Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a parent in the Army? In Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes, both Bo and Gari have a parent that is. Gari’s mom is an Army nurse who is suddenly deployed. With three weeks until her mom must leave, Gari is sent to live in North Carolina where her uncle, Bo’s dad, is in charge of a base. Gari does NOT want to go, but is sent anyway.

When Gari arrives in North Carolina, she is put in Bo’s classroom. Her new teacher is Ms. Loupe. She is quirky, fun, and she has a tattoo. Everyone in Room 208 LOVES The Taped Space, a rectangular box surrounding the entire front of the classroom. The Taped Space is a place where anyone can be anything: a prisoner of war, a diver in shark infested waters, or a rock star. Everything is perfect...until something happens to Ms. Loupe’s brother Mark who is stationed in Afghanistan. That thing changes everything in Room 208. No more improv in The Taped Space, which means school is just normal...school. The kids have to get Ms. Loupe back, but how? This process can only be described as Operation Yes.

Sara Lewis Holmes has only written one other book: Letters to Juliet which has won the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest. The recommended reading age for Operation Yes is Young Adult. This book is unlike any other book that I’ve read. I can’t compare it to anything and I loved it! Sara Lewis Holmes’ writing style is like Mellissa De La Cruz’s style because the book goes from one main charecter to another without being confusing.
My favorite quote from this book is “Be careful what you say to others because everyone is fighting a great battle.” I like this quote because it is inspirational, and it has a lot of truth to it. American Library Association's Booklist says "...the entire tale is purest stagecraft: quick, funny, sad, full of heart, and irresistibly absorbing." Sara Stiles says, “I don’t know what i expected form this book, but I definitely loved it!”

I hope you all read this book and love it as much as I did!

Recommended by Theresa Brehm