Theme of the day:Military Siblings

 Both stories focuses on to teenagers who have to come to terms with the death of an older siblings who was in the military.

 So this posts theme of the day focuses on Military Siblings.

Title:In Honor
Author:Jessi Kirby
Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq thee days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock:

concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn. . . and ruggedly good looking. 

Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t.

Cover:The cover to me looks almost like a photograph and you can see the crisp detail to almost everything.Just looking at the cover you get a sense of peace or acceptance i it ties it with the book to me nicely.

My Thoughts:I've wanted to read this book since I first heard about it and I'm glad it was as good as i thought.Despite the topic of the military and a siblings death the story is told in a light refreshing way but still moving and slightly heartbreaking with some humor but not much.This was a sweet story about friendship and about loss and grief, but it took quite a while for me to be fully taken with the charterers.In some way the story seem pretty cliche especially with the road trip, the romantic development but then in others not so much like with the military theme that i haven't seen much of.In Honor is a sweet touching story that is enjoyable if given the chance.3/5

Title:Personal Effects
Author:E.M Kokie
Ever since his brother, T.J., was killed in Iraq, Matt feels like he’s been sleepwalking through life — failing classes, getting into fights, and avoiding his dad’s lectures about following in his brother’s footsteps. T.J.’s gone, but Matt can’t shake the feeling that if only he could get his hands on his brother’s stuff from Iraq, he’d be able to make sense of his death.

 But as Matt searches for answers about T.J.’s death, he faces a shocking revelation about T.J.’s life that suggests he may not have known T.J. as well as he thought. What he learns challenges him to stand up to his father, honor his brother’s memory, and take charge of his own life. With compassion, humor, and a compelling narrative voice, E. M. Kokie explores grief, social mores, and self-discovery in a provocative first novel 

Cover:The cover features a teenager  sitting on what looks like a park bench.The colors seem faded and it makes Looking at the cover you get the sense that the guy is troubled in some way.
My Thoughts: I pretty much picked up this book on a whim off of the shelf on the library.This story like In Honar is about a teen dealing with a siblings death who died in Iraq.This book is a lot darker then In Honor Matt is a troubled teen that is hurting in wake of his brothers death.Mat has to deal with his father is abusive and overly strict about everything and  a guy who is in to peace a bit to much and pushes Matt too far.I honestly dont kmow what to say about personal Effects with out giving to much away .I will say this though the story is tough to get though only because i felt bad,angry and sad while reading this.By the end i kept wishing Matt would feel happy again and become at least civil with Curtis who's a friend of his brother.This is the type of story you have to be in the mood to read.3/5