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Summary: "The Road Home" is a love story couched in the harshness war
Review: "The Road Home" by Ellen Emerson White, is a love story couched in the harshness of the Vietnam War. The auther created a feel of chaos and pain with in the first two chapters. The main character, Rebecca, is surrounded by the mass confution of the hospital staff as the casualties roll in like waves crashing on a beach. She was in an accident prior to the start of the book. When you first meet her, she's all drugged up on painkillers. The staff is working in 24 hour shifts. During one of Rebecca's shifts, she gets in a heated argument with one fo the pre-op doctors. She then steels his case. I felt that Ellen's characters were sutible and unforgetable. rebeccas C.O. is one such character. When Rebecca was braught in with a briken ankle, she stayed by her side the whole time, wating for her to get better. Another great character would be Mike. He's Rebecca's boy friend, and was comander of the grunt unite that found her. He later comes in the the hospital for a frag wound, recovers, and is shipped state side. The second half of the book started to drag. Rebecca returns to the states. I felt that White could have written a more compelling later half. the only thing that held it up was rebecca trying to get ovwer Nam. Inspite of suffering form Post traumatic stress Disorder, she sets out to find Mike. When she does the book hits the brakes and started crawling. Rebecca sleeps, and Mike drinks and smokes. My overall opinion of "The Road Home"is that it was well written and had a great medical basis. But it needed a livelier second half. It told Vietnam through hte eyes of one of its nurses. And showed the war's repercutions on all that had to go through it.
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Summary: A GREAT BOOK!
Review: A Review by JordanRebecca Phillips runs away to serve in the military during the Vietnam War as a nurse. While serving in an American hospital in Vietnam she witnesses every atrocity imaginable, the suffering of dear friends and loved ones. Rebecca herself is suffering from an unbearable guilt of a certain event (for the reader to find out) that has changed her once cheery, friendly disposition into a depressed, miserable person that no one wants to be around. This is a story of a young woman who shuts herself out from the world, and her remarkable journey back. This novel was extremely well written. The author displays true talent. She creates a realistic world with individual characters who are each separately distinguished by there unique character qualities, ways of life, and linguistic styles. I wouldn't say that it is fast past, but that doesn't make it bad. It keeps the reader interested, constantly revealing new information of Rebecca's mysterious, current situation. I definitely recommend this book. Anyone would probably enjoy it, but especially women (though it isn't a chick book). However, it does have an advanced vocabulary. And there is some foul language that may not be suitable for young readers.
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Summary: Wonderful in so many ways
Review: Ellen Emerson White has always been one of my favorite authors, since I read The President's Daughter and Life Without Friends. But, while those novels were excellent, The Road Home far surpassed them. Having no real clue of what war is really like, I came away from this with, I think, a greater understanding of all of the horrors, and all of the small triumphs and quiet heroism as well. Rebecca's character is very well-drawn, and complex (she is at once funny and devastated, strong for her time, but very close to being broken by the horrors she has witnessed. I can't recommend this book, or any of White's, enough. My mother also read it and loved it, so I would say it spans beyond the young adult-adult classifications.
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Summary: Ellen Emerson White's best book
Review: Ellen Emerson White has been one of my favorite authors for a long time, and The Road Home has to be her best work. Even though I'm a little older than the audience the book was published for, she transcends the "Young Adult" label. I love her twisted sense of humor, too.
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Summary: Wow.
Review: I picked this book off a table of "remaindered" books some months ago, and just finished reading it. What a pity that such a good book should be resigned to the "nobody bought these" category. I suspect one problem is the "young adult" lable on the book. This is certainly not a book for children; most "young adults" are either reading mass market paperbacks or classics for school; and most adults assume a "young adult" book is geared for a young reader. This is an insightful and moving story of the destructive nature of war, both physically and mentally. The first half of the book takes place in a Nam ER room, moves as fast as the popular tv series ER, and is even more gruesome. This environment creates a hothouse of physical and emotional destruction this is almost unbearable. The second half of the novel explores ER nurse Rebecca's return to the States and her attempt to re-adjust to a "normal" life, a transition tale that is no less moving or interesting than the first half. There's a certain amount of "Born on the 4th of July" angst here, but the book is an insightful, entertaining, and moving tale that deserves more recognition by an adult audience. Which is not to say young adults wouldn't appreciate it. Really, it's a book for the 15+ set, with an emphasis on the +.
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Summary: Deserves a bigger, more adult audience
Review: I picked this book off a table of "remaindered" books some months ago, and just finished reading it. What a pity that such a good book should be resigned to the "nobody bought these" category. I suspect one problem is the "young adult" lable on the book. This is certainly not a book for children; most "young adults" are either reading mass market paperbacks or classics for school; and most adults assume a "young adult" book is geared for a young reader. This is an insightful and moving story of the destructive nature of war, both physically and mentally. The first half of the book takes place in a Nam ER room, moves as fast as the popular tv series ER, and is even more gruesome. This environment creates a hothouse of physical and emotional destruction this is almost unbearable. The second half of the novel explores ER nurse Rebecca's return to the States and her attempt to re-adjust to a "normal" life, a transition tale that is no less moving or interesting than the first half. There's a certain amount of "Born on the 4th of July" angst here, but the book is an insightful, entertaining, and moving tale that deserves more recognition by an adult audience. Which is not to say young adults wouldn't appreciate it. Really, it's a book for the 15+ set, with an emphasis on the +.
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Summary: A truly wonderful book!
Review: I randomly picked this book up at a library (I was actually looking for something totally different) and was unable to put it down. It is a well-written, insightful look at the Vietnam War from the vantage point of a young nurse who leaves a life at home full of conflict and disappointment to serve her country, but returns to find that her life has only become more complicated and turbulant. While it is listed as a young adult novel, I would say that it is perhaps even better read as an adult. I'm sure the Junior High and High school set would find it captivating also. Themes of romance, gender discrimination, patriotism, and the anit-war movement are all present, and dealt with in a very tactful and thoughtful way. Her graphic depictions of the horrors of war would make it a questionable book for younger readers.
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Summary: Terrific story
Review: I read this a few years ago and absoluty love it! The charaters are great and after reading it had had to read the Echo Company series to get a better look into the story. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone, adult or young adult! I am very distressed that some libraries are getting rid of their copies! That is were most of the books for sale here are from. But it's out of print and I want everyone to be able to find and read this awsome book and how can that happen if the library gets rid of it! I am totally outraged and distressed! I hope you read this book, it's great!
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Summary: A Great Book!
Review: I read this about a year ago and I still love it! I reread it all the time. The author gives you a true picture of what the Vietnam war was really like. I loved the main character, she deals with some tough issues, but by the end you really feel that she's going to be okay. I recomend this book to anyone, not just young adults. I know I'll still be reading it for years to come.
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Summary: read this book
Review: I read this book two years ago and I liked it enough to not only remember it but to sit down and write a review for it. The Road Home is typically billed as a children's book; it isn't, not by a long shot. No matter how old you are, you'd have to be made of stone not to be affected by this book. Ellen White tells a story of the war in Vietnam as it was. She doesn't mince words and she doesn't turn the war into something wonderful and glory-filled. War is nothing short of hell, and you'll know that when you finish this book. After I read this, I had a new, deep respect for the soldiers that fought in Vietnam. I thought that every politician in the world needed to read this book - then maybe they would think twice about sending soldiers to war. Read this book. It deserves to be read.
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