Service Brats-- Unite!

Our heroine is Bernadette "Bernie" Root, a military brat. It is the summer after her first year of college, and she joins her family at their new assignment: Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

There is something wrong in her family: her once-beautiful mother, Moe, and her former spy-pilot father,
Mace, are barely speaking to each other. There seems to be some sort of unspoken problem that the family is well aware of, but we, the readers, must keep reading to discover.

Once, they were happy when they were stationed at Yokota Air Base in Japan. Her mother had been happy, and their best friend, Fumiko, the family’s maid, was still part of the family. In Okinawa, Bernie realizes what a bunch of misfits her family is (with the exception of her princess sister, Kit), and she realizes she has to escape.

That escape comes in the guise of a dance contest, with the first prize a trip to Japan playing ersatz Joey Heatherton to a third-rate comedian on a tour of military bases in Japan. At their last stop at Yokota
Officers’ Club, Bernie finally sees Fumiko again, and discovers the terrible reason for her family's decline.

I absolutely loved this book, being a Sarah Bird fan for many years. My family was Air Force as well, and I could identify characters in my life from this book. The mom with the Coke bottle with water spout she uses to iron, fathers going TDY, mothers attempting to control a brood of numerous children until dad's return. They're all in here. And with it all, Sarah's amazing gift for cynical hilarious narrative and dialogue. This book will alternately charm you and break your heart.

If you enjoy it, you might also enjoy her other books:
Alamo House, or Women Without Men, Men Without Brains
The Boyfriend School
The Mommy Club
Virgin of the Rodeo

She also used to write romances under the name Tory Cates.

Good luck finding the books though. Check the Out of Print section at Barnes and Noble.com. And don't expect them to be cheap. But they are definitely worth the effort!