Richie's Picks: SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH by Walter Dean Myers, Scholastic, May
2008, ISBN: 0439916240
"Armchair warriors often fail
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales"
-- Don Henley, "The End of the Innocence"
"I wasn't exactly scared. My mouth was dry, the way it felt before a big
game or an important test in high school. But I was going to be doing
something I had never done before. I was going to be in a war."
Having previously written the definitive novel for adolescents on what it
was like to be a young American in the middle of the Vietnam War, Walter Dean
Myers has now written what will be the definitive novel for adolescents on
what it is like to be a young American in the middle of the current Iraq War.
Having graduated high school In the wake of 9-11, Harlem teenager Robin
Perry has decided to "stand up for [his] country" by enlisting. Thus, he finds
himself in Kuwait, in a Civil Affairs unit, and he's arrived just in time for
the beginning of the Iraq War
" 'Okay, rule six in the Rules of Engagement. Expect "Happy Shooting" from
the local populace. This shooting is not hostile and should not be responded
to as such.
" 'So if some guy's smiling and shooting in the air,' Jonesy said, 'it's
okay. But then he lowers it a little bit and he's still smiling while he's
lighting your ass up, you can shoot back?'
" It depends,' Marla said. 'How big is his smile?' "
For those readers already familiar with Myers' book set in Vietnam, FALLEN
ANGELS _http://www.richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/fallen_angels.html_
(http://www.richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/fallen_angels.html) , the first
obvious difference between Twentieth century war in Vietnam and
Twenty-first century war in Iraq is that, now, a significant portion of the
American
soldiers with guns are female. Another major difference between FALLEN ANGELS
and SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH is that Robin's being part of a Civil Affairs unit
-- that is simultaneously supposed to be winning the hearts and minds of the
Iraqis while trying to survive the random attacks and setups -- brings quite
vividly into the forefront of this story the absurdity and stupidity of the
game plan that Bush and his subordinates "on the ground" have spent hundreds of
billions of dollars trying to implement politically and militarily in Iraq.
"In between the bombing coverage and the shots of ground targets being
bracketed and then destroyed there were images of cheering Iraqis.
" 'They know why we're here,' Sergeant Harris said. 'They probably don't
know what it means to be really free, but they can sense it, You know what I
mean?'
" 'Then again,' Coles said, 'if they weren't cheering, would they be on
television?' "
Many readers will not necessarily recognize all of the absurdity and dark
humor here that sometimes made me recall the TV show MASH (particularly the
running jokes about the current rules of engagement). Most readers will simply
be sucked in by the high-action, straight-ahead war story of a dozen young
American characters who, at any moment, may suddenly cease to exist or have
their best friend or some random group of children on a street suddenly cease to
exist.
"I felt pressed by a huge weight, like every bad minute you had ever had in
your life had come back and was inside your chest and just sitting there. It
was like having a huge vulture eat at your stomach and being too tired to do
anything about it. I couldn't stop crying as we made our way back through
the streets of Baghdad to the Green Zone.
" 'Stay alert!' Coles said.
" 'No.' I heard myself say the word. I wasn't sure if it was loud enough
for anyone else to hear. I didn't want to be alert anymore. I didn't want to
be a good soldier. I just wanted to shut down this whole damn war."
There actually is a plot connection between SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH and FALLEN
ANGELS. Robin Perry periodically writes letters home to his Uncle Richie,
who is Richie Perry, the main character in FALLEN ANGELS.
It so deeply sucks that Walter Dean Myers needed to write this book. But it
sure as heck needed writing and Walter has written one hell of a story about
the war that has cost America so dearly, and forever, in terms of precious
resources, precious young people, prestige, and moral authority in the world
arena.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
Moderator, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks
(http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks)
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