No Man's Land by S. T. Underdahl

This probably was written as bibliotherapy.  The author is a neuropsychologist who treats folks with Post Traumatic Stress disorder.  The best audience for this title might be friends of teens who are dealing with the issue.  It could help in understanding what that friend is going through.

Dov is the younger brother of a recent  high school graduate who was a success in school and appears to be on his way to being a success in adult life.  He had joined the army reserves, he was getting married and going off to college.  Then, unexpectedly his unit was deployed to Afghanistan.  His family is tense with worry about him. Reader's can feel the tension.  When an improvised explosive device explodes and kills all but Brian, the family is relieved that Brian is coming home.  Only it isn't the same Brian who left.  But, they want him to be.  They celebrate, make his favorite meals, take him to his favorite places, even hunting.  The hunting trip seems counter intuitive.  I just cannot believe that the parents are so clueless to think that someone just returning from violence would want the hunting trip.  Its on this trip that it first very obvious that something is amiss.  Brian just doesn't behave normally.  And Dov discovers a pistol in Brian's duffel.  Dov has seen other questionable behavior such as heavy drinking and patrolling during the night and shared with a friend who suspects PTSD.  Its when Dov is driving the still physically recovering Brian to get yet more alcohol and arguing with Brian that things come to a head.  Dov hits the car of a friend who's father wears a turban and Brian draws his pistol to secure the area as if back in Afghanistan.  I think the disorder is well explained.  I could feel the family's wish that everything was ok and looking the other way until they could no longer do so.  I enjoyed the part about the poetry discovered and how clueless Dov was about Miranda.  Scarlett seemed like a vehicle to make the story work rather than a fully realized character.  Both Scarlett and Dov turn up working jobs all of a sudden.  While not unrealistic, those jobs were mentioned only once and were no way expected or woven into the story.  So they seemed like filler words.  That's what bothered me, but then I like character driven stories better than issue driven stories.  Overall its an ok story for teens wanting to know more about PTSD in a nonclinical way.  JDW6/5

I'll Be There by Sloane

This book gets it's title from the Michael Jackson song by that name. Two brothers, one an older teen and one almost a teen have been dragged all over the country by their father who hates government, laws and just about everything else. The boys are just a front to give him a look of respectability. He ran from the kids mother with them when Sam, the eldest was just a second grader and Riddle just two years old. Riddle has never been to school, Sam hasn't been since second grade. What they know they are self taught, except for the survival skills they learned watching their father. The man, Clarence Border, has post traumatic stress syndrome and probably some other problems as well, perhaps alcoholism and schizophrenia. Clarence gets enough money to survive on by stealing and fencing his loot. He concentrates on smaller easier to fence items and there are plenty of those, usually, if you know where to look. At the beginning of the story they have just arrived in a middle sized college town and are living in an abandoned house and their truck at the poor end of town. Sam has an ear for music and has taken to attending church services on Sunday just to listen. On this particular Sunday, in this particular church Sam hears a girl, about his age, do a flat solo then flee the church. Their eyes met while she was singing, he goes to her outside to comfort her then vanishes. The girl, Emily, finds Sam and they connect very deeply, truly. Her family, knows by the way he dresses, his mannerisms and so forth that he is not from the same type of life that Emily lives. Rather than alienate their daughter they set out to get to know the young man and discover his incredible musical talent. They also get involved in Riddle's life. The pair, who are devoted to each other, are living a life they didn't know was possible when their father finds out and runs again. This time things go wrong, their truck crashes, Sam is thrown down a cliff and Riddle jumps after him. Their father is also thrown and badly injured. The story becomes a survival story, the two boys down the cliff and the father in the truck he has managed to return to. They are in a wilderness area. It is some time before humans come across the survivors. The story does flash to Emily's life in the aftermath of their disappearance including trying not to go to prom with annoying classmate Bobby Ellis who tries to do everything just right but in the end hilariously does it all wrong. Finally the story comes to a happy ending, which we mostly expect all along but which is interesting and fun getting to. The devotion of the two boys to each other is especially touching. Their survival reminds me of Paulsen's book Hatchet. JDW 6/14