historical fiction–late 1960’s during the Vietnam War. It makes us think about things happening today in the war in Iraq. And it’s just a good story.

Mark’s brother, Danny, has volunteered to fight in the Vietnam War, and has heard that they also need dogs to train to be scouts, guard dogs, and other jobs. So Mark decides to do his patriotic duty and volunteer his German shepherd, Wolfie, thinking Wolfie will come home after his tour of duty in Vietnam. But that’s not how it works, and now it’s too late to get Wolfie back.

Wolfie’s handler, Tucker, becomes like another brother to Mark. Tucker sends letters to Mark as if they were from Wolfie, telling Mark about their training sessions, and then after they arrive in Vietnam, the letters tell about things Wolfie does as a “working dog” and how all the soldiers feel so good having Wolfie around. But this doesn’t satisfy Mark’s concern about what will happen to Wolfie in the future. What can he do to get the Army to give him some answers??

The emotions and opinions felt by Americans during the Vietnam War are so much like those today about the war in Iraq. Who’s right and who’s wrong, and how can we disagree and still get along with each other? In addition, the Cantrell’s neighbor, Effie, who escaped the Holocaust in Germany during World War II, adds more to think about when she shares her experiences. Lots to think about in this book, and wouldn’t it be nice to have a great dog like Wolfie?

After you read this, Google “war dogs” and see how dogs have helped out our troops in past wars and now, too.

We’ve all heard of the phrase “last chance” referring to a last opportunity to do or get something, often that last gas station before a long stretch of road or desert with NO gas for miles. Well, Kindle House is that final group home before kids are placed in a REALLY horrible high-security facility called Rabbit Island. And for 15-year-old Lucy Pitt who had been “in the system” and lived in group homes for 8 years since her parents were killed in a car accident, problems in other group homes lead her now to Kindle House and her last chance at a decent place to live.
Kindle House seemed different though, and MOST of the people who worked there seemed to Lucy like they were decent people. The kids in her new school, though, looked down on group home kids and Lucy got off to a bad start with the principal. Problems among the group home kids and problems with kids at school create the possibility for more problems or solutions to Lucy’s tough life, depending on the decisions she makes. What will her future look like?

Some thoughts about “language” in young adult books: Authors writing books for young adults make use of words depending on the context of the story they are telling. This author has made rather frequent use of words that are probably a realistic part of the vocabulary of a person who has grown up in group homes, but words that are considered inappropriate in other settings, like at school. This book may have had the same impact if the author had chosen to use other less controversial words, but writing it as he did is his right as an author and then it’s up to us whether to buy/check out the book or not. And that’s when it becomes a problem for us as media specialists and teachers. If we decided NOT to buy ANY books that contained controversial language, we would be overlooking some great books written for young adults. So we buy books based on their overall merit, using our judgment and the judgment of other reviewers to take from the story whatever we can learn about ourselves and our world.

What do you think?