Operation Oleander
(Book Discussion Guide Available for Download on Book Guide/Reviews Tab)
Cover design by Susanna Vagt
What do you do when something you intended for good goes terribly wrong? In the summer before ninth grade, thirteen-year-old Jess Westmark organizes her friends on Ft. Spencer Army base in Florida to collect school supplies for an orphanage in Afghanistan where their parents are serving in the US Army. The orphanage’s association with Americans, however, draws it under attack. The explosion shatters lives in Kabul—and across the world in Florida. Reeling from the impact, Jess struggles to respond. Her actions not only have implications for her own family and the strained relationship with her best friend, whose life has forever been changed by the attack, but also for her growing sense of responsibility to others—even strangers continents away.