Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI

I started reading this book on September 11th. Although I have read many books about the wars in the Middle East, and even written one myself, this book was truly unique. It touched my heart from page one and didn't stop, even after I put the book down. This book is an absolute must read for our youth, families of the military, and EVERY American. Bravo Ryan Smithson!

I'm a high school librarian in Michigan, and I ordered this book after just a quick glance at its cover in a HarperCollins advertisement (From the cover, it seemed like something that might appeal to my school's male readers, a population I struggle to reach). Having heard nothing nothing about the book or its author, I expected nothing - but I've turned the last page a changed person. What's changed? My views about the war in Iraq and more specifically the kids - kids like Ryan Smithson - that fought, are fighting, that war. I'm so much more aware of and grateful for their sacrifice! Not only was I surprised by my reaction to Ghosts of War, I was also surpised by the writing, for Smithson is a really good writer! If I'm able to finish them at all, war memoirs generally leave me feeling bogged down and confused as a reader, but Ryan Smithson writes about war and its operation so as to make it truly interesting and understandable. His writing is also honest - emotionally honest - and more than one chapter brought on those slowly-trickling-down-the-cheeks readers' tears. It appears that HarperCollins is marketing this as a Young Adult book. While it is certainly a title I will recommend with enthusiasm to my school's teen readers, (grades nine and up) it's also something that I hope adults will pick up, too. As an avid reader and a librarian, I consider this among the best books of the year!

Many first-person accounts of war are too intense (or too profanity-laden) to suggest to younger high school readers. Not that war isn't intense and profane, but Smithson's book finds a middle ground; one that allows the reader to feel the truth of being in Iraq, without presenting it too brutally for readers in their mid-teens. Smithson also captures the sometimes boring, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes heart-wrenching bits and pieces of being in a small cog in a big machine, in a country where some of the people want to kill you. His even handed, caring and yet truthful voice (which does come forth with four letter words from time to time)transported me from my comfy sofa to his hot barracks, and frightening daily life, and gave me more than just a glimpse at what it's like to serve one's country in a difficult time.

Amongst the multitude of books about the war in Iraq, Ghosts of War stands out by capturing the war as seen and experienced by 19 year old Army Reservist and laying it out without pretense or judgment. In a war that's seen more media attention than any other conflict in American history, very little has been written directly for the youth growing up during it, and Ghosts of War bridges that gap and provides an American teenage perspective from high school to 9/11 to enlistment and ultimately a year in Iraq. This book should be required reading in high schools and colleges everywhere.

After reading Ghosts of war, I learned what my time in Iraq was about and what it ment to others. I have new perspective about what it means to be young and tossed into war. I recommend this book to anyone, young or old, that wants to know about this war and what it is to be a soldier!