"With Guns In Their Hands And God On Their Side"

Sunrise Over Fallujah is Walter Dean Myers's 88th publication of 91 (one of which is a 12 book series, so that's really 102 publications). To see the entire list, use the link above, go to the "Bibliography" section, and click on the link on the bottom of that page. It's really impressive. 

The video at the end of this post gives a great overview of the book, so I won't go too much into that. Sunrise Over Fallujah is well written and portrays a young soldier's coming of age in the current Iraq war very well. This is specifically an adolescent/young adult novel, so there's no profanity (maybe one damn or hell, but I don't remember that even being present), but Myers does a great job describing the war. 

Robin, the protagonist, encounters battle, and Myers describes piles of body bags, soldiers killing and being killed, soldiers being dismembered, even attempted rape. He does this all in a way that provides a pretty clear picture for adolescents, but not in such a graphic way that it will cause any real controversy ("you can't let students read this"). It is a tasteful and toned-down-yet-realistic picture of what soldiers encounter.

Through Robin, Myers brings to light issues young people, those most likely to be enlisting in the near future, may not have considered. Certainly issues that aren't often discussed with adolescents, especially by recruiters. 

We get a mostly balanced picture of the situation (the initial invasion of Iraq at the start of the current war). Robin is dedicated to his country and his job, but he is conflicted because he now sees that war isn't as cut and dry as he imagined. It's difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys. He wants to feel safe and protect his fellow soldiers, but really doesn't want to kill anyone. He is often scared and sometimes cries. He doesn't always understand the U.S.'s policies or logic.

Even the soldiers are presented diversely. Robin serves with women, blacks, whites, hispanics, young people, older people. And while the U.S. soldiers are primarily presented in a positive light, those who condemn all Iraqis are disliked by other soldiers. Those who seem to enjoy war are, through tone and imagery, presented in a somewhat negative light.

I could easily write much more about Sunrise Over Fallujah and pull out tons of quotes, but I won't. The book gives adolescents an idea of the plight of Iraqi citizens, talks about the myriad tribes and factions present there, the local violence, lack of hospitals and drinking water. It shows how the soldiers help the people and how the invasion has brought strife to the area. It would be a great book to use in a literature class, in a current events class, in a social studies class. It is appropriate for high schoolers and beginning college students, but could surely be explicated by professionals.

If the embedded video won't work, click here.

Pride of Baghdad

For this week's (and next week's) presentation on Iraq, I've read Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan.

This book is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that you'll find in the adult section of the library. There's definitely some no-holds-barred violence (not just war, personal violence) and even sexual violence in the book. The novel itself is based on the true story of four lions who "escaped" the Baghdad Zoo (escaped death) during the Invasion (that's right, capital I, for the lions).

As the story progressed, I began to view each character as representative of the mindsets of people from specific moments in time.

Noor: the young lioness who craves freedom and is trying to strike a deal with the monkeys and the antelope to gain that freedom. She is suspicious of humans and sees herself as a prisoner. She has no real memory of freedom for comparison.

Safa: the old, partially blind lioness who remembers freedom as a time of violence. For her, the safety of the zoo and the fact that meals are provided outweigh a desire to run free.

Zill: the alpha male. He seems young, Noor's age. He barely remembers freedom, and while he longs to have it back, he doesn't hate the zoo. I don't see him as a terribly strong character, but he does "prove himself."

Ali: Noor's young cub. He was born in the zoo and is in awe of what is going on around him. He has a special affinity for Safa. Ali doesn't really understand the difference between free and not free.

I wish I had more background on the area to round out and provide more context for the way I view the characters (especially Safa's violent history and Noor's strong feeling of imprisonment (which I feel must allude to something more than that she's a lion in a zoo)).

The destruction of the zoo is both liberating and confusing for the lions. Safa would rather stay in the ruins than leave with the other three. Interestingly, when the four step outside the boundary of the zoo (yes, Safa leaves the bombed-out zoo) they are surprised to see that they'd been lied to. The zoo keepers had always said it was just desert for miles and miles, but the lions find a forest beyond the zoo's gates. I see this reflection in our perception of Iraq. We talk about the war being fought in a desert ("the sandbox") and see pictures of dirt roads and dust-covered bodies. Do we allow ourselves to have keepers?

Ali and Safa meet a turtle (my favorite character), who tries to explain to them what has happened. In doing so, he reminds us of Desert Storm and of oil. But the lions don't get it and the crabby turtle can't explain.

While I think the middle part of the book calls in some gender roles (perhaps unintentionally), it's the end that I find most telling. No, I won't ruin it (although that may happen in class). I just find the soldier's statement so open ended. Was he lying or delusional?