OK, I confess: young adult fiction is one of the genres I regularly pick up; mostly because its emotional content as a genre is largely better drawn than many an adult read. But A.G. Russo's Our Wild and Precious Lives is something different: it crosses over into adult circles with its story of an Army brat family's struggles in Europe - and I like that crossover feel.

Tom and Melly worry about adjusting to a strange foreign country and entering yet another new school, but they also face problems at home with an abusive, controlling war veteran father and his domination over their lives.

It's rare to see a supportive, genuine love between brother and sister depicted against the backdrop of military life with all its challenges. It's also rare to find the events and feel of post-World War II woven into a story line that brings to life not only key moments in the international world of the 1960s, but the involvements of military families stationed abroad.

Creating a novel filled with such political and family insights is a dance. Of necessity it must move deftly, logically and precisely between two very different atmospheres that don't necessarily sync up easily: that of a military family's interactions and psychology, and the bigger picture of world events.

The real strength of a good novel lies in its ability to view the world through others' eyes. As the siblings mature (and as events concurrently mature in Europe) readers receive insights not just on the young adult perspective, but (through a series of flashbacks) the forces that shaped their father's psyche and set the stage for the fall of the Berlin Wall.

But the ultimate power of Our Wild and Precious Lives lies in the evolution of the army brat protagonists into passionate people influenced by their parents' decisions, but ultimately leading their own battles and undertaking their own life journeys, fueled by separate beliefs, passions, and family connections.