Ask Him Why

Title: Ask Him Why
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Published: December 15, 2015 by Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 346
Source: Publisher via BookSparks
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

Ruth and her little brother, Aubrey, are just teenagers when their older brother ships off to Iraq. When Joseph returns, uninjured, only three and a half months later, Ruth is happy he is safe but also deeply worried. How can it be that her courageous big brother has been dishonorably discharged for refusing to go out on duty? Aubrey can’t believe that his hero doesn’t have very good reasons.

Yet as the horrifying details of the incident emerge, Joseph disappears. In their attempts to find him, Ruth and Aubrey discover he has a past far darker than either of them could imagine. But even as they learn more about their brother, important questions remain unanswered—why did he betray his unit, his country, and now his family? Joseph’s refusal to speak ignites a fire in young Aubrey that results in a disastrous, and public, act of rebellion.

The impact of Joseph’s fateful decision one night in Baghdad will echo for years to come, with his siblings caught between their love for him and the media’s engulfing frenzy of judgment. Will their family ever make their way back to each other and find a way to forgive?

My review:

This was an interesting book about a subject that I don't think I've ever read about before. What happens to a family when one of them gets dishonorably discharged, and subsequently court martialed? Especially pertinent is the fact that you are dealing with the ramifications on two members of the family who happen to be teens. The book alternates back and forth between Ruth and her brother Aubrey, and how they deal with the fallout when their beloved brother returns early from a tour of duty. Of course there are also secrets that come out as the story progresses, but most of all we see the struggle that occurs within each teen. We experience their ways of processing their confusion and anger at their brother, their parents, the town, the military, the world around them. Well written, and well paced, I think the only thing I would have liked added was a bit more about the parents. We do see glimpses of them through the teens, but I would have liked a bit more.

Interesting and solid family story about the effect of one sibling's choices on the rest of the family unit.

Thanks to BookSparks for providing a copy of this for my review.