Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.05, 2010, under Adventure, Coretta Scott King, Historical Fiction, ORCA, Real life, Sam's Reviews, War, YRCA
Who would like this book? Anyone who wants a perspective on war, specifically the war in Iraq in 2003, through the eyes of an 18-year-old soldier.
Why? Robin Perry, a teenager from Harlem, goes against his father’s wishes and joins the army after September 11, 2001. This book starts in February of 2003 with a letter from Robin to his uncle describing his deployment to Iraq as part of the Civil Affairs Unit. Through first-person narration and letters and e-mails to his uncle and his mother, “Birdy” (his nickname in the unit) describes the day-to-day events of this war. Birdy exults over Operation Iraqi Freedom’s early successes, but slowly falls apart as random danger and confusion escalate. As Birdy’s unit experiences gnawing boredom, small triumphs, and huge tragedies, I felt as if I were there. The dialogue and descriptions place the reader in the middle of the unit – I could almost feel the grit of the sand. As I read, I had to adjust to the structure of the plot which follows the rhythm of the soldier’s life, bouncing from tedium to sudden action and back to tedium without any resolution. Myers’ award-winning 1988 book set in the Vietnam War, Fallen Angels, would be a good follow-up read. Its main character is Richie Perry, Robin’s uncle, who had his own coming-of-age on the battlefield. Sunrise Over Fallujah is a 2011 YRCA Nominee and 2011 ORCA Nominee.
The details: 290 p. 2008 Review by Samrarian
