When I Was a Soldier by Valerie Zenatti, Adriana Hunter (Translator)

From the Publisher

What is it like to be a young woman in a war?

At a time when Israel is in the news every day and politics in the Middle East are as complex as ever before, this story of one girl's experience in the Israeli national army is both topical and fascinating. Valerie begins her story as she finishes her exams, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves for service with the Israeli army. Nothing has prepared her for the strict routines, grueling marches, poor food, lack of sleep and privacy, or crushing of initiative that she now faces. But this harsh life has excitement, too, such as working in a spy center near Jerusalem and listening in on Jordanian pilots. Offering a glimpse into the life of a typical Israeli teen, even as it lays bare the relentless nature of war, Valerie's story is one young readers will have a hard time forgetting.

Tina Frolund - VOYA

Israel is a country that expects something from its young people: Both young men and women must participate in national military service once they are eighteen. Valerie Zenatti moved to Israel from France when she was thirteen. This memoir chronicles the eighteen-year-old author's time in the Israeli Army. A girl who thinks for herself, questions reality, and sees the poetry in life, Zenatti has a difficult transition. She is separated from her family, friends, and the casual student life she is used to. Once in the military she is issued a uniform and expected to conform, and her time is no longer her own-what she does and when she does it is all determined for her. Eventually she needs the help of Army psychologists to counsel her through her Army experience. But she ultimately adapts and learns to fire an Uzi, wash endless dishes, and obey orders without questions. She completes her two years of national service working in military intelligence. Zenatti is a typical older youth in a situation that most American teens will never experience. Written in a casual style, this intimate account of Zenatti's responses to her new situation is not a detailed depiction of military life. She includes the anguish of breaking up with her boyfriend and her first tentative steps away from the friends who shared her teen years. This book could generate discussions about the idea of national service, Israel, and the Middle East, and cultural similarities and differences among teens. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005 (orig. 2002), Bloomsbury, 250p., Ages 15 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-In this compelling memoir, Zenatti, first among her group of friends to be called for compulsory military service, chronicles two years of growing up in the Israeli army between 1988 and 1990. With teen self-absorption, she describes the end of her high school years, her initial excitement with the uniform and gun, and grueling training. At first overwrought and pretentious, her voice matures as she continues her course, suffers an anxiety attack, and is posted to a security listening post. As Zenatti grows away from her old friends and a former boyfriend, she becomes more aware and open to the ideas, interests, and needs of others-even, eventually, to the Palestinians who share her country. It is true, as adults told her, "The army changes everything." Although immersed in the country and the experience at the time, Zenatti retains her outsider perspective. French by origin, she and her family emigrated to Beersheva when she was 13, where she learned Hebrew. Her love of language shines through, and the translation, though undeniably British, is smooth. Journal entries in italics are interspersed with the present-tense narrative. This is a fascinating glimpse of a different part of the world and a different kind of experience. Older readers, facing the end of high school themselves, will be drawn to this description of the interim between childhood and adulthood that is a universal Israeli experience.-Kathleen Isaacs, formerly at Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The theme of compulsory military service for both men and women in Israel makes this author's memoir unusual. Although no reason is given, her family has recently emigrated from France and her friends are from the former Soviet bloc, so there is no family experience with the draft. She recalls the months before beginning her two-year enlistment as she and her friends face school tests, dating, sex and the unknown world of wearing a uniform. She is sympathetic to the Palestinians except when it comes to giving back any of Jerusalem, but like many non-religious Jews, she is definitely not sympathetic to observant Jews and makes no mention of their alternatives to military service. She describes her military service years filled with training, bus rides across Israel, special missions and chasing after a boyfriend in Jerusalem who has moved on to a new lover. There is, by the conclusion of her military stint, a growth in character-and the arrogance of those who are younger and believe they are smarter than the previous generation gives way to an appreciation of the work done by the army. Recommended for its different perspective on life in contemporary Israel. (Nonfiction. YA)

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