This book has different chapters where each chapter has a different military child sharing their feelings or emotions about how war effects them and how they get through their daily life on the Homefront. I think this is great for teaching kids how military children and families work from a first-hand perspective. It could be done as a read-aloud over time and then along with videos and other artifacts used for a transaction circle. Students could also analyze different tones and moods in the accounts. I would use this book with students in fifth grade through high school.

Best known for her Breadwinner Trilogy, a series of children's novels which depict the hardships faced by young girls and women under the oppressive Taliban regime, Canadian author Deborah Ellis has also been involved in a number of projects interviewing real-life youngsters facing extraordinary circumstances. From African children infected with the HIV virus, to Israeli and Palestinian children struggling to come to terms with the seemingly endless cycle of violence around them, Ellis has consistently used her work to highlight the effects of adult activities on children. Off to War is the product of her latest project, and presents the author's interviews with children of American and Canadian soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Allowed to speak for themselves, the children included in this collection are as diverse in their experiences, responses and views as any other group of North Americans. Some feel very strongly that anti-war protests are wrong, while others attend them. Some are very informed about the current political situation, while others try to avoid listening to the news. But whatever they think (or don't) of the conflicts in question, or of the military in general, all of them express their sadness at being parted from their fathers and/or mothers, and describe their struggles to maintain a "normal" life in the face of abnormal circumstances.

Of obvious interest to military personnel and their families, Off to War should also prove quite informative for teachers and librarians who work with affected children and communities, as well as general readers who want to gain a better sense of the human cost of military service. I'm a great believer in the importance of the personal "testimony," both in history and current affairs, and commend Ellis for presenting the testimonies of a group too often overlooked in the decision-making process: children. ( )

Deborah Ellis interviews children of Canadian and American soldiers about their experiences when their parent is sent overseas to serve in the war.

She describes the bases or regular communities the children live in, based mostly if the parent is in the Guard or on active duty. Various views are expressed, either in support or with reservations on the politics, but all support their families.

For the older child or teen. ( )

Deborah Ellis has been widely praised for her books about children in war-torn countries. Now, she turns her attention closer to home, to American and Canadian children whose parents are soldiers fighting — or who have fought — in Afghanistan and Iraq. In frank and illuminating interviews, they talk about how this experience has marked and shaped their lives. Twelve-year-old Darby finds comfort in sending everyday items like Twizzlers and wet wipes to a dad whose life doesn’t include simple pleasures or a daily bath.
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