Audiobook Review: Sunrise Over Fallujah

Once we get home, we’ll have known what we’ve been fighting for.

Walter Dean Myers takes on war again with his follow-up to Fallen Angels, Sunrise Over Fallujah. Sunrise follows Robin “Birdy” Perry through his tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The audiobook is narrated by J. D. Jackson.

What I Liked

– It took me a bit to warm up to the narrator but after a while, I really enjoyed his style. It was the moment I realized I knew which characters were speaking even before he got to the dialogue tags.

– Early in the narrative, Birdy says that his uncle Richie (the main character in Fallen Angels) wouldn’t recognize today’s army because of the women and the updated weapons. And I have to say, I appreciate the infusion of estrogen. Marla is probably my favorite of the secondary characters.

– I love the way Myers reveals details about his characters’ lives. Everything comes out organically and never feels forced or like a prescribed monologue.

– Jonesy the blues man. Shouldn’t work but it does. In some ways, he seems like a forced relic of the past (he wants to open a blues joint), but it was refreshing that he didn’t want to be a rapper or something, I guess. What can I say? His eccentricity grew on me.

– I love the details we get about the majesty of the buildings and, of course, I love the humanity shown in the people of Iraq. So many times Birdy says he doesn’t know who the enemy is, and it’s reinforced through the people he encounters–most of whom are not visibly “bad guys.”

What I Didn’t Like

– NEEDS MORE MAKING OUT.  Geez. Listen, I have known people in the military, and they hook up ALL THE TIME. I mean, there is a rule against it during boot camp. And you know what? PEOPLE GET AROUND IT! And I know that major making out isn’t WDM’s style, but still. I’m just saying. It would’ve made this book even more extra awesome is all.

In conclusion: War sucks. Walter Dean Myers does not.

YA Challenge: 28/75; POC Reading Challenge: 20/15