There is absolutely nothing about this book not to love. The writing is excellent, the story is engaging, the truly skewed and clever humor is superb. At the same time, the book has depth and warmth, and strikes a chord whether or not you were raised in the military yourself.

Join Bernie as she searches for answers to the mysteries of her family's past while touring Japan as "Zelda", the bleached blonde, go-go booted, dancing side-kick to a second-rate lounge comedian.

From the cover: After a year away at college, military brat Bernadette Root has come "home" to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, to spend the summer with her bizarre yet comforting clan. Ruled by a strict, regimented Air Force Major father, but grounded in their mother's particular brand of humor, Bernie's family was destined for military greatness during the glory days of the mid-50's. But in Base life, where an unkempt lawn is cause for reassignment, one fateful misstep changed the Roots' world forever. Yet the family's silence cannot keep the wounds of the past from reemerging...nor can the memory fade of beloved Fumiko, the family's former maid, whose name is now verboten. And the secrets long ago covered up in classic military style - through elimination and denial - are now forcing themselves for a return engagement.

Just a note for anyone who may want to read other books by Sarah Bird. She has several. Some people may disagree with me on which are her best ("The Yakota Officer's Club" definitely is, in my opinion) but my other favorite is "The Mommy Club." They're all good, though.

As this ray will remain open for new members, please note the mailing list order may change to accommodate people's shipping preferences.

1. cougmax (US only)
2. LisaGriffith (US, ships anywhere)
3. librarymousie (US, ships anywhere)
4. roadrunner (US only)
5. Joanthro (US, ships anywhere)

NOTE: When shipping internationally, please don't forget to wrap the book as a gift, or write "Happy Birthday" on a note, so Customs doesn't nail the recipient with charges!! See the following forum posting, if you missed it! HERE
__________________

1. Journal it when it arrives and when you ship. Tell us what you thought of it!
2. Send it to the next reader within 30 days.
If you still haven't gotten an address from the next person on the list ** ONE WEEK ** after you planned to ship, please post a journal entry stating this. That person will be bumped. Then, contact the following person on the list for shipping information, and send the book to them instead.

If the issue of "international shipping" rears its head because of someone getting bumped or asking to be skipped, and you had signed on to only ship locally, please PM me, and I'll contact the remaining participants to see how I can shuffle things.

It's here! Sorry, I had taken it to work and was sneaking chapters on my lunch break...lol! I am nearly half way through it and its wonderful!

Wow! This is my first military thriller and I love that it was written by a woman. I instantly felt for Bernie, what a wonderful character. Moe was well written too, what a tough Mom in any weather!
The book became a bit disjointed at times as it frequently switched from past to present, to further past to present with different characters stories. Yet, the book is written so well that rereading a bit to make sure you knew what was going on was ok.
The only thing that got old for me was Bobby's comedy act.
I am going to look up another novel by Sarah Bird.

will pm lisagriffith now

sent on to lisagriffith on Tues, Jan 3

Sent to me as a participant in a bookring set up by namedujour. I'm reading it now! Thank you cougmax.

This book was a nice read. I'm not going to give anything away about the plot!

Sent to librariemousie on January 25 as part of a bookring. Thanks namedujour for sharing your book!

Arrived with yesterday's mail. Thanks so much for including me in this ray.

This was a fun read--particularly since I was an Air Force Brat and actually lived at Yokota AFB (only I was there in 1998-1999, so things were a little bit different). Overall, the writing was good, and Bird did a good job in describing a lot of the problems military families experience--particularly when the soldier works in classified situations.

There were times when I felt the story was a little uneven--especially regarding the relationship between Kit and the rest of the family. There were also a couple of situations that, while not implausible, did not strike me as entirely believable. Depiction of LaRue and her little clique of Officer's Wives, however, was pretty well spot on. In fact, it was kinda creepy remembering people like that... [In retrospect, I see why my mother was very happy to live off-base as much as we did during my father's career.]

Anyway. I'm now off to find another copy of this for my mother to read [ironically, she, herself, was an Air Force Brat during the time period in which this story was set. I figure she'll either love it or hate it.]. Mailing to roadrunner on Monday, 02/06/06.

This bookring arrived while I was on vacation. I started a new job Monday and I'm trying to recover from jet lag but I will get to this asap and send it on its way.

Sorry I took so long to read this! A new job and a bout with anemia really slowed me down. I had a hard time connecting with this book and I'm not sure why. I liked the writing well enough but I just didn't feel much for the characters. The constant jumping around in time was probably part of it and my total lack of energy to be able to read this book in larger chunks was probably also a big part. I am certainly open to reading another of her books.

This is off to Joanthro today via Media Mail.

I arrived home from out-of-town and this bookwas waiting for me - thanks!

I have not read any of Bird's novels before, but I will definitely look for them now! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both becasue it was an interesting perspective on Japanese and American cultures, and becasue I learned so much about being in a military family. Actually, I enjoyed the conversation between the author and her mother and sisters at the end of the book as much as I enjoyed the fiction she wrote. Combined, the two gave me a deeper appreciation of the isues she explored in her book. Thanks so much namedujour, for making this book available!

Mailed on 4/22/06.

Received back in great shape! Thanks everyone!