Torn

July 1, 2013
Massey draws from personal experience as a consultant to London’s counterterrorism unit in his intense and heart-wrenching debut novel. British private Elinor Nielson is only 19 when she is sent to Helmand province in Afghanistan as a medic. Initially, everything is a shock to her: her bunkmate is chilly, the weather is as extreme as the accommodations are basic, and—in a subtly supernatural thread—a girl in a blue dress mysteriously appears in life-threatening situations. Elinor befriends a trio of rowdy but loyal soldiers and is drawn to Ben, an American Navy SEAL, while facing deadly ongoing assaults from both the Taliban and a group of orphaned children, the Young Martyrs. Compassionate and strong, Elinor strikes a deal with Husna, “a homicidal eleven-year-old,” promising to find out the truth about his family’s death in exchange for a truce. Massey delicately and impressively explores military politics, the stress of combat, and the roots of terrorism in a story about the daily pressures of war and the heavy toll it exacts on all parties involved. Ages 14–up.

May 15, 2013
A young medic finds both tragedy and romance while on her first tour of duty in the war in Afghanistan. Nineteen-year-old Elinor Nielson (aka Ellie, aka Buffy) has a brutal introduction to the reality of war when a member of her patrol group steps on an IED. A sniper takes advantage of the chaos, attempting to pick off the rest of the company. The appearance of a mysterious, green-eyed Afghan girl only intensifies the situation. Ellie's quick thinking keeps her fellow soldiers from dying, but more problems await her return to camp. A hostile bunkmate, a spineless commanding officer and the appearance of an elite group of Navy SEALs thrust Ellie into wartime politics. When Husna, a young Afghan boy, is taken into custody for interrogation, it is Ellie who is asked to win his trust. The SEAL commander, Ben, is interested in the proceedings, but he seems equally interested in Ellie. Saturated with realistic details, this wartime mystery adventure is highly explosive. (A lengthy author's note describes Massey's experiences in revolutionary Romania, along with other inspirations, buttressing the story's realism.) The inclusion of cultural and political commentary elevates this above other wartime tales, but underdeveloped characters keep the romantic fireworks to a minimum. Readers who pick it up for the war details will not be disappointed. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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August 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up- Torn follows Ellie, a 19-year-old British medic, during her first few days in Afghanistan. Her squad is attached to a small troop of American SEALs who must find a hidden cache of arms and learn about a children's army that is fighting both the Western Coalition and the Taliban. Ellie becomes a surrogate big sister to a young prisoner of war and also deals with an intense attraction to the commander of the SEALs. This book covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time, which is probably realistic. Teen readers are dropped into the war alongside Ellie, and as she learns to find her feet, they do as well. Massey's writing is clear and down to earth. He conveys the horror of war, but never with gratuitous violence. He creates a solid sense of mood; wartime has intense energy, with almost constant fear and worry, yet there are also moments of calm and peace, and soldiers (and readers) grab onto those moments tightly when they appear. A thread of magical realism meanders through the tale, never enough to take readers out of the story, but enough to make one wonder: Is it the fog of war or something else? This only adds to the appeal of the book. An intriguing mystery and a terrific first novel.-Geri Diorio, Ridgefield Library, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2013
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Vivid and terrifying action sequences light up this intense page-turner featuring a young British medic, Elinor, assigned to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. As if her oddly hostile tent mate, a weak commanding officer, an ambush on patrol, and an RPG attack on the compound aren't challenges enough, the arrival of an American SEAL team, led by a disturbingly attractive lieutenant, sends Elinor's support unit deep into Taliban territory. The mission: to find both a secret arms cache and also a missing journalist and her teenage daughter, Aroush. But Elinor has already seen Aroush, walking unharmed through vicious firefights just before someone dies. Then Aroush disappearsone of several mysteries that ultimately unfold into a tragic, ugly tale involving child warriors, an entire village massacred by drones, and corruption in high places. Displaying the bravado to bill herself the love child of House and Lara Croft, but more than just a standard-issue action hero, Elinor makes a winningly courageous, tough-minded protagonist-narrator who is nonetheless deeply affected by what she sees and experiences. Readers will be, too. (An afterword about children of war not seen.)(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)