Self-discovery happens when war comes home

   Personal Effects (Candlewick) by E. M. Kokie $16.99

It’s so easy to overlook war when it’s across an ocean, or on a different continent, or on the other side of the world. It’s easy to look past the reality that young men and women in our community have been there if we aren’t personally touched by it. It’s over there while we’re over here after all. But the story shifts if our own family member is “over there.” It’s impossible to forget war when a brother never comes home again, when only his personal effects return.

In this stunning debut novel that addresses the casualities of war here at home, E.M. Kokie tells the story of coming of age through the lens of this personal tragedy. Readers discover that sometimes it’s in our quest to resolve grief that we learn who someone we love really was, and then we learn who want want to become.

When Matt’s brother T.J. is killed in Iraq, Matt learns this lesson even as he discovers who his brother really was. The novel opens with Matt struggling through life–failing classes, getting into fights, and avoiding his dad’s lectures even if he can’t avoid his father’s inflexibility. T.J.’s death follows on the heels of an earlier loss when Matt’s mother died unexpectedly and left Matt’s father to cope by avoiding any mention of that death and trying to restore control of his world.

This time, Matt can’t shake the feeling that if he can only get his hands on his brother’s stuff from Iraq, he’ll be able to make sense of this death. When Matt searches for answers about T.J.’s death, he learns his brother wasn’t who he thought he was at all. What Matt learns challenges him to stand up to his father, honor his brother’s memory, and take charge of his own life. Kokie brings readers into the heart of his loss, self-discovery and healing as she explores grief, life and love. Readers come away understanding that to work through tragedy takes courage and often becomes a character’s defining moment.