Rule Number Two

October 1, 2007
In February 2004, first-time author Kraft was assigned to a combat hospital in the Al-Anbar Province of Iraq, where she provided psychiatric care to navy and marine personnel. In this engaging if narrow memoir of her seven-month deployment, she does not focus on the psychological issues as one would expect; instead, she pays homage to the military, as well as to the families and friends who support it, choosing not to analyze her experience or pass judgments on the nature or the course of the war or the functioning of the military. Readers, for instance, meet a solider who had both of his feet and one hand blown off, and Kraft praises his strength and sense of humor. Autobiographical tidbits also pop up (e.g., Kraft's father was career military, as apparently is her marine husband). The book's main drawback is a lack of analysis and facts, which some readers may find grating. Still, this is a solid complement to the essential reads about women in the military and their role in the Iraq war (e.g., Janis L. Karpinski's "One Woman's Army"), which would even find an audience among YAs. Recommended for all public and larger undergraduate libraries.Fran Mentch, Cleveland State Univ.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2007
Kraft is a clinical psychologist who spent nine years in the U.S. Navy before leaving active duty in March 2005. In February 2004, she was deployed to a combat hospital in Iraq, leaving behind her husband and 15-month-old twins. Upon arrival she was quickly confronted with the task of comforting a traumatized marine colonel whose men were severely wounded by a land mine. The daughter of a retired Navy submarine officer, she was groomed to maintain a degree of calm stoicism, but her memoir of her experience in Iraq reveals both her intense anguish and pride. Her admiration and compassion for the soldiers she counsels is great, yet she is tortured by a sense of powerlessness since she knows some of them will be maimed, killed, or indelibly scarred psychologically. Eventually, she learns to accept Rule Number Two, which states that doctors cannot prevent the death of young men and women in warfare. A necessary but uncomfortable bookfor anyone wishing to understand the strain and pain that this form of irregular warfare inflicts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)