Reviews

From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava by Melinda Roth, Jay Kopelman

littletaiko's review against another edition

5.0

I've had From Baghdad With Love sitting on my shelves for several years. The cute picture of the dog on the cover suckered me into buying the book, but I held off in reading it as I wasn't sure if all would end well. Finally decided that this was the year I would read it and am so very glad I did. It's a quick read that sheds quite a bit of light on the realities of the Iraqi war while telling the sweet tale of Lava, a rescued puppy, and one soldier's quest to send him to the United States.

vikingwolf's review against another edition

3.0

The touching story of a group of marines who find an abandoned puppy in Iraq and start to look after him. One soldier becomes so attached to Lava that he decides to battle the rules and the red tape to try and get the dog safely back to America.

The pictures of this gorgeous puppy makes you go all gooey! Nobody who saw this cute bundle of fluff could have left him to a fate of certain death, but it is shocking how difficult it was to rescue one puppy. Three cheers for all the amazing people who were involved in the rescue!

mokate17's review against another edition

5.0

Such a heartfelt and eye opening story. If you understand the love of a pet, and how theraputic they can be, you will love this book. It's also quite revealing about a soldiers life in Baghdad.

dragnfly18's review against another edition

5.0

This is such a good book. It's a great beach book. A very quick read, written in every day language. You feel like Jay is sitting next to you telling you the story in person. The fact that it's a true story makes it that much better. Any animal lover should read this book right away.

gnocchiracoon's review against another edition

5.0

One of my all time favourite books. read it in 2 days.
inspiring and captivating and wholehearted filled with love.

ari__s's review against another edition

4.0

I stole this book out of my brother's storage bins, hoping to get a little piece of what he's going through in boot camp to become a Marine, but not in the sense that I wanted to go through all the harsh details - throwing a puppy in the mix seemed like a nice way of softening the realities of the military. In a way, Lava did soften the stereotypical stone cold face of the military/Marines, but it was also eyeopening and heartbreaking - the relaity of the world was vivid in every page.

shereadsspice8's review against another edition

5.0

Loved it!!

From Baghdad, With Love is a true story about a Marine and a puppy that he finds abandoned in Iraq. His unit takes the puppy in even though it is against the rules and care for him. They know they are breaking the rules but can't help but love him anyway. They know that he may be taken and killed because that is the policy but Lava gives them something to believe in. It takes their focus away from the fighting and fear and gives them something to focus their attention on.

Very fast read and a wonderful story.

briefcasefullofbooks's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.0

tomaind's review against another edition

4.0

A very emotional story. The bond between the Marine and Lava was touching and the efforts made to bring the dog to America were heroic. It is very sad to read about how dogs and other animals are treated over there, but then not surprising since humans are not treated much better.

goblyn's review against another edition

3.0

This book does a good job of giving a glimpse into the war, contrasting the authors prior outlook on life with his new post-dog outlook. The only thing he doesn't talk about that much is the dog itself. Cute, but not as riveting as I normally find dog stories