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There are currently 18 member reviews
for Blue Stars
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Laura L. (Providence, RI)
Keep on reading
When I first began this book I felt that I would not enjoy it and would be just reading it to finish my commitment. I did not fine the characters interesting. I was surprised to find out that after the first 50 pages I was engaged and the characters held my interest. As an outsider to this subject I learned a lot. I had not thought of how the patients are treated after they are discharged but still need services. I found the writing good and was able to become observed in the story. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject.
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Cam G. (Murrells Inlet, SC)
Gritty and harrowing...
Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe is the gritty and harrowing story of two women, Ellen and Lacey, whose son ( legal ward) and husband are both grievously injured in Iraq. The women meet at Walter Reed Army Hospital amidst all the horror of seeing their loved ones suffer. Ellen and Lacey, forge an unlikely friendship that will sustain them through the months of the mens' recoveries. We are given a birds eye view of what our servicemen and families go through when they are injured in battle. It is not a pretty story, but one that I was glad to read.
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Joan P. (Owego, NY)
Blue Stars
The "Blue Stars" in the title refers to the banners displayed by the families of American Servicemen. This book is about two of these families. They are very different culturally and financially. Ellen, a college professor, is the legal guardian of Michael who has lost a leg in Iraq. Lacey is a personal trainer whose husband ,Eddie, has a head injury that has caused brain damage and blindness. Both families are less than functional but all difficulties are put aside as Ellen and Lacey move to Washington to be with their damaged men. The workings of Walter Reed and the sub-standard housing for the families of wounded servicemen are exposed and loyalties are tested. This is an interesting book, engaging and well written. It is an excellent book club selection.
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Nan G. (Mazomanie, WI)
A Must Read for any Civilian
For the past six years I worked as a therapist with National Guard military members and their families and watched as the soldiers were deployed, some for the second, third or fourth times. I waited with the families, providing support to them as they lived each day hoping their loved one would return safely. During that time I also supervised newly graduated therapists as they began their careers and kept a list of books about working with military families that I suggested they read. This book will be at the top of that list.
Tedrowe has written a book that touches on the greatest fears of anyone who loves a military member and she did it with compassion and skill. The characters ring true, the situations they find themselves in are (sadly) very real and the emotional roller coaster the women find themselves on exists for all those who have a loved one in the military. I have seen FRG members be as judgmental as some of the wives in the book; I have heard soldiers and families both talk about the bureaucratic mess of the VA. This is a book that needs to be read by anyone who wants to understand what our military families go through every day, even now. Thank you, Emily Gray Tedrowe, for writing this touching, realistic and much needed novel.
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Beth M. (NY, NY)
Think about the women left behind!
Emily Gray Tedrowe has done it again. She has written a beautiful, yet heartbreaking novel about women you really connect with and care for. I couldn't put it down. She also has done a great job of making us involved in a world that most of us know little about.
When I started reading the book I thought I could predict how it would unfold. I was wrong. The mothers and wives endured so much pain, heartbreak and worry and stood strong in the face of minimal support and humiliating experiences. I was shocked at our government's inability to deal with these returning soldiers' and their families' many needs.
Ellen, a Midwestern literature professor who's "son" enlisted in the Marines and Lacey, an Army wife who's husband had been deployed again, are drawn together at the Walter Reed Army hospital. While their husbands struggle to heal, they are forced to manage the frustrating incompetencies of the system as well as their own lives miles away. The bond that forms between them is one many women will appreciate and understand.
This is a book for women, mothers and anyone who really wants to understand what military wives and mothers are going through. It's a necessary book to open our hearts and minds. Bravo!
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Daryl B. (Poolesville, MD)
Not my cup of tea
I feel that this book would be most appealing to readers with military involvement. It was hard for me to relate to this lifestyle and I found it difficult reading. I think it's a good story but went into way too much detail regarding the military. An unlikely friendship forms between two women different as night and day. They meet at Walter Reed while caring for their critically wounded loved ones returned from Iraq. I think the author used this book to showcase the nightmares that surround our wounded soldiers and the difficulties they must overcome upon returning home. I would recommend this book to women with military family.
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Diane P. (Deer Park, WA)
Mixed feelings....
I have mixed feelings about this book, I believe the authors' intentions were good and that she meant to portray the struggles that families have with returning veterans. There was an effort to show how our government has let both the families and the veterans down.
The two protagonists did not elicit the empathy that I wanted to give them. The ending just did not ring true to me.
I did read all of the book, mostly because I thought the writing was good it was just the story that did not engage me. I don't know how that is but that's what I ended up feeling.
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