In the summer of 1984, the war in Vietnam came home to Sam Hughes, whose father was killed there before she was born. The soldier-boy in the picture never changed. In a way that made him dependable. But he seemed so innocent. "Astronauts have been to the moon," she blurted out to the picture. "You missed Watergate. I was in the second grade."

She stared at the picture, squinting her eyes, as if she expected it to come to life. But Dwayne had died with his secrets. Emmett was walking around with his. Anyone who survived Vietnam seemed to regard it as something personal and embarrassing. Granddad had said they were embarrassed that they were still alive. "I guess you're not embarrassed," she said to the picture.

Her father had died with his secrets. But her uncle Emmett was walking around with his. Sam has been fretting about Emmett all summer, worrying that his tour in Vietnam could have exposed him to Agent Orange, which may explain the aches, pains, and rashes that seem to crop up when he least expects them.

As Sam grapples with the challenges of late adolescence -- struggling to choose a college, sharing secrets with her friend Dawn,breaking up with her boyfriend, and coming to terms with her feelings for Tom, one of Emmett's veteran buddies -- she also must confront her need to know more about what happened to her father and the other Americans who served in Vietnam. Sam reads every history of the conflict she can find and asks questions of her family, many of whom seem reluctant to explore their memories.

In her ongoing search for information, Sam travels with Emmett and her grandmother from their home in rural Kentucky to Washington, D.C. to see the newly installed Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In Country takes readers along on Sam's journey from confusion and longing to acceptance and understanding.