Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book Info
Kindle Edition, 214 pages
Published June 19th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
original title Something Like Normal
ASIN B007N6JE6K
edition language English
URL
characters Travis Stephenson, Harper Gray
setting Florida (United States) Fort Meyer, California (United States)
other editions (3)
Source:Kindle version borrowed from Public Library

Book Buy Links
Amazon
B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS

When Travis returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother's stolen his girlfriend and car, and the nightmares of his best friend getting killed keep him completely spooked. But when he runs into Harper, a girl who despises him for rumors Travis started back in middle school, life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he falls deeper in love with her and begins to find his way through the family meltdown, the post-traumatic stress and the possibility of a interesting future. His sense of humor, sense of his own strength and incredible sense of honor make Travis an irresistible and eminently lovable hero in this fantastic and timely debut novel.

My Thoughts

For anyone who has a loved one in the military this intense look at how one young Marine finds himself dealing with the aftereffects of the death of his best friend in the Corp when he goes home from Afghanistan for a month's leave. This story delivers a hard punch to the gut, especially for those who have served themselves as it will bring back memories maybe best forgotten.

Travis Stephenson is only looking for a bit of "normal" after being in country fighting in Afghanistan, however that is not something easy to find or even define at this point in time.

Harper Gray is the girl in school that Travis most wanted to connect with, however in an ill fated decision on his part that ended in disaster when he was a teenager of 14.

All these years later now both Harper and Travis have graduated from their Florida High School, he is in the Marine Corp and Harper works at the local Waffle House as a waitress trying to stack up some cash before going to Maine to go to college to study Marine Biology.

While at home for the first time in a year on leave Travis finds himself struggling to adjust, Harper just happens to make that easier and as they slowly get past the mistakes of youth the pair find themselves finally establishing a friendship which turns into a relationship in no time.

The different characters whose personalities we get a glimpse of all have one thing in common, they help Travis stay grounded and even in many ways help him stay on a course that could eventually prove able to provide a way to cope if not heal from his mental wounds the realities of war have inflicted upon him.

By the end of this short book my heart felt so many conflicting feelings on behalf of Travis as well as his fellow Marines, both dead and alive.

[Kindle version borrowed from Public Library]