Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

ISBN: 978-0590409438
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (1988)

309 p.

Reading Level: Grades 9-12.

Summary:

This is a coming-of-age story about Richard Perry, a young African-American man who believes enlisting in Vietnam will help his mother with the cost of raising his brother after his dream of college falls through. The reader is immersed in the lives of Perry and his platoon, made up of men from a wide-variety of backgrounds, who are sent to the front lines and see the daily horror of life and war with the Vietcong. "I couldn't tell if there was too much to see, or if my eyes were getting bad. Maybe I just didn't want to see some of the things I was seeing." (p. 81). As Perry comes to terms with what he and his fellow soldiers are doing in Vietnam, a recurring question that arises is why are the black troops given the most harrowing duties, and should they, ultimately, even be a part of this war at all? Perry’s only hope is to get back to the “World” and to the possibility of a safer, better life that awaits him.

Critical Evaluation:

I found this to be one of the most honestly written portrayals of war I have ever read. Although a YA novel, it was as realistic and heartfelt as Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. The author did not shy away from the horrors and atrocities of war:

The GI’s arms and legs flung apart from the impact of the blast. The damn kid had been mined, had exploded in his arms. Guys not even near him, guys who had just been watching him take the kid into his arms, fell to the ground as if the very idea of a kid exploding in your arms had its own power, its own killing force. (p. 231).

The above passage details the day-to-day stress and horror soldiers go through when they are in a war. The tone is realistic, and the Perry’s first-person narrative truly brings the reader along with him through all the horror he experiences. Myers does not shy away from either truth or language, which is why his novels, this one in particular, are so often open to censorship. His brutal honesty regarding classcism, racism, and war are clearly depicted here, and I believe that should be the primary reason why high school students should read and discuss it in a safe classroom environment. If more teens read books that depict war as this novel does, perhaps fewer would enlist, and more would attempt to turn their lives in another direction.

Reader’s Annotation:

“The smell of burning flesh came quickly. I knew the smell wouldn’t leave me quickly. Maybe it never would.” (p. 255) Enter the Vietnam War with Richie and his fellow soldiers, and plunge into a world of man-made horror, and learn how to be able to come out into the World once again.

Author Biography:

Walter Dean Myers was born in 1937 and grew up in Harlem, New York. He joined the Army on his seventeenth birthday and later worked in construction. To date, he has written around 50 books, most that deal with the trials and tribulations of Harlem teens. Tired of the stereotypes of African-Americans that he read growing up, he embarked on writing novels that depicted those he saw around him with an honest voice. Praised for his characters and dialogue, he also never romanticizes his characters. “Drugs and violence, loneliness and indifference, sex, religion, economics, and other oppressive and challenging agencies figure into his plots.” (Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/walter-dean-myers). The use of language is one of Myer's most important contributions. As he said,

It is this language of values which I hope to bring to my books...I want to bring values to those who have not been valued, and I want to etch those values in terms of the ideal. Young people need ideals which identify them, and their lives, as central... guideposts which tell them what they can be, should be, and indeed are. (Retrieved from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/myers.html)
 
One can only hope there will be more writers like Myers for the generations ahead.

Genre: War (historical) fiction - Coming of age.

Curriculum Ties:

Could be used in a High School social studies class in a unit about wars.

Booktalking Ideas:

- Why do the young African-American men in this book feel that enlisting is their only option in life?

- Both during the Vietnam War and during wartime today, enlisting age is lower
than the age of drinking or voting. How fair is it to expect them to fight?

- How will the changes Richie has gone through in war affect his life when he
gets back into the World?

Read-Alikes:

Adult fiction cross-overs:
-The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.
-All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

YA:
-Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI

by Ryan Smithson.

Challenge Issue:

This book has been banned for many years and in many states. The reasons include the violence, racial epithets, and expletives. One would need to explain to parents that this is an honest depiction of youth in wartime and that the author uses realistic words, the same kind that soldiers would use in daily life, in order to convey his story.

Reason to include in blog:

I had always meant to read a book by Walter Dean Myers. I realized that this was one of his early books, and I fully intend to read his others such as Monster.  I am fascinated with historical fiction that has to do with wartime, especially if it is written from the first- person perspective.

References:

Myers, W. D. (1988). Fallen angels. New York: Scholastic Inc. 



Myers, W. (n.d.). Walter Dean Myers. Retrieved from

http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/bio.html

Fischer, M., Levandowski,C., Marlowe, C., Snyder, B., & Vandergrift, K. (1996).

Learning About Walter Dean Myers. Retrieved from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/myers.html

Walter Dean Myers. (2011). In Answers.com. Retrieved from

http://www.answers.com/topic/walter-dean-myers