Author: Valerie O. Patterson                           
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 192
Genre: Realistic Young Adult
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Ninth-grader Jess Westmark had the best of intentions when she started Operation Oleander to raise money for a girls’ orphanage in Kabul. She named her charity for the oleander that grows both in her Florida hometown and in Afghanistan, where her father is deployed. But on one of her father’s trips to deliver supplies to the orphans, a car bomb explodes nearby and her father is gravely injured. Worse, her best friend’s mother and some of the children are killed, and people are blaming Operation Oleander for turning the orphanage into a military target for the Taliban. Is this all Jess’s fault?

Ope’s Opinion:  This book is so good I am saving it for when my granddaughter gets older.  I have a shelf of books for her, so this one will definitely be on it.

It was good to see the support of the military children.  You hear about the support for adult members, but this really showed the children of the military.

I enjoyed watching the characters develop.  The story moves at a nice, quick pace.  I would like to have heard more about Jess’s coming into this family.

This book should be in school and public libraries.  It would open up a conversation for students with military families.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.