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Back Home by Dan L. Walker
In 1968 Anchorage, Alaska, teenager Sam Barger's hopes for a normal high school life--complete with a job at a pizza parlor, fixing up an old car, and chatting up the pretty girls in the area--are upended when his older brother, Joe, returns from fighting in Vietnam. Joe seems like an entirely different person, and no matter what Sam does the rift between the brothers seems to only widen, until Sam even starts questioning America's role in the war.
Review from School Library Journal:
In this sequel to Secondhand Summer, readers revisit the Barger boys in Anchorage, AK, in the 1960s. Sam's older brother, Joe, joins the Marines and is sent to Vietnam. While Joe is away, Sam starts forming his own opinions regarding the war and whether the United States should be fighting the Viet Cong. Sam's opinions do not align with his brother's, and when Joe returns, tensions rise in the Barger household. Sam and Joe fight over little things, and Sam starts to realize that Joe has changed. Sam tries his best to forge his own path in life, participating in antiwar protests with his new friend Iris and getting a job at a pizza parlor. However, his difficulties with Joe make it hard for him to stand his ground and be his own man. Walker takes on a lot in under 200 pages, from anti-war protest and post-traumatic stress disorder to teenage angst and young romance. While this is a solid pick for reluctant readers, many will notice the abrupt transitions between the multiple themes. Some may also find the way Sam speaks about women to be problematic. The main cast of characters is cued as white, and Sam's best friend is a Native Alaskan; however, his Native identity is brushed aside as an offhand remark.
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