December 3, 2002

Dear Aidan Chambers,

When I started to read Postcards From No Man's Land, a new world began to develop inside my mind. For the first time I became aware of how terrible circumstances become during a war and how much character is required of a person to overcome them. The personal sacrifices I read about were so sad, brave, and noble that they touched me deeply.

Although I spent half of my year in seventh grade learning about WWII, it really never came to life for me. While reading Postcards From No Man's Land, I felt that I got to know the characters, and was with them as they experienced the hardships and triumphs through their lives. It was difficult being the observer, and not being able to dive into the pages of their world and help the characters. The confusion that Jacob Todd experienced was very insightful and prompted me to think about incomprehensible situations that I mightn't take the time to think through on my own. When I got to the part of the book that occurred after WWII, I thought about how war affects people even after the last shot is fired. The aftermath was very powerful.

My grandfather was a Major in the U.S. Army during the war. He never would speak to me about the war in personal terms and I felt slightly alienated and hurt because of his reluctance to share his memories with me. My grandfather is dead now after a long and wonderful life. I miss him and I feel that your book helped me to reconnect with him on a level we had not actually experienced before he died. I now feel that his refusal to share war stories with me had to do not with a lack of love for me but a respect for my youth. Also, perhaps it was his nature that the things that affected him most deeply were the things he felt the most uncomfortable sharing. For this and other reasons, Postcards From No Man's Land has given me insight and affected the relationship that I still have with my grandfather inside of my head and in my heart.

Lately Postcards From No Man's Land has been compelling me to think about what could happen if we went to war with Iraq. Through your book I have learned how personally devastating war is. I am scared for my family, myself, and countrymen. My family is so important to me, and since September 11, 2001 the world has been a very scary place. But I don't regret reading Postcards From No Man's Land and losing some of my childish innocence about war in the process. It has made me appreciate the life I have here in the United States so much more fully. I am glad, too, that I am better able to understand and be grateful for the many sacrifices that will be endured on behalf of our country and myself by our armed forces should war become unavoidable. I am grateful to you for showing me the depth of the suffering and commitment made by all veterans. I regret that I was unable to express the depth of my gratitude for them. I wish I would have been able to give my grandfather the thanks he deserved from me for serving his country and for ensuring my life here.

I wish to express my appreciation to you for opening my eyes about the war and its people. Postcards From No Man's Land brought me closer to an understanding and appreciation with thousands of people I have never met, but also one very special person who I will never meet again. But I can visit him in my heart with a deeper level of understanding and appreciation. For that, I thank you.

Sincerely,
Dana Eiselen