Ironically, after the last WAGW post on how often socioeconomic conditions are largely ignored in teen literature, I just finished reading two middle grade novels that deal with that topic: Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes and Heart of a Shepherd by Roseanne Parry. Both books are about military families coping with having parents deployed (or possibly deployed). In the military the job is also your life, so there is no escaping a discussion of it but still, Holmes and Parry do great jobs at showing the emotional effect this type of work has on their young characters. Everyone tries to buck up and do what they think their parents want or need them to do and yet every single kid thinks that what is happening to them is unfair. They have big things to think about, and honestly, who can blame them?

There is a lot of talk in both books about what will happen to you if/when mom or dad is deployed. In Operation Yes, Gari is sent to live with her aunt and uncle after her single parent mother is recalled and goes to Iraq. In Heart, "Brother" (the youngest of five boys) must pull extra weight on the family ranch with his grandparents after his father's national guard unit is called up. (His older brothers are away in the military or school and his mother is no longer part of the family.) In both cases the issue of single parents is prominent although in Heart there is one family who loses both parents to the unit - and the children are then taken in by relatives. All of these cases show how employment invades and upsets every aspect of their childrens' lives. In Heart, Parry broadens the scope to show how the town is affected when the guard unit leaves - people must cover jobs for everyone to actually keep the town functioning. At one point the older siblings tell Brother to get help from the neighbors for the annual branding - he has to remind them that everyone is in trouble and there is no help. It's a sobering moment and shows how easy it is to forget how pervasive a call-up can be when it does not affect your daily life.

I included both books in my Nov column on world at war - but you don't have to be military to enjoy these stories or find them compelling. Jackie is the one who made me push Heart of a Shepherd up to the top of my stack - her review of how emotional the book is struck a chord with me and yes, I found myself crying over it several times as well. Here's a bit of her review that perfectly explains the religious aspects of the novel:

There was a lot of honesty in this story. It felt like real people in real situations. While religion was portrayed in the best of light, this isn't an "inspirational fiction" book (keep reading, I know that phrase makes many of you shudder). There was a really awesome priest (all the characters, save grandpa, are Catholic) and Brother's grandfather's a devout Quaker. It's the same kind of versatile combination we found in Hattie Big Sky: safe for the wholesome-seekers and entertaining for the heathens. There was no blatant didactics that overshadowed all other features of the story, there were no conversations with, or beseechments to, God, just a quiet religion that served as the foundation of identity for several characters. Or perhaps this is exactly what inspirational fiction should be.

Basically, as the worst kind of Catholic (lapsed) who regards religion with suspicion, this book didn't piss me off AT ALL.

It's interesting to me that two of the most realistic titles for kids I've read in ages are both about military families. Maybe these authors just realize that it's not all about crushes (undead or otherwise) in a lot kids lives - it's about far more serious things, whether they want it to be or not. How refreshing to find some writers not afraid to tell it like it really is.

[Both ARCs from pubs - Sara Holmes and I have emailed in the past. I don't know if that makes us friends exactly but I wanted you to know!] [See Jen Robinson's review of Operation Yes for more.]