In 1968, the weekly American death count in Vietnam was a regular TV news announcement; the civil rights movement made strides and lost leaders; and adults were choosing sides between the Silent Generation and the new activist one. Crowe weaves all these salient details into a novel composed entirely in haiku stanzas (though the lines all together form complete sentences and dialogue), with a syllable for every American soldier's death that year. Seventeen-year-old Ashe writes of his senior year in high school and his tense family life, dominated by his parents' loveless marriage, as well as conflicting attitudes from his new girlfriend and his civics teacher about the growing realities of war and the changing depth of the political field at home. All the while, he tries to shape an opinion of his own that fulfills his needs and those of the people around him. The unusual narrative style makes this exploration of Vietnam-era politics at home and abroad readily accessible to struggling readers, while fans of poetry may appreciate the eloquence in its brevity.

Crowe's novel in haiku respectfully acknowledges each of the 16,592 soldiers who died in the Vietnam War in 1968 by using that exact number of syllables in this work. The story showcases a melodramatic breakdown of seventeen-year-old narrator Ashe's home life and his parents' marriage. Though the historical and fictional dilemmas may resonate, supporting characters tend toward stereotypical political ideologues of the time.

Gr 9 Up-It's 1968, and 17-year-old Ashe Douglas is coping with two devastating wars: one in Vietnam and one in his own home. His parents married young after his mother became pregnant with him and have been sticking it out in a loveless marriage for his sake ever since. The two are fiercely incompatible with fundamentally different beliefs, and Ashe is caught in the middle. Making matters worse are rising casualties in Vietnam and increasing racial and political unrest, all of which have a profound impact on Ashe and those he loves and which threaten to snap the delicate threads holding his life together. Written entirely in stanzas of haiku, the novel is composed of 16,592 syllables, one for each American soldier killed in Vietnam in 1968. This structure, while meaningful, somewhat limits the pacing and full development of the story, and the characters, at times, feel like caricatures of the era. Still, Ashe's emotional struggle is heartbreaking, and his story gives Crowe a thoughtful platform from which to explore issues of family, divorce, patriotism, peace, human compassion, and the tolls of war. It will appeal to fans of novels in verse or to readers with an interest in the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, or American history. Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Abington School District, PA