When her grandparents sign her up for the Benton Bluff Junior High band Tally Nguyen is horrified and worried about what the kids on her snowboarding team will think--but she comes to realize that she doesn't need to choose between the groups.

"[A] portrait of a family, and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born--a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam--and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable...

"Lieutenant Colonel Leo K. Thorsness was a Wild Weasel pilot in the Vietnam War, targeting enemy missile sites. On a 1967 mission, when his wingmen ejected from their burning aircraft, Thorsness initiated attacks on enemy planes and other daring maneuvers in order to protect them. Two weeks later, he was shot down and would become a P.O.W. for the next six years."--