From School Library Journal
YA Sam, 17, is obsessed with the Vietnam War and the effect it has had on her lifelosing a father she never knew and now living with Uncle Emmett, who seems to be suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. In her own forthright way, she tries to sort out why and how Vietnam has altered the lives of the vets of Hopewell, Kentucky. Her untempered curiosity and imagination sprint off in all directions as she examines closely the often undiscussed, but always noticed, aspects of daily life. In this coming-of-age novel, Sam ponders many problems, among them Emmett's crusty, salve-covered pimples, veteran Tom's inability to have an erection and her good friend Dawn's pregnancy. Although Sam lives in a disheveled, tawdry house, she brings a freshness of spirit to the way she scrutinizes and revels in life. When she wants to understand living conditions in the Vietnam jungles, she decides she has to experience it, so spends the night beside a local swamp. A harshly realistic, well-written look at the Vietnam War as well as the story of a young woman maturing. Pam Spencer, Mount Vernon High School Library, Fairfax, Va.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Sam Hughes, whose father was killed in Vietnam, lives in rural Kentucky with her uncle Emmett, a veteran whom she suspects is suffering from exposure to Agent Orange. Sam is a typical teenager, trying to choose a college, anticipating a new job at the local Burger Boy, sharing intimacies with her friend Dawn, breaking up with her high school boyfriend, and dealing with her feelings for Tom, one of Emmett's buddies. Sam feels that her life is bound to the war in Vietnam and becomes obsessed with the idea because of the reluctance of her family and Tom to talk about it. Her father's diary finally provides the insight she seeksinsight she cannot accept until she has visited the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. In Country is both a powerful and touching novel of America that analyzes the impact of the 1960s on the culture of the 1980s and a beautiful portrayal of an often forgotten area of the country. Essential for adult and YA collections. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale Lib.Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.


New York Times
"A brilliant and moving book...a moral tale that entwines public history with private anguish."


Book Description
In the summer of 1984, the war in Vietnam comes home to Sam Hughes, whose father was killed there before she was born: The soldier-boy in the picture never changed. In a way that made him dependable. But he seemed so innocent. "Astronauts have been to the moon," she blurted out to the picture. "You missed Watergate. I was in the second grade." She stared at the picture, squinting her eyes, as if she expected it to come to life. But Dwayne had died with his secrets. Emmett was walking around with his. Anyone who survived Vietnam seemed to regard it as something personal and embarrassing. Granddad had said they were embarrassed that they lost the war, but Emmett said they were embarrassed that they were still alive. "I guess you're not embarrassed," she said to the picture.


About the Author
Bobbie Ann Mason has won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her books include In Country and Feather Crowns. She lives in Kentucky.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country explores the legacy of war from the perspective of Sam Hughes, a teenager whose father died in Vietnam before she was born. In the summer of 1984, Sam, her 35-year-old uncle Emmett -- himself a veteran who may be suffering from exposure to Agent Orange -- and her grandmother set out from Hopewell, Kentucky, on a road trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. Growing up in an era where video games and television reruns of 'M*A*S*H are more "real" than the entries in her father's military journal or her uncle's tormented memories, Sam must come to her own terms with the war's lasting effect on her family and her small community.

ANNOTATION

A young woman's quest to understand the psychological and moral fallout of the Vietnam War.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The bestselling novel and deeply affecting story of a young girl who comes to terms with her father's death in Vietnam two decades earlier

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times Book Review

A brilliant and moving book...a moral tale that entwines public history with private anguish.

Richard Eder

A brilliant and moving book...a moral tale that entwines public history with private anguish. -- The Los Angeles Times Book Review

Michiko Kakutani

A novel that, like a flashbulb, burns an afterimage into our minds. -- The New York Times

Mary Mackey - Mary Mackey,San Francisco Chronicle

Mason's message is simple: the war dead are us—we are them—and, whatever political stance we took with regard to Vietnam, we are all Americans united by one past, one flag, one history.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING