On the Homefront

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller’s debut novel is a timely one. Back Home follows 13-year-old Rachel as she and her family struggle to deal with the fallout of the war on terror. For Rachel, whose father is in the National Guard, terror is personal: Her dad returns from Iraq in a wheelchair, physically and mentally traumatized by an IED. The family’s story could have been a classic tale of trauma and triumph: Dad gets hurt, dad mounts a heroic struggle, dad beats the brain injury. But I’d be surprised if Disney options the rights to Back Home—at least without making some substantial changes. Keller’s journalistic background allows her to avoid the clichés and too-easy victories so often associated with stories about physical obstacles, but while she is unsparingly honest about the terrible reality of brain injuries, she fails to create the emotional depth needed to carry a story that is not going to have a happy ending. Rachel’s voice isn’t convincing as a 13-year-old girl: Sometimes her language is artificially simplistic, at other times impossibly nuanced, but rarely is it convincing in its attempt to convey the turmoil that accompanies a parent’s life-altering injury. The result is a depiction of grief that may be accurate but ultimately is not accessible.

Fear Factor: (Some kids will find the detailed descriptions of Rachel’s dad’s injuries wrenching.)
Heart: (There’s a surprising lack of compassion in this story about how one person’s tragedy can become many people’s tragedy.)
Attitude: (Rachel grudgingly adjusts as her life is upended.)
Psst: Keller decided to write this novel after doing a series of newspaper articles for the Chicago Tribune on the effects of traumatic brain injuries.
If you like this: Try Tiger Eyes, a Judy Blume novel about a teen grappling with the chaos follows tragedy. Davey’s father is killed in a robbery, and she must cope with his absence, a sudden move, and a permanent change in the nature of her family.

Meredith Simons

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