Insightful look at what the Iraq war was like for a soldier tasked with helping rebuild the country of Iraq into a democracy after the initial push into Baghdad.
General Information:
- Price: $8.99
- Age Range: 12 and up
- Grade Level: 7 – 12
- Lexile Measure: 780
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Scholastic Press; Reissue edition (April 15, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0439916259
- ISBN-13: 978-0439916257
Plot:
The plot of Sunrise Over Fallujah follows a soldier who recently joined the army after the 9/11 attacks. His name is Robin Perry though throughout the book he will become known as Birdy. Birdy is in a special unit that is tasked with helping the local populace recover and implement a democratic society as it rebuild from the presumed toppling of Saddam Hussein. Throughout the books letters between Birdy and his family members (mainly the uncle) show the thought process and turmoil that Birdy is dealing with internally. The rest of the book describes what it was really like on the battlefield in Iraq, which was very confusing as no one was completely sure who the enemy was and how to deal with them. It ends with a letter to his uncle saying that everyone had been reassigned and his understanding of why his uncle never really talked a lot about what he experienced while fighting in the Vietnam War as their are no words to really do it justice.
Reading and Interest Level:
The reading and interest level of this book is marketed for grades 10-12 and ages 15-18. Due to the realistic views of wartime activities and the look into the damage war does on one’s psyche I believe that the marketed reading and interest level is correct.
Evaluation:
Sunrise Over Fallujah is a very well written book that engages its reader in a unique style. The book discusses that realities of war, focusing on the Iraq war and describes what war does to a person not only physically and mentally. This book is effective in spreading its message as it describes everything about being over in Iraq not just focusing on the battles or scary moments but using those to augment everything else that happened over there. It’s value comes from the ability to share this story in such a creative and well thought out way. The book itself has the main character write to his uncles and state that he now knows why his uncle wouldn’t tell him more about his time in the Vietnam War as he understands the difficulty in expressing what happened in words. That is the value of this book as it attempts to help bridge the gap in our knowledge of what war is like as it is not easy for those who have been through it to talk about it.
Bibliotherapeutic Value:
The bibliotherapeutic value of this book is very high especially for teens that may be in military families or those who are trying to learn more about current/recent issues in the modern world. As stated previously sometimes it is very hard for veterans and teens who may be children of those vets likely will have difficulty learning more about what happened to their loved ones over in the war. This book gives a realistic insight to what it was like and though everyone’s experience is different there are common themes that occur to people who experience such an event. This book also does a great job at showing the perspective of those that are deemed to be enemies. The perspective of these people from the outlook of a soldier is a much more different angle of reading than that of many other books. The different angle may be beneficial to those who are trying to learn more about the topic. Other topics of bibliotherapeutic value would include dealing with, friendship, PTSD, as all of these topics are covered within the book in some form and capacity. Birdy deals with his new found comrades being reassigned at the end of the book and the PTSD that occurs from being within an active war zone.
Issues Present:
The issues present within Sunrise over Fallujah mostly deal with the showing of death and violence within a war zone. Surprisingly enough the author Walter Dean Myers manages to stay away from high usage of swear words/bad language throughout the book which is impressive as it is a book about the military. Some who challenge the book may reference the crude jokes/references and mental/physical trauma that the soldiers within the book are shown to have gone through while in the combat zones.
Defending the Title:
The defense of the book stems from its bibliotherapeutic value. Not many books, especially teen books are able to examine and give a detailed realistic fiction look into into war. Walter Dean Myers not only does so but manages to do so without the involvement of heavy language or drug/alcohol which is an important in regards to the younger readers that may want to learn more about this topic. Delving deeper within the story allows readers to learn some history and context within the book in order to learn more about a war that has generally been decisive and confusing to most americans since its beginning.
Book Talk Idea:
The book talk for this book could go in multiple different directions as there is a lot of ground covered within the title. Personally if I was running a book talk group for a group of teens, I would have the book discussion follow Robin (Birdy) Perry and the letters that he both sends and receives. I would want them to discuss the contents of the letters which generally depict his state of mind at the time after whatever event had just occurred to him. It is a great way to delve into his character and what happens within the war zone in relation to the soldiers. Page Numbers to look at: 1, 59, 87, 106, 123, 137, 249, 280, etc.
Genre:
The genre of the book is listed as Teen Fiction with the subject matter of the 2003 Iraq war, Military, History. The book follows Robin Perry during his first tour in Iraq.
Similar Reads:
Author’s Website:
Awards Won:
Christopher Award in Books for Young People Category
Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice
New York Times Best Book of 2008
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Professional Reviews:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/sunrise-over-fallujah/
https://thebrownbookshelf.com/2008/06/13/ya-book-review-sunrise-over-fallujah/
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-91624-0
Why I chose to read this book?
I have always been a history buff, and my undergraduate degree was in history. Generally American history does not interest me a lot but the reviews of this book as an insight to the mind of an american soldier in the 2003 Iraq war was very intriguing to me. I liked that it was a war book that wasn’t about the fighting but the day to day grind and experiences these soldiers were experiencing. Overall it was a very good book that was surprisingly informative and valuable in sharing the experiences even if they may be of an fictional character.
Librarianship 