Words in the Dust a Novel by Trent Reedy

5 Questions with Trent Reedy

2011-01-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

Trent Reedy answers five questions about himself and his new book "Words in the Dust"

LA Times Review and Interview with Author Trent Reedy

2011-01-24T01:36:00.000-08:00

Soldier Trent Reedy steps up to help an Afghan girl

His 'Words in the Dust' evokes the life of a girl with a cleft lip. He helped her get surgery and promised to tell her story.

Trent Reedy, a former Iowa National Guardsman, is pictured with Zulaikha, the Afghan girl who is the subject of his book "Words in the Dust." (Trent Reedy / March 8, 2005)

By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times

January 24, 2011

Trent Reedy was an American soldier providing security for the reconstruction of Afghanistan when he saw her. The girl was 13, her cleft lip so deformed that her teeth stuck out straight from her mouth. Her upper lip was split in two. Her nose was distorted.

Shock was Reedy's reaction when he first saw the girl he came to know as Zulaikha — a girl who became the inspiration for, and centerpiece of, his debut young adult novel, "Words in the Dust." Based on Reedy's real-life experience helping Zulaikha get the corrective surgery she needed, "Words in the Dust" is a striking and beautifully told story — one that is unusual not only because it is by a first-time author, but also because it's told from Zulaikha's point of view.

It's difficult enough to write authentically about a foreign culture. It's even more difficult to write from the perspective of another gender. Yet Reedy, who was 26 when his contingent of the Iowa National Guard was deployed to a combat zone in the Western province of Farah, felt compelled to write about her.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here

New Review up on HarleyMay.com

2011-01-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

Trent Reedy’s WORDS IN THE DUST is a beautiful debut following the life of a thirteen-year-old girl in Afghanistan. After the defeat of the Taliban, Zulaikha hopes for peace. She hopes to go to school and possibly have her cleft palate fixed.

This is a daring look at Afghan culture, what the people of Afghanistan lost during the war against the Taliban, and what they now hope for. It is a book that changed me. As an American, I hear “Taliban” and probably like most of you, I become angry.

As I read, I realized how ignorant my anger is. Yes, Americans have a right to be angry, but I didn’t have any idea how the Taliban ravaged Afghanistan and their culture.

I urge you to read this book. It is a relevant and powerful study in culture, change, and the imperfection. It is marketed for 9-13 year olds, but is a book for children and adults alike. I loved it.

Trent Reedy is a quiet force and I’m thankful he shared this poignant story. Reedy became fascinated with Afghanistan when he served in the U.S. Army in 2004-2005. Upon his return to the United States, he enrolled in the Writing for Children MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he wrote the first drafts of this book. Ten percent of the author’s proceeds up to $10,000 will be donated to Women for Afghan Women, which advocates for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

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New Review by SchoolLibraryJournal.com!

2011-01-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Review of the Day: Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

A children’s book, written by a soldier about an Afghani girl, set in the recent past. That’s a toughie. There are a lot of easier books out there to review too. Why aren’t I writing one about the adorable little girl who wants to be Little Miss Apple Pie or the one about the cute dog that wants to find its home? Well, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone, which I suspect is what author Trent Reedy wanted to do here. With an Introduction by Katherine Paterson and enough backmatter to sink a small dinghy, Reedy takes a chance on confronting the state of the people of Afghanistan without coming off as imperialist, judgmental, or a know-it-all. To my mind he succeeds, and the result is a book that carries a lot more complexity in its 272 pages than the first 120 or so would initially suggest. Bear with it then. There’s a lot to chew on here.

Zulaikha would stand out in any crowd. It’s not her fault, but born with jutting teeth and a cleft upper lip she finds herself on the receiving end of the taunts of the local boys, and sometimes even her own little brother. Then everything in her life seems to happen at once. She’s spotted by an American soldier, who with his fellows manages to convince their captain to have Zulaikha flown to a hospital for free surgery. At the same time she makes the acquaintance of a friend of her dead mother, a former professor who begins to teach her girl how to read. Top it all off with the upcoming surprise marriage of Zeynab, Zulaikha’s older sister, and things seem to be going well. Unfortunately, hopes have a way of becoming dashed, and in the midst of all this is a girl who must determine what it is she wants and what it is the people she cares about need.

