Valérie Zenatti’s memoir of her two-year compulsory service in the Israeli army offers contemporary, accessible insight into an experience foreign to most American teenagers. A relatively recent French immigrant to Israel, Valérie approaches her military service with trepidation, as it marks her transition to adulthood and a separation from high school friends. Her experiences in training and on the job in military intelligence are interspersed with details of her personal life, including evolving relationships and a painful breakup with a boyfriend. As Valérie matures, she struggles to balance her ambiguous feelings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with her dedication to her job. Realistically, she never arrives at a perfect solution. (Ages 15–18)

Valérie meanders through her final year in high school, few worries other than boyfriends and parties, knowing that as an Israeli citizen she will go directly into her mandatory military service. She questions friends who are already serving to see what her future holds. But when she actually arrives at camp, her initial enchantment fades. Questions arise as she experiences the poverty and bitterness of the Palestinians. Zenatti’s first-person narration is urgent and totally enveloping. When I Was a Soldier is a memoir that will have all readers on the edge of their seats, asking, “Could I do that?” 2006 USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Books List, 2006 Notable Children’s Book of Jewish Content, Bachelder Honor Medal, ALA Notable Children’s Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults. lmp

Originally published as Quand j’étais Soldate in French by L’Ecole des Loisirs France, in 2002. Translated by Adriana Hunter.

What is it like to be a young woman in a war?

At a time when Israel is in the news every day and politics in the Middle East are as complex as ever before, this story of one girl's experience in the Israeli national army is both topical and fascinating. Valerie begins her story as she finishes her exams, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves for service with the Israeli army. Nothing has prepared her for the strict routines, grueling marches, poor food, lack of sleep and privacy, or crushing of initiative that she now faces. But this harsh life has excitement, too, such as working in a spy center near Jerusalem and listening in on Jordanian pilots. Offering a glimpse into the life of a typical Israeli teen, even as it lays bare the relentless nature of war, Valerie's story is one young readers will have a hard time forgetting.