Sunrise Over Fallujah - Walter Dean Myers

I listened to this book on my iPod, and I finished it in record time. I was really into this book. Mater Dean Myers, as always, packed a punch into this novel, and the narrator enhanced the experience incredibly. In fact, I'm thinking of checking out who the narrator was and trying to find other audiobooks by him he was so good!

I'm not usually a huge fan of war books, I'm pretty much a peacenik, but my nephew mentioned he wanted to read it, so I thought I'd read it and see what I thought about it. What I thought was WOW! As with most war books, there is a lot of heartbreak and death. There is also a lot of action and suspense. But this book, more than most other war books I've read, delved deep into the personal thoughts of Iraq war soldier Robin Perry, a young man who joined the army instead of going off to college, much to the dismay of his parents. Robin proves to be a deep thinker, though, even at such a young age, pondering who exactly are the enemies in this situation, and where God is in all this, or if he even IS at all.

All the scenarios in the story seem quite realistic, from the friendships built throughout the story to the combat scenes to the nightmares and pain. This story definitely does not glamorize war in any way. I do not know whether Walter Dean Myers was a soldier himself, but his writing certainly makes it seem like he has some shared experiences with these young men an women.

I highly recommend this novel for 8th graders and up who are looking for realistic war stories. Available at the West Orient library.