REVIEW ~ The Always War

The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Genre: Dystopian
Age Recommendation: Middle grade to YA
Publication date: November 15, 2011

Description from Goodreads: In a war-torn future United States, fifteen-year-old Tessa, her childhood friend Gideon, now a traumatized military hero, and Dek, a streetwise orphan, enter enemy territory and discover the shocking truth about a war that began more than seventy-five years earlier.

My thoughts: I received this book from Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab. I love reading the books that Margaret Peterson Haddix writes. I know I can count on her to tell a great story that my kids will enjoy.

This book takes place in the future. For as long as everyone can remember they have been at war. The war has lasted over 75 years. Society is basically surviving without hope.

Tess is a teen who is going to a ceremony to see one of her old neighbors be awarded as a hero. The problem is that he doesn't see himself as a hero. He knows that he killed many people to get the award and runs out of his award ceremony.

Tess is stunned. She finds a way to see him and sees a young man who is going through post traumatic stress syndrome. He does some pretty risky acts to try to make things right.

This leads to an adventure into enemy territory. Tess follows Gideon as he buys a black market plane. Truth's that are shocking are revealed.

I was surprised by the twist at the end. It is a great story, quick to read and I think that kids will enjoy it.