Review
Sister Mine, O'Dell's third
novel following
Back Roads and
Coal Run, is a
raucous, action-driven read with a cast of
robust characters including hard-talking Shae-Lynn,
a Russian gangster, a sleazy New York lawyer, a
dastardly mine owner and a wayward sister. In fact,
it's such a fun read that it's easy to overlook that
at its heart are powerful issues that explore the
price we put on human life in various contexts and
from several perspectives.
Like O'Dell's earlier two books, the setting is a
small town in Pennsylvania that was founded and grew
on coal, but now, with the mines closing, has lost
its purpose and is losing its cohesion. Twenty-four
years ago, Shae-Lynn left the area with her baby
son,...
Beyond the Book
US Military Recruitment Facts
& Stats
After several bad years,
all branches of the military
met their 2006 & 2007 recruitment
targets (figures below are
2007 stats rounded to the
nearest 1000):
- Army: 80,000
- Navy: 37,000
- Marines: 36,000
- Air Force: 28,000
This was
a relief for the military,
as the ongoing war in Iraq
has made recruitment
increasingly difficult. It
is rare to try to fill
wartime ranks purely with...
