Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell: Review by Leto

I read Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell . I really liked it because it was based on a girl that is about my age. This book is about Jemie Dexter, a 12 year old girl, whose family is all about war. Her father is the colonel, the "head" person at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas. She and her brother, Tj, are fascinated by the army. Well, Tj has finally turned 18 which means he is eligible to go and the army and fight in Vietnam. When he asks to go to the army, the most ironic thing happens. The colonel say no. After a phone call with a general he is friends with, the colonel agrees to let Tj go. Jamie is thrilled. She can't wait to get letters and photos of what the army is like. The first package Tj sends Jamie is a canister of film with a note asking her to develop the pictures. Jamie is mad at Tj because he sent her film. And when she develops the pictures they are only pictures of soldiers, food, nurses, and shots of the moon. No pictures of combat. As she begins to get more rolls of film, the pictures become more"war-like". And more pictures of the moon. Jamie begins to realize that maybe Tj is telling her about the war through these pictures. Of course she wouldn't have understood what it was like to be in the war with just word. Each canister of film has a story to tell of with the pictures. Find out some of the stories Tj sends her.