Theme Week: Military in YA

I planned to do a theme week for military in young adult literature to coincide with Veterans Day back in November...but instead, it's happening this week!

Some of you might know, I grew up as a military "brat", and moved around frequently. We were stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Hellenikon AFB in Athens, Greece (closed in 1993), Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah, McClellan AFB in Sacramento, California (closed in 2001), and Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. I'm also familiar with Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (near where I attended university), Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada (friends lived there for 3 years), and various installations around Germany.

My dad was lucky in that he served his 20 years during "peace" time. He did go TDY (temporary duty) some, especially to Turkey while we were in Greece, and he served one remote tour (an assignment without dependents) in South Korea when I was in 6th grade, but fortunately he didn't have to be away from us all that often.

Growing up, I had a relatively positive view of the military. Sure, I missed Saturday morning cartoons when we lived in Greece, and I wasn't that fond of moving every few years and having to leave my friends, but the military lifestyle did make me very flexible and adaptable. Oh, and it gave me serious wanderlust (I've been to 55 countries and counting).

In any case, I noticed that I had several military themed YA novels for review and on my wishlist, so I decided to make a theme week. Here's what I have planned:

Monday: Book review of OUT OF THE BLUE by SL Rottman (with focus on military dependents)

Tuesday: Emmy and Finn introduce us to military MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)

Wednesday: Author Trish Doller shares about her research process for her WIP military themed YA novel

Thursday: Book review of PURPLE HEART by Patricia McCormick (with focus on teen serving in Iraq)

Friday: Book review of BACK HOME by Julia Keller (with focus on military dependents with injured parents)

Saturday: Book review of SOLDIER X by Don L. Wulffson (with focus on a Hitler Youth during WW II)

What YA novels with a military theme have you read? I'd love to hear your recommendations!