You fight the war with guns, you fight the peace with stories.

The distant but eerily plausible future is the stage for this story of family, struggle and survival.

The last few books I read didn't receive a written review because they were 'just okay', but American War gripped my attention and made me excited to pick it up and read. There is a certain horror in seeing North America becomes divided because of climate change and how it is a trigger for a second and third civil war.

...in so much of the Red, the war stopped by the war never ended.

Hate, racism and anger is a common element in this story and you don't have to look far and realize that these items are as active today as they were half a century ago. This gave the book a very real bite and was the equivalent of a large flashing neon sign that said "it could happen here".

"Don't ever apologize for that" she said. "That's all there is to life, is wanting to know."

This story falls in between complete fiction and a cautionary tale, and we probably won't know until it's too late. This was a fun, but terrifying story, and a nice departure from the other dystopian stories I have read over the years.