In the summer of 1984, the war in Vietnam comes home to Samantha Hughes, whose father was killed there before she was born. All she has is a picture of him as a young soldier, and as Sam begins to grapple with the challenges of her own adolescent years, she also finds herself confronting the desire and need to know more about her father and what happened to him and the other American soldiers who served in Vietnam.

Today's students will relate to Sam and her desire to leave her small town for the bigger world versus the pull of a loving boyfriend and family. Her need to confront the controversies and horrors of war and its impact on soldiers and the families they leave behind makes In Country a meaningful book for the current generation of students.

"A brilliant and moving book . . . a moral tale that entwines public history with private anguish." -Los

Angeles Times Book Review

Freshman Common Book: Centenary College, University of South Carolina, Upstate

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 09/01/2020
ISBN: 9780060835170
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.47lbs
Size: 8.26h x 6.28w x 0.69d

Review Citations: Ingram Advance 08/01/2005 pg. 41
Entertainment Weekly 09/04/2015 pg. 44

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 63412 / In Country
Reading Level: 4.6 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 12