Almost Forever written by Maria Testa

This simple narrative about a father who goes to war in Vietnam unfolds in spare free verse. Although he reassures his family that a year will pass quickly, and that by the time he returns she will be seven and in the second grade, the girl thinks: "I did not tell Daddy that he was wrong- that second grade was half a hallway and a whole world away from first, -and that one year was forever." The daily rituals hold the mother and her children together: walking to the post office, watching Roger Mudd on the news, nightly prayers. There is tension in the novel when the father's letters stop, but the celebration at the end as he steps off the plane will have readers rejoicing,

This book is written in free verse. A quick read and enjoyable.