From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a stunning, emotional story of a young soldier’s unthinkable act…and the unbreakable bonds between a sister and brother.Ruth and her little brother, Aubrey, are just teenagers when their older brother ships off to Iraq. When Joseph returns, uninjured, only three and a half months later, Ruth is happy he is safe but also deeply … safe but also deeply worried. How can it be that her courageous big brother has been dishonorably discharged for refusing to go out on duty? Aubrey can’t believe that his hero doesn’t have very good reasons.
Yet as the horrifying details of the incident emerge, Joseph disappears. In their attempts to find him, Ruth and Aubrey discover he has a past far darker than either of them could imagine. But even as they learn more about their brother, important questions remain unanswered—why did he betray his unit, his country, and now his family? Joseph’s refusal to speak ignites a fire in young Aubrey that results in a disastrous, and public, act of rebellion.
The impact of Joseph’s fateful decision one night in Baghdad will echo for years to come, with his siblings caught between their love for him and the media’s engulfing frenzy of judgment. Will their family ever make their way back to each other and find a way to forgive?
more
This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I totally enjoyed it… characters are very easy to relate to. I’d never read anything by this author, but I will be looking for more!
This author always writes such emotional stories with likeable, caring, believable characters. Ask Him Why is another wonderful story from Catherine Ryan Hyde.
I was immediately swept up in the drama of Aubrey, Ruth, and Joseph. It’s is amazing how one incident can affect so many lives and change so many feelings. As the three of them embark on a journey to find the truth, and each other, the reader is blessed with the words of wisdom that are to be savored from the pages of the book.
As usual when I read one of Catherine’s stories, I fell in love with the characters and truly came to feel what they are going through. I race through her stories because they are just that good but I also treasure each page as I go, wishing it could go on and on.
Joseph, a soldier, was dishonorably discharged from the service for disobeying orders and insurrection. The story explains how his younger sister Ruth and brother Aubrey deal with the media sensation this event causes. Aubrey particularly has a difficult time dealing with it. Family dysfunction and misunderstanding come into play as they process the event.
The story is told alternatively from the point of view of Aubrey and Ruth.
A family is shocked to discover their oldest son has refused to go out on his patrol with his Army unit, bringing the condemnation of the public and the focus of the media. The two younger siblings, a sister and brother, deal with the social ramifications while trying to understand what happened with their hero. The only thing no one does is… Ask Him Why.
The family dynamics fascinated me in this very well written book.
Ask Him Why is a very emotional read as every book written by Catherine we get to meet characters that will bring a lot of real-life situations that will make us think and even check our own lives.
Ruth and Aubrey two teenagers living a regular life, until their older brother is ship off to Irak something happened over there that their world will collapse and nothing will ever be the same, their own fears and assumptions will break this amazing bond between them making it hard to see any solution.
Ask Him Why is a story where we get to understand, how society and even our own family never has the strength and the boldness to ask face to face when something is wrong… Ask Him Why deals with the insecurity and fear of people to know the truth.. how they prefer to assume not to feel and realize they had been wrong all along..
I really love Ruth she was bold, strong and she was very mature for her own age, she always had her mind in the right place… Aubrey is a very stubborn character, I really wanted to shake him to bring some sense to him.. he was so blind by his feelings and emotions that he never really wanted to ask what really happened.
I really felt sad for Joseph, nobody really took the time to hear him out not even his parents.. they were more concerned about the gossip and the people around them than what Joseph felt.
Ask Him Why is a very beautiful story, a story that will bring so many emotions to the surface.. beautiful characters, great secondary characters.. in love with this story and Catherine’s writing..
All of her books deal with a serious topic. The characters are believable and relatable. Sad, but good.
I didn’t think I would really like this book even though I have loved every book I’ve read written by this author. It was not what I expected at all – and I truly enjoyed it.
I always enjoy her books. Reading her books makes me a better person.
Ultimately it was kind of a sad story with a happy ending, a story of redemption for errors of youth.
I have NEVER read one book by Catherine Ryan Hyde that I didn’t completely love. Her books are for everyone, young and old. Full of such goodness. I believe I have read every one of her books. They were all on my Kindle, now I have an IPad and her books aren’t listed under the author search. Can’t figure out WHY that is. Any new book she has I absolutely want to read but on my IPad. I gave my Kindle to my son.
Wish BookBub would carry her books.