THE ROAD HOME

Rebecca Phillips, 22, is a nurse in Vietnam who has already lost her boyfriend, Billy McDonough, and her two best friends in the war. She joined up, in fact, when Billy was killed and is now regretting her rash act. Vietnam is a horrifying place, where death and mutilation are constantly with her. Further, Rebecca was shot down in a helicopter and lost in the jungle where she killed a man in self-defense. The friendship of the chief nurse, Major Doyle, helps her through, as does a devil-may-care private, Michael Jennings, who writes her wonderful letters from the front lines. When her tour of duty ends, Rebecca returns home to Boston, where she must confront her guilt, nightmares, drinking problem, and the hostility of others to the war. She goes to Colorado to find Michael, who is also having trouble readjusting to the real world. Together they resolve to move on, and Rebecca's story, first introduced in the ``Echo Company'' series, comes to a close. Although White's writing is sometimes cumbersome—as in her overuse of italics for emphasis—she recounts this tale of despair and recovery in a fast-paced, vivid, and realistic voice. (Fiction. 13+)