Yes, Yes, YES!
I say a big fat YES! to both of these books by Sara Lewis Holmes! Smart and poignant, both of them! You can learn more about them and about Sara at her websites (below). ***Also — ding, ding, ding — there’s a Twitter Chat with Sara and her editor, Cheryl Klein, on Wed., Sept. 30th!! Don’t miss this cool opportunity to talk directly with Sara! ***
OK, now for the interview:
Kathy: Hi, Sara! Can you tell us why you wrote OPERATION YES?
Sara: I didn’t grow up in a military family, but that’s all my own kids have ever known. My daughter’s first sentence was “Daddy fly airplanes today.” I wanted to write a book that would not only reflect their lives, but extend an invitation to readers to step in and be part of that world for awhile.
Kathy: What a great first sentence! Why do you write for young people?
Sara: Because they read with open hearts and minds.
Kathy: What helps you write?
Sara: Plain, unintimidating spiral notebooks; yoga music; hot caffeinated beverages; a deadline.
Kathy: All very good inspirations and motivators, indeed! How much of your book is autobiographical?
Sara: For OPERATION YES, quite a lot. Much of my family’s real life is in there—including air shows, FOD walks, “remove before flight” key tags, the sound of flightsuits in the dryer, living on base, moving often, dealing with deployments, bravery, fear, uncertainty, hope, and the kindness of all the communities we’ve been a part of.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite quote or bumper sticker?
Sara: It’s in the book: “Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a great battle.” Not only is that wisdom to live by, but it’s also a great way of developing your characters: what are their great battles?
Kathy: What’s an embarrassing story about yourself that you don’t mind telling?
Sara: I get lost so often I should have a GPS beacon embedded in my head. Once, I left my hotel room to get free popcorn in the lobby, and when I came back up to my floor, I couldn’t remember what room I was in! I had to stealthily slip the key card into each lock and see if it worked. I was terrified someone would fling open the door at my tampering and yell at me.
Kathy: Ha! Love it! Now, final question. Why should kids read books when there are so many other things to do?
Sara: A great book sticks with you for a long, long, long time and becomes part of who you are.
Kathy: That’s beautiful, and so true. Here are links to Sara and remember the Twitter Chat on the September 30th!
Here’s Sara’s website: www.saralewisholmes.com
And for more about OPERATION YES, go to www.operationyesbook.com
Kathyerskine's Blog 
Great interview, you two.
(Somehow I didn’t realize you had a blog here, Kathy. I’m subscribed to your LJ and only found this because of your post there. Glad I did!)
What a fun interview! LOVED the book. Thank you both :)!!
What a great interview. I’ve been looking forward to reading Operation Yes, and now even more so. The quote about kindness was just what I needed to read today.
And Kathy, I’m with Loree. Thought you had dropped off the blog radar, so I’m glad to find this. And hear more about the journey toward your 2010 novel.
Being a Foreign Service “brat” (a cousin, perhaps, of the Army “brat”), I love OPERATION YES and highly recommend it. But, of course, as Sara says, you get to live that world and see what it’s like from reading the book, so you don’t have to have moved around to appreciate it.
And thanks for your interest in keeping up with me! I’m trying to get better about LJ blogging . . . .