The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

He pulls no punches but cares deeply for his grandsons, and he adds a bit of levity and gruff, warm fuzziness to the story. My favorite character out of the whole book had to be Dov, Levi and Boaz’s cantankerous yet loving Israeli grandfather. Levi, less optimistic than his parents, isn’t so sure. What do you do when the brother you always admired comes back a different person, one who is clearly suffering, but whom you can’t even get a single word out of? Boaz has been deeply affected by the things he’s done and seen during his time in the Middle East, but since the military deemed him healthy enough to successfully re-enter civilian life, his parents feel as though he just needs time.

Dana Reinhardt has captured the hurt and confusion of a younger brother who doesn’t quite understand what his older brother is going through, and whose parents feel powerless to intervene. He’s bound and determined to understand this stranger who has replaced his brother, but how will he manage this when Boaz can barely even look at him, much less speak? When Boaz disappears after claiming to leave to hike the Appalachian Trail, Levi knows something is up, and with the aid of his best friends, he joins Boaz on his mystery trip.

Levi’s bewildered what happened to Boaz over there? Why is he like this now? Boaz retreats to his room, sleeps, uses the computer, and does little else. His three years of service have changed him, however, and it’s evident upon his return that something is deeply wrong.

It was a shock to his entire family when Boaz signed up everyone had been expecting him to choose one of the many colleges that had been after him, but Boaz has always had a mind of his own. Levi Katznelson’s brother is coming back from the Marines. Success, and one more book down from both this challenge and my TBR. No problem! I went straight to my Goodreads TBR for this one, poked around, counted letters in a few different titles, and came up with The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt (Wendy Lamb Books, 2010), which clocks in at 22 letters. Another prompt for the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge directed me to choose a book with more than 20 letters in its title.