Skip to Main Content

About The Book

JAMIE THINKS HER FATHER CAN DO ANYTHING....

UNTIL THE ONE TIME HE CAN DO NOTHING.


When twelve-year-old Jamie Dexter's brother joins the Army and is sent to Vietnam, Jamie is plum thrilled. She can't wait to get letters from the front lines describing the excitement of real-life combat: the sound of helicopters, the smell of gunpowder, the exhilaration of being right in the thick of it. After all, they've both dreamed of following in the footsteps of their father, the Colonel.

But TJ's first letter isn't a letter at all. It's a roll of undeveloped film, the first of many. What Jamie sees when she develops TJ's photographs reveals a whole new side of the war. Slowly the shine begins to fade off of Army life - and the Colonel. How can someone she's worshipped her entire life be just as helpless to save her brother as she is?

From the author of the Edgar Award-winning Dovey Coe comes a novel, both timely and timeless, about the sacrifices we make for what we believe and the people we love.

About The Author

Photograph (c) Clifton Dowell

Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I’d Like to BeThe Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far AwayChicken BoyShooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Award; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling InThe Second Life of Abigail Walker, which received three starred reviews; Anybody Shining; Ten Miles Past NormalTrouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; The ClassHow to Build a Story; and most recently, Hazard. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (October 27, 2009)
  • Length: 176 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781416998600
  • Grades: 5 - 9
  • Ages: 10 - 14
  • Lexile ® 890 The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

Browse Related Books

Awards and Honors

  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List
  • CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
  • NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • CBC/NCSS Notable Children's Book in Social Studies
  • Christopher Award
  • Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee
  • Capital Choices Noteworthy Books for Children's and Teens (DC)
  • Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book
  • Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List (IL)
  • Virginia Readers' Choice Award List
  • Golden Sower Award Nominee (NE)
  • Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)
  • Cybils Award Finalist

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Frances O'Roark Dowell