Read the full review on

School Library Journal

Author Janet Fox Interviews Trent Reedy about WORDS IN THE DUST

2011-01-14T02:38:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 10, 2011

Voices You Should Hear: Trent Reedy + Giveaway!

Please read to the end - I'll be giving away a copy of Words in the Dust to one lucky reader!

I'll confess right here that I know Trent Reedy. He graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts in the residency that I started. When I heard he'd sold his first novel, Words in the Dust, I celebrated his success.

What I couldn't know was what an extraordinary novel it is. I'm reading it now, and it's wonderful. I'm delighted to feature Trent, one terrific writer.

Congratulations on the publication of your novel, Words in the Dust. Can you tell us a bit about the story and what inspired it?

Thank you, Janet. Because I was born and grew up in Iowa, I always thought my first novel would be about people living the adventure of growing up surrounded by the corn fields of home. I certainly didn't expect my first novel to be about a girl in Afghanistan. Words in the Dust was inspired by an experience I had while serving in 2004 and 2005 with the Army National Guard in the western part of Afghanistan. My unit encountered a girl named Zulaikha who suffered from birth from a horribly disfiguring cleft lip, crooked teeth, and a misshaped nose. My fellow soldiers and I knew we had to help her so we pooled our money to provide transportation to our main base in Afghanistan where an Army doctor volunteered to conduct the needed corrective surgery.

When Zulaikha returned to our outpost I was amazed at how she had been transformed! Only the smallest scar hinted that she had ever had a problem. Seeing her smile was one of my happiest moments in the war. Throughout it all, she possessed this sort of quiet courage and dignity, and for me, she began to represent the struggle of all of Afghanistan, particularly of Afghan women and girls. She had faced difficulties, but, like Afghanistan, she exhibited that indomitable spirit and proclivity for hope. The last time I saw Zulaikha, I watched her ride off of our base in the back of a truck, and although she could not hear me or understand my words, our eyes met and I promised her I would tell her story.

Read the rest of this interview at Through the Wardrobe

Fan Posts a Video Trailer for "Words in the Dust"

2011-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

A great new video trailer is up, posted by a reader who served in Afghanistan and laced the video with authentic footage from Farah province where "Words in the Dust" is based.

First Review for Words in the Dust is in!

2011-01-13T15:41:00.000-08:00

Different culture comes alive for young readers

Book Review: "Words in the Dust," by Arthur A. Levine Books.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

By Laura Bandura

People around the world have their own customs, their own rituals. Cultural differences determine ways of living, influenced by geography, history and politics.

New author Trent Reedy creates a foreign yet familiar world in his debut novel "Words in the Dust" (Arthur A. Levine Books, ages 9-12). A world away in rural Afghanistan, a girl named Zulaikha exhibits the kind of strength of spirit that is heroic in any culture.

Zulaikha lives in a small Afghani village with her father, his second wife, three brothers and a sister. Readers first meet Zulaikha when she arises one morning to the sound of the prayer call.

She strives to be a good daughter and faithfully answers the prayer call each morning. She dearly loves her beautiful older sister, Zeynab, and struggles to get along with her father's difficult second wife, Malehkah.

Then Mr. Reedy reveals what marks Zulaikha as different from the beautiful Zeynab: She has a cleft lip.

The simple surgery involved in repairing a cleft lip is taken for granted by most people in America. For Zulaikha, the idea of repairing her disfigurement is the stuff of fantasy.

While she lives her life with a certain grace and humility, her deformity is a source of obvious disgust and disdain for many people in her village. It is only in the sanctuary of her home that Zulaikha feels comfortable. And even there she must deal with Malehkah's constant scrutiny and disapproval.

Read more: at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Trent Reedy & Cheryl Klein talk about WORDS IN THE DUST, Part I

2011-01-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Trent Reedy, author of the middle-grade novel WORDS IN THE DUST, discusses the book and his experiences in Afghanistan with his editor, Cheryl Klein. WORDS IN THE DUST will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic in January 2011.

Trent Reedy & Cheryl Klein talk about WORDS IN THE DUST, Part II

2011-01-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

Trent Reedy, author of the middle-grade novel WORDS IN THE DUST, discusses the book, the importance of learning about other cultures, his friendship with Katherine Paterson, and the writing and editorial processes for the book with his editor, Cheryl Klein. WORDS IN THE DUST will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic in January 2011.