While He Was Away

Gr 9 Up—Penna is determined to be a positive "Army girlfriend" while her boyfriend, David, is stationed in Iraq. Faced with the prospect of a year without him, the 18-year-old is wrought with fear, worry, and loneliness. As relative newcomers to Killdeer, a small Oklahoma town, Penna and her mother have few ties to the community beyond the house and restaurant they inherited from her grandfather. Friendless and alone while her mother works long hours, Penna waits for phone calls from David and begins to uncover some family history in the attic. Her contact with him is infrequent, and instead of spending her time preparing her art portfolio for college, she lies in bed rereading his letters. In an attempt to pry Penna from her depression, her mother hires her as a server at the restaurant. Despite her lack of skills as a waitress, Penna begins to make new friends and a new purpose. As her maturity and self-awareness develop, she connects with her mother as well as her estranged grandmother. She also comes to terms with her separation from David. Teens will devour this title quickly despite some stilted dialogue and one-dimensional characters. The ending is realistic and void of any fairy-tale solutions that might diminish the harsh realities of what soldiers often face.—Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD