Fallen Angels
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of Sunrise Over Falluja in hardcover.
A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren't the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is there at all.
Reviews with the most likes.
Very heavy war book focused on a young man from Brooklyn fighting in the Vietnam War.
The audiobook was wonderfully narrated and the pacing is fast and heart pounding. I genuinely didn't know if the MC would make it or if the ending would be abrupt, further highlighting the atrocities of war.
I'm surprised this isn't a mandatory read, but I could see how others would advocate against this book. By highlighting the atrocities of war, this may discourage many from enlisting in future wars.
I read this book, and taught it to my remedial English summer school class. It's a very real book, reflecting not only the modern American enlisted man's mindset; I say modern because, despite being set forty years ago, you can walk onto any army post, any camp, and hear exactly these same thoughts espoused, in roughly the same language. I do plan on reading Myers' companion piece, Sunrise Over Fallujah, and I expect roughly the same: a coming-of-age story, mixed with life-and-death struggles, that says something true about the nature of a war that is fought by youth.
