Jimmy and his brother Frank have always stood together against their alcoholic father. When Frank leaves home to join the army, and is sent to Vietnam, his letters are the only thing that keep Jimmy going.

This book was very depressing. The main characters weren’t terribly likeable, and even though you want to find out if Frank will come home safely, in the end, it doesn’t seem to matter.

An excellent book! Chau Li lived in the mountains of Vietnam. He watched his father being tortured to death by the Viet Cong, while being kept in a small “box.” When an American prisoner is brought to their village and put in the same box, Chau Li knows that he can’t let this man die too. Chau Li risks his live to save David, and soon the two develop a strong friendship. But the the horror of the war rises up again.

Chau Li’s courage and sacrifice is admirable. The horrors and confusions of war are illustrated througout the book. As far as I know, there’s no sequel to this book, but there should be.

A cute story about an 11 year old worry wart with an embarassing mother.

Lisa’s dad was killed in Vietnam. Her mother served as a nurse and is still traumatized by her experiences. Lisa wants to deal with normal middle school things, but instead, she must worry about her mother. When Lisa’s class begins studying the war, in conjunction with the dedication of “The Wall,” the whole family begins to heal.

Cody and Ally fall in love, in spite of their resolve to stay focused on their work. The problem is that Ally has cystic fibrosis, and the prognosis isn’t good.

This was a very typical romance book — nothing too special, and probably not worth my time. There was one point of interest for me though. I’ve read all of Kingsbury’s previous books, and they’ve all been very “Christian” — to the point of being nauseating. The main characters all have this vibrant relationship with God, and he always speaks to them in plain, audible English. This book didn’t use that particular literary device, which was fine with me. But the main characters also weren’t overtly Christian. There were the themes of trust, forgiveness, sacrifice, etc., and God was mentioned a few times very casually, but that’s all. No salvation plan. No conversions. No church services. No long talks about faith. I’m not saying that in order for a book to be Christian, those elements need to be there. But it’s such a noticeable switch from Kingsbury’s other books, it makes me wonder what’s going on.

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