about the book
Mike is a model tenth grader. He gets good grades, works after school, and takes care of his overprotective mother.
But he’s missing out on everyday high school life.
He and his family still haven’t recovered from losing his father in Afghanistan seven years ago. Mary, his little sister, doesn’t even feel anything for the man she can’t remember.
Then Mike receives a letter from his father. “If you’re reading this, then I’m very sorry…” It’s the first in a series of letters his dad wrote while in Afghanistan. Just in case.
In the letters his dad shares wisdom he wasn’t able to provice in person and gives Mike missions: Get an A on a paper. Go to a party. Take a chance on a girl. Follow your dream.
Following his father’s advice, Mike tries out for the football team and gets to know Isma, but he still wonder what really happened to his dad and who is sending him the letters all these years later.
about the author
Trent Reedy was born and raised in Iowa. He’s always loved telling stories. The first story he ever wrote was in first grade where Lion realized Bad Man had stopped time, preventing the arrival of Easter. So naturally Lion went to the Bad Man’s castle, threw him off the drawbridge, and flipped the switch to restart time. Today, Trent realizes there are some major questions he didn’t address, like how Lion was able to move when all time was stopped or why time could be turned on and off by a switch. It was a great start to his writing career though!
After high school, he went to the University of Iowa to major in English. To pay for his education, Trent joined the Iowa National Guard, serving one weekend a month and two weeks a summer. Around the time he was graduating, he felt optimistic about getting the novel he was writing published.
Then he got a phone call: he was going to war. His whole life was put on hold. Trent was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. It wasn’t until his wife sent him the book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson that Trent really began taking his reconstruction mission in Afghanistan to heart.
After making the transition back to civilian life, he wrote a thank you note to Katherine Paterson and the two became friends. She helped him get into a master’s writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Trent was inspired to write Words in the Dust by one young Afghani girl he met whose cleft palate had shaped her entire life for the worse. Determined to help her, he and his buddies convinced their captain to get medical aid for the girl. They pooled their money to pay for her flight to the main base where an army doctor volunteered to do the corrective surgery. “The very best moment… was seeing her smile.”
His experience as a combat engineer for the National Guard came in handy when writing Divided We Fall because his main character, Danny, holds the same position. Since the Army has changed since Trent got out, he did have to do some research on the changes, but a lot of the training he had makes an appearance in the book. He also investigated projected weapon advancements.
“I have the greatest job in the world. I get to put twists on my own experiences to make them work in my stories, and so much of my research is completely fun.”
Trent and his wife live in Washington state with their dog Wiggles.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview on Divided We Fall: The Compulsive Reader
Author interview on Words in the Dust: Lost Angeles Times
Author video interview on Words in the Dust: YouTube
Book trailer: Divided We Fall
Also by Trent Reedy:
Stealing Air. Arthur A. Levine Books. 2012.
Words in the Dust. Arthur A. Levine Books. 2011.
read more!
Divided We Fall (Divided We Fall Trilogy, Book 1) by Trent Reedy
When Danny and his unit are called up to a protest in Boise, Idaho, it seems like a routine crowd-control mission. But then Danny’s gun misfires, spooking both the other soldiers and the crowd. Twelve people die. The president wants the soldiers arrested; the governor swears to protect them. Danny never thought he’d be the man to bring down the United States of America.
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Thomas lied about his age to enlist in WWI with his older brother Charlie. Now he’s lived through gas attacks and watched his friends die by his side. But right now, he’s on a night vigil reflecting on his childhood, each minute bringing him closer to the dawn. And at dawn, Thomas will face his greatest horror yet.
Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Jamie is proud that her brother TJ is following in their father’s footsteps and joining the Army to fight in Vietnam. Instead of letters, however, TJ sends Jamie undeveloped rolls of film. What Jamie sees in the pictures as she develops them reveals a whole new side of the war—a side she never knew existed.