Shooting the Moon

December 17, 2007
Reflecting America's changing sentiments toward war, this coming-of-age novel set during the Vietnam era focuses on the internal conflicts of an Army “brat.” At first, 12-year-old Jamie Dexter doesn't understand why her colonel father—a war hero who “runs the show” at a Texas Army base—disapproves of her brother's decision to enlist. But after her brother TJ leaves for Vietnam, Jamie begins to understand that there is more to fighting a war than glory and heroics. Rolls of film sent home by her brother depict gritty scenes, while the dangers become all the more real when Jamie learns that her card-playing buddy, a soldier stationed at her father's base, has lost a brother in Vietnam. Then TJ is reported missing in action. While segments of this story—particularly the climax—seem rushed, readers will get a clear sense of Jamie's growing understanding of her father's fears. Her work developing her brother's film, a skill she learns at the PX, serves as an effective metaphor for her developing awareness of violence and danger, but the symbolic significance of the moon, appearing in TJ's photographs, feels strained. Although the book lacks the fine-tuned characterizations of the author's Dovey Coe
, it succeeds in credibly depicting a girl's loss of innocence. Ages 10-up.

Dowell's coming-of-age story of 12-year-old Jamie Dexter, whose brother is fighting in Vietnam, develops around her understanding of the war and its impact. Many well-developed characters support Jamie, including a card-playing soldier who fills the void her brother, T.J., has left. He helps her decode T.J.'s photographic letters, which juxtapose the beauty in nature with the brutality of war. Dowell's characters are brought to life in Jessica Almasy's reading. Her delivery helps the listener feel the characters' emotions, especially Jamie's, as she takes her journey of discovery, although her delivery makes Jamie sound wiser than her 12 years. Almasy delivers the character's Southern accent consistently, and her pacing and cadence add credence to both the Southern setting and the time period. J.K.R. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine