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AWOL
A moving graphic novel, AWOL explores the realities of PTSD from a kid's perspective. The book includes an author's note and kid-friendly mental health resources. As a military child, eleven-year-old Leah moves...a lot. But this summer she will be the one left behind when her best friend’s family is reassigned. To make matters worse, her mother will be away for training, leaving Leah at home with her father, who has just returned from deployment. When a new girl moves into her neighborhood, Leah must navigate the ups and downs of making a new friend while avoiding her father’s unpredictable mood swings. Praise for We Wear Masks , winner of the Alice Kitts Memorial Award for Excellence in Children's Writing 2020: “A timely book. The engaging rhymes and beautiful illustrations representing diverse community members, show readers different reasons masks are worn.”― The Toronto Star “A book for the moment in which we find ourselves, and it offers a ready avenue for opening discussions with our children about what is occurring in the world around them. Recommended.”― Canadian Review of Materials
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 30, 2022
I related do much to this graphic novel growing up in a military family and moving every 1 to 2 years. My favorite quote in the book was how it is easy to make friends, but a lot harder to keep them. I never had to keep friends for very long because either I was moving or they moved. I liked how realistic the PTSD symptoms were, but it wasn’t made the main focus. Excellent book overall that I wish I had growing up.
Thanks so much to Orca Book Publishers for ad advanced digital copy via NetGalley. Publication date is slated for October 18, 2022.
Thanks so much to Orca Book Publishers for ad advanced digital copy via NetGalley. Publication date is slated for October 18, 2022.
June 24, 2022
When I get a book, and read it in one sitting, even though I am in the middle of several other books, then I know it is a good one. This book, about a tween, is about life with army parents, and how hard it is to constantly move. But beyond that, is the story of her father, who has PTSD, and she feels like she has to walk on eggshells around him.
What I liked about it was that it wasn’t pushing the PTSD. It was actually a side note of Leah’s problem of losing her best friend, because her family had been reassigned to another base. She meets a new girl, but because she is also leaving in about two weeks, she wonders if it is worth the trouble. She learns that it is.
And during all this friendship stuff, we see her father blow up, and it frightens her enough that she leaves home, thus the AWOL of the title (Absent Without Officer’s Leave, an army term for leaving when you don’t have permission.)
Very relatable story. Well done.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
What I liked about it was that it wasn’t pushing the PTSD. It was actually a side note of Leah’s problem of losing her best friend, because her family had been reassigned to another base. She meets a new girl, but because she is also leaving in about two weeks, she wonders if it is worth the trouble. She learns that it is.
And during all this friendship stuff, we see her father blow up, and it frightens her enough that she leaves home, thus the AWOL of the title (Absent Without Officer’s Leave, an army term for leaving when you don’t have permission.)
Very relatable story. Well done.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
August 16, 2023
is there a book two….?
February 4, 2023
3 stars (I liked it)
This was an interesting window into the life of a military kid. I think it's important to have this book out there for children who might be experiencing similar situations (a parent with PTSD). I think the pacing of this book is a little off. It's really slow in the beginning and then the end feels a bit rushed. Still a good story though.
This was an interesting window into the life of a military kid. I think it's important to have this book out there for children who might be experiencing similar situations (a parent with PTSD). I think the pacing of this book is a little off. It's really slow in the beginning and then the end feels a bit rushed. Still a good story though.
January 19, 2023
3.5 stars
February 16, 2025
Story 4.5/5
Art 2.5/5
Art 2.5/5
July 17, 2025
Straight to the point. I enjoyed it. It is sad, but Leah handles it well for a 12 yo.
May 24, 2025
This visually engaging middle grades graphic novel begins to fill a HUGE hole in middle grade fiction - that is, fiction addressing the unique circumstances of kids of military parents. With both parents in the military, Leah has had to move often, and at the beginning of the book, she is facing the loss of another best friend to assignment to another base. To make it worse, her sister is going away to a job at a summer camp, her mother is off for reserve training, and she is stuck at home during summer vacation with her father, who has recently returned from deployment and has unpredictable moods due to untreated PTSD.
It packs a realistic, heavy punch into text I was able to read in just a half hour, but with plot lines that are relatable for upper elementary students even with no military connections, like falsely accusing a new friend of something and then realizing you are wrong.
Content warning: there is a 2-page spread of Leah imagining herself jumping off a bridge when she reaches a breaking point of feeling alone and her dad loses his temper at a small thing and screams at her. The text on the page before reads, "There is a small part of me that wants to run straight to that old bridge..." before the greyed out 2-page rendering of her imagining herself jumping into the water. On the following page, she reaches out to a friend (who is not home).
Though there is back matter that addresses the mental health aspect of Leah's dad's PTSD, it does not directly address the fact that she had a fleeting suicidal thought. Thankfully, the book does at least include a list of resources at the end for "If you feel worried or overwhelmed, or are thinking about hurting yourself or others, please talk to an adult you can trust, like a parent or teacher. You can also talk to a counselor anytime, day or night, through these resources:" listing the Boys Town Hotline and Crisis Text Line as US resources.
Aside from concern that her fleeting suicidal thought is not directly addressed, I did think that the issue of her dad's PTSD was . Overall, however, it is a welcome addition to realistic graphic fiction for middle grade reader's that a parent's outsized anger is included or addressed at all, as so many children are facing this kind of verbal assault in their homes and it is rarely depicted in middle grade fiction. This book will surely make many children feel less alone in walking on eggshells at home at times.
Recommended for elementary and middle school library collections, especially at schools with high military student populations.
It packs a realistic, heavy punch into text I was able to read in just a half hour, but with plot lines that are relatable for upper elementary students even with no military connections, like falsely accusing a new friend of something and then realizing you are wrong.
Content warning: there is a 2-page spread of Leah imagining herself jumping off a bridge when she reaches a breaking point of feeling alone and her dad loses his temper at a small thing and screams at her. The text on the page before reads, "There is a small part of me that wants to run straight to that old bridge..." before the greyed out 2-page rendering of her imagining herself jumping into the water. On the following page, she reaches out to a friend (who is not home).
Though there is back matter that addresses the mental health aspect of Leah's dad's PTSD, it does not directly address the fact that she had a fleeting suicidal thought. Thankfully, the book does at least include a list of resources at the end for "If you feel worried or overwhelmed, or are thinking about hurting yourself or others, please talk to an adult you can trust, like a parent or teacher. You can also talk to a counselor anytime, day or night, through these resources:" listing the Boys Town Hotline and Crisis Text Line as US resources.
Aside from concern that her fleeting suicidal thought is not directly addressed, I did think that the issue of her dad's PTSD was . Overall, however, it is a welcome addition to realistic graphic fiction for middle grade reader's that a parent's outsized anger is included or addressed at all, as so many children are facing this kind of verbal assault in their homes and it is rarely depicted in middle grade fiction. This book will surely make many children feel less alone in walking on eggshells at home at times.
Recommended for elementary and middle school library collections, especially at schools with high military student populations.
December 22, 2022
This was a simple book in terms of the amount of text per panel, and the fact that the panels themselves are simply drawn without too many details and lots of "empty" space to it is easy to focus on the human characters. The palette is light, with mostly pale colors, but the plotline packs a punch. Leah, the MC, has moved 5 times in 11 years due to the realities of her military family's life. Not only that, but all of her friends are from military families as well, and also move. So she has a constant rotating door of friends, whom she never gets to keep for long, and it's beginning to wear on her. When this book begins, her latest BFF is just about to move away on the first day of summer break, her older sister is leaving to be a CIT at a summer camp, and her mother has to leave for a 10 day stint of training as an Army Reservist. This leaves her alone with her father, whom she loves but also tiptoes around due to his his untreated and unpredictable mood swings (presumably due to PTSD).
Leah makes tentative friends with a girl who is temporarily in town with her mother, but it's rocky. She's trying to get a bit more freedom around town, but it's hard. She's trying to make things work with her dad, but communication is hard due to the previously stated issues and her own pre-teen moodiness. Needless to say, it eventually all comes to a head. It wraps up well and believably, though, and has a very satisfying ending.
There are a great many kids who will relate to this book. There aren't many stories out there featuring military kids, despite how many of them exist, so there's that demographic. There's also not that many books out there featuring kids whose parents have mental health struggles - though that number does seem to be on the rise, thankfully - so that will resonate with kids as well. Not to mention kids who just plain have to move around a lot due to their own families' situations.
A great addition to the children's collection. The fact that it's easy to read from a textual angle is a total plus in this situation. I think this will be an emotional balm to the readers who really need it.
Leah makes tentative friends with a girl who is temporarily in town with her mother, but it's rocky. She's trying to get a bit more freedom around town, but it's hard. She's trying to make things work with her dad, but communication is hard due to the previously stated issues and her own pre-teen moodiness. Needless to say, it eventually all comes to a head. It wraps up well and believably, though, and has a very satisfying ending.
There are a great many kids who will relate to this book. There aren't many stories out there featuring military kids, despite how many of them exist, so there's that demographic. There's also not that many books out there featuring kids whose parents have mental health struggles - though that number does seem to be on the rise, thankfully - so that will resonate with kids as well. Not to mention kids who just plain have to move around a lot due to their own families' situations.
A great addition to the children's collection. The fact that it's easy to read from a textual angle is a total plus in this situation. I think this will be an emotional balm to the readers who really need it.
February 19, 2023
I grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of the U.S. Army War College. It seemed as though, every year from middle school to senior high, my favorite new friend would turn out to be one of the kids whose father was temporarily assigned to the base. We'd enjoy each other's company for nine months, knowing that in June, they would be moving to another base somewhere else, and I would be staying right there in the town of my birth.
At the time, I never really thought about what it was like for these smart, interesting, and resilient "army brats" to be constantly on the move, settling into a new town, starting a new school, and making new friends every year.
In this book we meet 11-year-old, Leah, the child of two army parents. She's dealing with a lot at the moment. While her mom is off for training, she's left with her dad, a man suffering from PTSD, whose wild mood swings can be scary for young Leah. She's also facing the fact that it's almost time for her best friend to move away while this time, Leah stays put.
This bittersweet graphic, aimed at the middle-grade readers and up, would be a great addition to any school library, and would probably appeal to fans of the Berrybrook Middle School series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orca Books for the preview.
At the time, I never really thought about what it was like for these smart, interesting, and resilient "army brats" to be constantly on the move, settling into a new town, starting a new school, and making new friends every year.
In this book we meet 11-year-old, Leah, the child of two army parents. She's dealing with a lot at the moment. While her mom is off for training, she's left with her dad, a man suffering from PTSD, whose wild mood swings can be scary for young Leah. She's also facing the fact that it's almost time for her best friend to move away while this time, Leah stays put.
This bittersweet graphic, aimed at the middle-grade readers and up, would be a great addition to any school library, and would probably appeal to fans of the Berrybrook Middle School series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orca Books for the preview.
June 27, 2023
This title is nominated for the 2024 Hackmatack Award in the English fiction category. Our protagonist (Leah) is an army kid, which means that she and her family are used to moving around. Both of her parents work in the military, her father full time and her mother on reserve. This summer though, Leah isn't the moving but rather being left behind. Her very best friend, Sam, is moving all the way across the country. Her mom will be away for part of the summer on a training exercise and her sister is going to work at a camp, which leaves her alone in the house with her sometimes volatile father. Just when Leah thinks the summer will be totally dull, a new kid shows up in the neighbourhood. Will she be able to make a new friend?
I think that it is really cool that this book is set in New Brunswick, in a place not too far from our library. It is done as a graphic novel, which makes it a pretty quick read. Although they do discuss Leah's dad's outbursts, the topic of PTSD isn't really explored in much depth. A good introduction to that topic, or mental illness in general. I would recommend this to any kid who is facing a big change, or a family member dealing with PTSD.
I think that it is really cool that this book is set in New Brunswick, in a place not too far from our library. It is done as a graphic novel, which makes it a pretty quick read. Although they do discuss Leah's dad's outbursts, the topic of PTSD isn't really explored in much depth. A good introduction to that topic, or mental illness in general. I would recommend this to any kid who is facing a big change, or a family member dealing with PTSD.
October 4, 2022
This is a very powerful book focused on children in military families- specifically dealing with moving around often, friendship troubles, and parents struggling with mental health issues and PTSD.
This book is very realistic to the struggles many of these families might have, and is upsetting & difficult.
I liked how the author had diverse characters (including an Indigenous mother & daughter, and shared their language), and discussed mental health challenges, anger, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, and therapy.
This book is not an easy read- but it paints a real picture of the life of many military children. It will be relatable to many children, and may be a useful tool for discussions.
Canadian author & Canadian story.
This book is very realistic to the struggles many of these families might have, and is upsetting & difficult.
I liked how the author had diverse characters (including an Indigenous mother & daughter, and shared their language), and discussed mental health challenges, anger, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, and therapy.
This book is not an easy read- but it paints a real picture of the life of many military children. It will be relatable to many children, and may be a useful tool for discussions.
Canadian author & Canadian story.
May 5, 2023
I actually really enjoyed this GN. It's a really good story about army brat life that combines the struggles of making new friends that all kids have with the tip-toeing of having a parent with mental health issues. The art is super approachable and the large panels are perfect for middle-grade kiddos being introduced to the more serious side of graphic fiction. While I'm not usually a fan of ambiguous endings in middle-grade books, I feel like this one, while it doesn't directly say it, ends with hope. Hope that Leah's dad will get better; hope that Leah will make more friends as she broaches outside her comfort zone at the base youth centre; and hope that Leah (and the reader) realize that friends can come and go but the experiences they bring are lifelong.
April 4, 2023
Public library copy, loaned to me by a student who enjoyed it!
There are so few books about children in military families, so reading about Leah's experience living near base, losing friends to moves, having her mother away for a week of training, and other details was great. Her father's struggles with PTSD were also very informative. Will definitely purchase. Don't know how I missed this one. Have to see what other graphic novels Orca has put out.
There are so few books about children in military families, so reading about Leah's experience living near base, losing friends to moves, having her mother away for a week of training, and other details was great. Her father's struggles with PTSD were also very informative. Will definitely purchase. Don't know how I missed this one. Have to see what other graphic novels Orca has put out.
December 16, 2022
This was a simple little graphic novel about a military kid and her crummy summer (bff moved away, sister is at camp, mom is in the field, dad has PTSD.) I thought it was a pretty good story, very slice-of-life. The artwork was nice and simple too. An enjoyable read all around.
January 6, 2025
I really enjoyed this - I haven’t come across many graphic novels set on military bases. The characters were likable. But the ending was so abrupt and too neat. I wish the dad’s PTSD and the effects on the family had been explored more. Otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable book!
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June 21, 2022ARC - Review to come
January 7, 2023
3.5, good addition to mental health GN diaspora
January 12, 2023
3.5 stars
November 30, 2023
This graphic novel really understood what it means to have a parent in the military. I never felt so seen before with a book describing the pains of friends moving away and you moving away.
September 17, 2024
Graphic novel of military family dealing with PTSD.
June 13, 2025
It's insane to me that people decide to have kids while they're actively in the military - it's totally unfair to the kids.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews