WORDS in the DUST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFGHANISTAN,  is a country about which we know little, a conflict which has continued for years, an entire lifetime for many children who live there.  War in this country has now continued through the seasons of a decade.  How many of us are aware of the numbers of deaths and injuries, U.S. soldiers as well as Afgan soldiers and civilians?  During this past decade how many homes and towns have been bombed, how many children left without schools, without families?

Trent Reedy served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan from 2004 – 2005.  The experience changed his life.  But also one book contributed to this change, A Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, our current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

While surviving his experience, witnessing death, and feeling both isolation from home and loneliness for family, Trent wrote to the author, Katherine Paterson, and she wrote back.  Thus began a rich correspondence and Trent’s new journey.  After returning to the states, Trent faced another fear, could he write about what he saw, what he witnessed in Afghanistan?  What if he tried and failed?

Thank goodness Trent took the risk.  With the encouragement of his own family and through his correspondence with Katherine Paterson, Trent began his quest to learn the skills necessary to write the stories he witnessed.  He was accepted into the creative writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  He began to learn how to carve his passion for peace into story.

A funny thing about foreign wars, they are easy to forget about.

A powerful thing about reading one young woman’s story, we cannot easily forget.

An amazing fact about books, they change lives.

Read WORDS IN THE DUST BY Trent Reedy. This story of one girl, two sisters, and one war will not be forgotten.