Enduring Freedom – Jawad Arash and Trent Reedy, Algonquin Young Readers, (9781643750408), 2021
Format: Paperback
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4
Genre: Realistic fiction
What did you like about the book? Joe Killian, 19, is deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 hoping to perform the role of journalist and to fight for his country in retaliation for the 9/11 bombings. Instead he is assigned to a reconstruction mission. He is billeted next door to 16-year-old Baheer and his family, a large family that values education and honesty. A surprising friendship develops between the two boys as they learn of each other’s lives and countries. The story alternates between the two boys presenting each realistically, giving the reader the mesh of different cultures.
Anything you did not like about the book? I found the story lagged in places but overall was riveting.
To whom would you recommend this book? This might be a good choice for readers who liked the military stories of Walter Dean Myers like Sunrise Over Fallujah and Fallen Angels.
Who should buy this book? Public and high school libraries
Where would you shelve it? YA Fiction
Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No.
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Retired Librarian, Editor of Youth Services Book Review
Date of Review: 7/13/2021
Youth Services Book Review 
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