Desert Tough: A Tribute to Military Children

Growing up, I always enjoyed reading. As a mom, I worked hard to share that love of reading with my own children by reading often with them. When we were in the throes of combat deployments, I found books to support the challenges and to try to explain to very young children why their dad was gone. At the time, there was only a small selection of books reflecting life as a military kid; most were deployment-centric and spotlighting the Army.

I’m happy to report that the representation of military kids has continued to grow in the past two decades. There are many more books on the market these days, books for all branches and more representative of our modern military. Yet, the bulk of these books are picture books. While it’s undeniably progress, I haven’t seen too many 12-year-olds reading picture books. If the book offerings are any indication, it’s as if older kids do not need support. 

However, I would argue that it’s precisely at the late elementary/middle school age that the sacrifices of military children become more personal. I believe it is vital that they feel connected to one another and to the greater military community. To me, this window of time (termed “middle-grade” in literature and encompassing roughly grades 3-8) is so critical. It’s the period when kids will start to decide if they think this military lifestyle is worth the challenge. Messages of positivity and encouragement through the challenging moments, could make such a huge difference in shaping their opinions about the value of this lifestyle. If books existed that reiterated that while sometimes difficult, the unique experiences military children live are worthwhile and value-adding, I believe they would prove to be a crucial tool in helping to offset the stressors of the military lifestyle.

For that exact reason I wrote Desert Tough, a realistic, but fictional novel aimed at middle grade children. I wanted our older military children to have a story where bits of their “normal” would be reflected. In Desert Tough, an 11-year-old boy named Diego endeavors to find his footing in Twentynine Palms, California after PCSing there because of his dad, a Marine. In Desert Tough, there are recurring positive themes of courage, resilience, respect, and flexibility. I hope that readers will catch glimpses of themselves, their families, and their lifestyles in the characters and the situations in which the characters find themselves. I worked hard to authentically portray Diego’s family’s efforts post-PCS to get settled in a new place.

Perhaps, more importantly, I underscored the tenacity Diego demonstrates by overcoming those challenges and contributing in meaningful ways to his new community. 

In my not-so-humble opinion, military children are one of the most impressive groups of children out there. They are strong, brave, and adaptable. There are many people touting the incredible resilience of military children, a compliment not intended to be dismissive. But simply slapping a label on these incredible children without acknowledging the very real challenges they must overcome to succeed, downplays the inherent difficulty of the task they have been given—to pack up the life they have worked hard to establish and to invest themselves repeatedly, all the while knowing that they will be leaving. Much is asked of our children and time and time again, they rise to the challenge. The reality is that there are adults who struggle with the enormity of such changes. For that reason, moving tops all the major lists of life stressors. In fact, every aspect of moving and re-establishing oneself is listed separately on Dartmouth College’s Life Change Index Scale, proving that moves cause large amounts of stress. Yet over 1.6 million military children, the current figure recognized by the Department of Defense (DoD), are in some state of moving: whether that be uprooting their lives or trying to transplant themselves into a new community. In fact, the DoD states that the average school-aged military child will move six to nine times before graduating high school. It is, therefore, imperative that these mobile children feel supported and as though their efforts are not in vain.

Resilience in our military children is hard-earned. 

I have spent my entire life in a military family. I am well aware that very little is easy, which makes the grace and courage shown by military children throughout these stressful transitions even more incredible and deserving of recognition. It is my sincerest wish that children finish reading Desert Tough with their hearts filled with pride at being included in the ranks of Diego and his friends. Additionally, I hope that they will genuinely feel that their efforts to adapt and overcome are worthwhile.

Desert Tough is my tribute to military children world-wide. With Desert Tough, I celebrate military children’s courage to start again and acknowledge their taxing efforts to bloom where they are planted. I recognize that their resilience is hard-earned and honor their exceptional strength and determination at overcoming the challenges they face.

I am so proud to be a military child and even more proud of my own military children.

Purchase Desert Tough on Amazon

Desert Tough can be found in print and digitally on Amazon. Additionally, it is available to borrow digitally for free through DoD MWR Libraries via Libby, something Katie was excited to achieve so that cost would not be an issue for our military children.

About the Author:

Katie Bonecutter was born into and raised in a Navy family. Her dad served for 30 years and was still active duty when she married her Marine. Katie has been an active duty Marine Corps spouse for over 17 years and counting. She is the mother to four military children who have proven again and again that they are incredible. Having moved very frequently, her own children have already moved more than the average military kid and are gearing up for another move this summer. While it can be hard to move so frequently, Katie attributes her ability to roll with the punches and her outgoing nature to this lifestyle. As well, she credits the military with her unique life story and knows that she has had some extraordinary experiences, filled with opportunities to travel and to meet cool people, two things she truly loves!

Katie can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/katie.bonecutter.author and on Instagram @kt_bonecutter and would love to hear from you. She is available for speaking engagements and author visits.

Interested in contributing to BTC Chronicles? Reach out at [email protected] !

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