Ooligan Press is proud to present the memoir Breaking Cadence: One Woman’s War Against the War by debut author Rosa del Duca. This thought-provoking memoir details Rosa’s journey from enlisting in the military to becoming a conscientious objector.

Seventeen-year-old Rosa, a small-town girl, sees few options for her future. Living in poverty is a prison that’s hard to escape. When a recruiter from the National Guard comes to her school offering a college education at the price of one weekend a month and two weeks a year, she’s given a thread of hope—a path to a brighter tomorrow. Her mother is apprehensive, but the recruiter assures her the most dangerous thing Rosa will do is fight forest fires, so she consents. Then 9/11 happens and the world changes.

Rosa is thrust into an internal conflict between her own morals and the love of her military family. Honoring her contract means serving in a war she believes is wrong. Fraught with self-doubt and guilt, Rosa decides to become a conscientious objector.

Becoming a conscientious objector isn’t simply saying no to war and walking away. It’s a complicated decision shrouded in public shaming, and for Rosa, a decision not made lightly. Her memoir gives us a glimpse into the female military experience and the effects 9/11 had on our young recruits. In sharing Rosa’s journey with you, we hope to spark a conversation about the issues surrounding teen recruitment and the pressure to remain silent and follow orders, and we also hope to help humanize conscientious objectors.

Rosa’s book is available starting May 21, 2019. Don’t forget to check out her thought-provoking podcast for a deeper discussion about recruitment and conscientious objectors. Through interviews with other conscientious objectors and activists, Rosa explores recruitment and conscientious objection from all angles, encouraging everyone to join the conversation.

You can find Rosa on tour in the San Francisco Bay Area at one of the following events: