Vietnam With Gone-With-the-Wind Readability

In her new book, Ellen Emerson White finishes what she began in her four-volume “Echo Company” series. Her new book, THE ROAD HOME (Scholastic: $15.95; ages 13 and up) takes place during the Vietnam conflict, with the war hero being neither general nor “grunt,” but a crackerjack young army nurse, Lt. Rebecca Phillips.

Rebecca has signed up, much to the horror of her upper-crust New England family and their neighbors, straight out of her Ivy League college after her sweetheart is killed in the war and her brother has fled to Canada hoping to avoid a similar fate.

Life as an army nurse is a far cry from home. Rebecca specializes in triage, the art of deciding which of the wounded is likeliest to die. (The lucky ones, not so severely hurt, will get treatment; the others are will be comforted as they die--if time permits.) Fueled by coffee, Coke and bad food, the nurses’ long days are endless rounds of horrifying casualties; their nights are only restful if they can get ahold of enough beer, wine or other sedatives with which to numb out.

Romance is a welcome ray of light amid all the grimness. Good-looking, sexy, wise-cracking working-class Mike Jenkins, son of a Colorado gas station owner, rescues Rebecca after her Medevac helicopter is shot down. He visits her off-duty a couple of times and then pens her frequent, endearing letters from the front. But before they can realize their fantasy of a few days’ R&R; together, Mike steps on a land mine. Devastated by his wounds--to say nothing of having witnessed several of his buddies being blown away--Mike closes his heart to Rebecca.

How she won’t take no for an answer even when both of them are finally back in the States shapes the last third of this story. While a good romance is, well, a good romance, having all the action lead up to whether Rebecca “gets her man” does a disservice to such a strong and feisty character. Rebecca the lovelorn isn’t nearly as satisfying as Lt. Phillips, the tough and fully rounded professional.

But quibbles aside, “The Road Home” works well as both engrossing, quality soap opera and as a horrifyingly real picture of how the war damaged those involved in it--whether or not their wounds show on the surface.

I’m also eager to read one of this author’s previous novels, “Long Live the Queen”--about what happens when the daughter of the first female President of the U.S. is kidnaped.

Also worth note: Chicano poet and novelist Gary Soto’s SUMMER ON WHEELS (Scholastic: $13.95; ages 8-12), follows two amigos , Hector and Mando, as they ride their bikes from East L.A. to Santa Monica beach with numerous eventful and amusing detours along the way. . . . The 7th installment in the hugely popular fantasy series by British author Brian Jacques has arrived, making “Redwall” cult members very happy indeed: THE BELLMAKER (Philomel: $17.95; ages 10 and up), wherein both the mouse-warrior-maiden Mariel’s safety and that of the entire kingdom of Southward is endangered.