Barbara's Summer Reading Reviews - Dogtag Summer (Historical Fiction and excellent story that is perfect for summer reading)

Title: Dogtag Summer

Award-Winning Author Elizabeth Partridge  2016 California Young Reader Medal Winner   (Middle School/Junior High Category)

Accelerated Reader Level: 4.5, 6pts.
Historical Fiction

Summary: Tells the story of the Vietnam conflict from the viewpoint of a tween during summer vacation before starting middle school.  Dogtag Summer guides the reader on a mesmerizing journey through the events of this controversial war. It is an amazing story told from this young person's perspective. There are discussion questions at the end of the story that students and parents can discuss.  This story is historically accurate and interesting if you are into war, family relationships, friendships, and special bonds that keep us united. Perfect selection for summertime reading!  Themes: Consequences of war, adoption, and friendship.

CYRM Review:  2015-2016 Winner - Middle School/Junior High

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Tracy--or Tuyet--has always felt different. The villagers in Vietnam called her con-lai, or "half-breed," because her father was an American GI. And she doesn't fit in with her adoptive family in California, either. But when Tracy and a friend discover a soldier's dogtag hidden among her father's things, it sets her past and her present on a collision course. Where should her broken heart come to rest? In a time and place she remembers only in her dreams? Or among the people she now calls family? Partridge's sensitive portrayal of a girl and her family grappling with the complicated legacy of war is as timely today as the events were decades ago.