The Deserter's Tale by Joshua Key

The Deserter's Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away From the War in Iraq by Joshua Key (with Lawrence Hill)

"I never thought I would lose my country, and I never dreamed it would lose me. I was raised as a patriotic American, taught to respect my country and to believe my president. " So begins this memorable, heart-felt account of Joshua Key's enlistment in the army as a way to lift his growing family out of the poverty of rural Oklahoma. In the book, he tells of his betrayal by a recruiter who guaranteed that he wouldn't see combat, his training that taught him to see Muslims of all ages as non-human terrorists...and his disillusionment when ordered to participate in raids on homes of ordinary citizens or when fellow soldiers used dead Iraqi bodies for sport. He found he could not give voice to any of his questions because anyone who questioned or disobeyed orders was severely ridiculed, punished, locked up, etc. After seven months in Iraq, Key was granted a 2-week home leave. When his return was unexpectedly delayed, he decided to follow his conscience, and he disappeared underground for 14 months with his wife and children before crossing the border into Canada in March 2005. He applied for refugee status.

I ordered this book from Paperback Swap for my mother -- it's the January selection for her book club. When it arrived, I couldn't put it down. Joshua Key provides a unique perspective on experiences in Iraq -- I pray that the war ends soon.

An Internet search revealed that Canada's Immigration & Refugee Board denied Joshua Key's initial request for refugee status; however, on July 4, 2008, Federal Court ordered the board to hold a new hearing for Key's refugee claim. This is considered a landmark decision by Justice Barnes; no further updates at this time.

What are you reading??

I really miss seeing what everyone is currently reading!

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

"The summer I was thirteen, the Japanese came to Ellis. Not Ellis, exactly, but to the old Tallgrass Ranch, which the government had turned into a relocation camp. Tallgrass was a mile and a half from Ellis, less than a mile past our farm, and it was one of the camps the government was building then to house the Japanese...." so begins the book, told from young Rennie's viewpoint as she watches the Japanese arrive and the events in the town unfold around her and in front of her. Life is no longer the same; instead, her sister leaves unexpectedly to live in Denver, her brother Buddie enlists and is captured in Europe, and Rennie is left to care for her ill Mother and forgetful grandmother. But when Rennie's best friend is raped and murdered, tensions in the town heighten and people point accusingly at the Japanese 'invaders.' Rennie's family surrounds her with lots of integrity, honesty, humor, and love as they face challenges together. This is an excellent coming of age book...with some good twists and surprises.

About 3 years ago, we stopped just west of Granada, Colorado at the site of Amache, the World War II Japanese relocation camp. There is little left except for a tower, concrete slabs all precisely arranged, and a cemetery. This past October, we stopped again, and new signage guides the visitor to learn more about the camp history. It's a sobering statement of how Americans treated Americans...and a must-see if you are traveling along US 56 in eastern Colorado.

For more info on this book, take a look on Sandra Dallas' website: http://www.sandradallas.com/fiction/tallgrass.html

For more info on Amache, the camp upon which Tallgrass is loosely based, see http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/wwcod/granada.htm and http://www.amache.org/

I'm All About the YA LIt Lately

It's a hazard of the job...books come across your desk that catch your eye and you find yourself thinking..."ooo I've got to read this book!!"

Tamar by Bill Peet

Carnegie Medal winner

also on 5 "best books" lists

In England in 1995, fifteen-year-old Tamar, grief-stricken by the puzzling death of her beloved grandfather, slowly begins to uncover the secrets of his life in the Dutch resistance during the last year of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and the climactic events that forever cast a shadow on his life and that of his family. [My note: a real shocker of an ending!]

Huck Finn & Tom Sawyer Among the Indians by Mark Twain and Lee Nelson

Mark Twain began this story in 1885 and then stopped in mid-sentence and never finished it! Lee Nelson has done such a fine job of finishing the story that if one doesn't know where Twain stopped, you'd never know where Nelson begins. It's a rip-snorting adventure! Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer mount a daring rescue after their friend Jim, a runaway slave, as well as the daughters of a family that had befriended the boys, are kidnapped by a group of Sioux Indians.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

YA National Book Award Finalist

Anyone steeped in traditional fairy tales will feel nothing but admiration for the way Leavitt constructs this story with the voice of 16 yr. old Keturah. When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck

In only 112 pages, this is a masterfully told story. The emotions and reactions struck me as being so universal. A beautiful, provincial Norwegian town is invaded by German soldiers. An act of brutality begins an uncontrollable, unalterable chain of events.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

YA National Book Award Winner 2008

In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever. Great coming of age story for teen girls.