Shooting the Moon (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Archie's War Elizabeth Bush Williams, Marcia Archie's War; written and illus. by Marcia Williams. Candlewick, 200746p ISBN 978-0-7636-3532-9$17.99 Ad Gr. 4-8 T. J. Dexter couldn't wait to enlist in the Army at age eighteen, following his father, the Colonel, into a military career. His thirteen-year-old sister, Jamie, couldn't be more proud—or more jealous—of his likely deployment to Vietnam. Both siblings are therefore surprised when the Colonel isn't at all happy about his son's decision and tries to dissuade him before the commitment locks in. After T. J. wins out, he's sent overseas, and soon his mail begins arriving at the house—letters to his parents talking up the lousy food and good comradeship, and rolls of undeveloped film to his sister. Jamie uses her volunteer position in the base recreation center to learn to develop the film on her own, and each roll tells her a little more about his true circumstances than her parents' letters reveal. Jamie begins to realize that her brother has had a harsh confrontation with reality, and the glamour of war loses its shine for her as well. With a clearer idea of what Vietnam service entails, Jamie importunes the Colonel to change the orders of her friend, Private Hollister, and leave him in a stateside posting, only to discover that her seemingly gung-ho father had, in fact, petitioned one of his superiors for the same consideration for T. J. and had been turned down. There is no shortage of children's literature on wartime disillusionment, but Dowell approaches the discussion from a different angle, studying the complex emotions of the larger-than-life Colonel—his pride and dedication to the military and his country, his respect for his maturing son's decisions, and his paternal instinct to keep his son from harm's way. That the Colonel's interior crisis is witnessed by his adoring daughter, who is experiencing a rude awakening of her own, makes the drama all the more poignant. There is comfort in an ending that assures readers that T. J. makes it home alive, but readers are left to ponder whether the next generation of the Dexter family will be quite so anxious to enlist. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois