Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front

About this book

When young Suzy's father leaves for Vietnam, she struggles to understand what this means for her and her family. What is the jungle like? Will her father be safe? When will he return? The months slip by, marked by the passing of the familiar holidays and the postcards that her father sends. With each one, he feels more and more distant, until Suzy isn't sure she'd even recognize her father anymore.

This heartfelt and accessible picture book by Suzanne Collins, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hunger Games series, is accompanied by James Proimos's sweet and charming illustrations. This picture book will speak to any child who has had to spend time away from a parent.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Booklist Editors Choice for 2013
Book Links Lasting Connection for 2013
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book of 2013: Platinum
Parents' Choice Silver Honor Winner

"In a reassuring and deceptively simple way, [Year of the Jungle] continues Collins' exploration of the effect of war and violence on kids." --USA Today

*"Collins mines her own experience to tell a tender personal story of war seen through a child’s eyes. . . . Proimos’ flat, cartoony drawings, with their heavy lines and blocky shapes, are sturdy and sweet, reflecting a child’s clear-eyed innocence. While small personal details and specific references to Vietnam fix the story in one child’s individual experience, it is these very particularities that establish the kind of indelible and heartfelt resonance that is universally understood. Indeed, children missing parents in all kinds of circumstances will find comfort here." --Booklist, starred review

*"It's a deceptively simple message of reassurance that readers who may currently be in Suzy's situation can take to heart, whether their loved ones return changed, as hers did, or don't return at all." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

*"With text and illustrations that invite close reading, this will be a powerful title to share with children well beyond picture-book age." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"While Sue is not able to formulate her feelings in words, James Proimos's excellent illustrations capture her confusion. . . . Collins's picture book may be a good tool to discuss the complex feelings war brings into a household." --New York Times Book Review

"With a notable lack of patriotic rhetoric or clichés about bravery and honor, Collins holds firm to her childhood memories, creating a universal story for any child whose life is disrupted by war. Important and necessary." --Kirkus Reviews