(Rootstock Publishing)
Luke isn’t interested in learning anything about Peshawar or Pakistan, because even though his dad “had him over Christmas vacation. It said so in the divorce,” Peshawar, and the “Great Goddamn Project,” as he and his mother referred to it, and his dad’s obsession with the project, was the reason the divorce happened. So Luke may be in Peshawar, but he’s planning on spending most of his time with his Walkman affixed to his person. It’s 1986. His dad is working with a professor he also worked with in the United States; their families become close in that time. Now the children are older, grown up a bit and Luke is drawn in by Dani — she’s not a skinny little kid anymore — and Rashi — he’s mixed up with the local unrest. It’s evident from the start, Luke’s declaration of refusing to learn or experience anything will not hold. In clear, descriptive and informative prose, Weybridge author Doug Wilhelm deftly draws the reader into a story rife with culture and story and risks. Written for ages 11-14, this adult reader found it very engrossing and difficult to put down.
— Reviewed by Jenny Lyons of The Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury.
Editor’s note: Wilhelm will read from and discuss his book at CVUUS in Middlebury, Sunday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m.
 

October is National Reading Group Month
Top 10 Reading Club Picks
She Would Be King: A Novel, by Wayétu Moore
My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel, by Ottessa Moshfegh
Whiskey When We’re Dry: A Novel, by John Larison
Queenie: A Novel, by Candice Carty-Williams
The Far Field: A Novel, by Madhuri Vijay
My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel, by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Once Upon a River: A Novel, by Diane Setterfield
November Road: A Thriller, by Lou Berney
Ducks, Newburyport, by Lucy Ellmann
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abbi Waxman