When I Was A Soldier
By Valerie Zenatti
$7.95 pb

Zenatti, French immigrant, ordinary teenage girl and first among her group of friends to be called for compulsory military service in Israel, chronicles two years of growing up in the army.  For Valerie, this is an exciting rite of passage.  She gets to leave home,  be considered equal to boys, and participate in exciting albeit rigorous military training.  But torn between her French heritage and her adopted homeland, she struggles with conflict about how much she really believes in the nation she now defends with her life.  A thoughtful and riveting memoir.  Young Adult.