It is 1915 and the First World War has only just begun. 17 year old Sasha is a well-to-do, sheltered-English girl. Just as her brother Thomas longs to be a doctor, she wants to nurse, yet girls of her class don't do that kind of work. But as the war begins and the hospitals fill with young soldiers, she gets a chance to help. But working in the hospital confirms what Sasha has suspected--she can see when someone is going to die. Her premonitions show her the brutal horrors on the battlefields of the Somme, and the faces of the soldiers who will die. And one of them is her brother Thomas. Pretending to be a real nurse, Sasha goes behind the front lines searching for Thomas, risking her own life as she races to find him, and somehow prevent his death. From the Hardcover edition. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

In a starred review, PW said that this "powerful and haunting" WWI story "probes ideas of death and healing, fate and free will." Ages 14-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 8 Up-This is a coherent and well-developed historical novel that, despite elements of the paranormal, paints a very real picture of the era. Seventeen-year-old Alexandra has foreseen the death of others since she was a child, but no one believes her or wants to talk about her uncanny ability. As World War I breaks out, she is tormented by almost daily visions, nightmares, and premonitions, yet she strives to become a nurse, despite her father's objections. Alexandra's brothers both end up on the front lines. Having foreseen the death of Edgar before the telegram arrives, the teen makes plans to escape her confined life in Brighton and make her way to France to try to find and save her other brother, Tom. This first-person narrative develops the characters well and readers will empathize with Alexandra and her struggles. She challenges her family's views and strikes out on her own in order to make a difference. This novel provides the female perspective of war and the chaos and trauma that nurses dealt with, along with women's role in society in England around 1915.-Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 8-11. I have seen the future again, and it is death. I can no longer pretend it is my imagination. As a young child, Alexandra (Sasha) saw that her friend would die. Now, at 17, her premonitions, always of death, have returned. It is 1915, and as World War I rages on, Sasha yearns to do something useful, like her father, a respected doctor in Brighton, England. Then her abstract terrors of war become immediate: one brother is killed; the other joins the army and disappears to France. In nightmares, Sasha sees his murder. Desperate to save him, she joins a volunteer nursing corps, hoping to find him on the battlefields. A few plot elements, such as Sasha's bond with a similarly clairvoyant soldier, feel contrived. But readers will be haunted by the unusually powerful, visceral view of war's horrors--the ruined landscapes of mud and wire, the gore and stench of mutilated bodies--in which the real and the supernatural are inextricably linked. In Sasha's compelling, urgent narrative, Sedgwick skillfully connects young peoples' struggles for power and self-determination with the deepest questions about fate, free will, and the meaning of patriotism. For more fiction about World War I, suggest the titles included in the Read-alikes The War to End All Wars, in Booklist's November 1, 2001, issue. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2006 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.