It is also important to note that Walter Dean Myers has been widely criticized for his graphic depiction of war in Fallen Angels.
By chronicling the experiences of a seventeen-year-old soldier, Fallen Angels explores they ways in which the Vietnam War led to the dissolution of the myth of the American war hero. The controversy surrounding the war resulted in a generation of soldiers who were unwelcome in the United States after completing their tours of duty. Ultimately, the American army was forced to withdraw, leaving South Vietnam in tatters. As the war raged on and the American body count rose, this anti-war sentiment took hold within the United States. However, the United States government felt strongly that intervention was necessary in order to stop Communism from spreading.
Much of the international community saw the Vietnam War as a Civil War and did not believe that there was a place for non-Vietnamese troops in the conflict. The Vietnam War lasted from 1959 to 1973, but the United States had the most boots on the ground in 1967, the year in which Fallen Angels is set. The novel is based on the author's own experiences as a young American soldier fighting in the Vietnam War.
Fallen Angels was #16 on the American Library Association’s list of the most frequently challenged books of 1990–2000 for its realistic depiction of war and those who fight in wars.Walter Dean Myers's novel Fallen Angels was published in 1988. Filled with unforgettable characters, not least Peewee Gates of Chicago who copes with war by relying on wisecracks and dark humor, Fallen Angels “reaches deep into the minds of soldiers” and makes “readers feel they are there, deep in the heart of war.”įallen Angels has won numerous awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Award, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editors Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book. A thoughtful young man with a gift for writing and love of basketball, Perry learns to navigate among fellow soldiers under tremendous stress and struggles with his own fear as he sees things he’ll never forget: the filling of body bags, the deaths of civilians and soldier friends, the effects of claymore mines, the fires of Napalm, and jungle diseases like Nam Rot.Īvailable as an e-book for the first time on the 25th anniversary of its publication, Fallen Angels has been called one of the best Vietnam War books ever and one of the great coming-of-age Vietnam War stories. Perry and his platoon-Peewee, Lobel, Johnson, and Brunner-come face-to-face with the Vietcong, the harsh realities of war, and some dark truths about themselves. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers is a young adult novel about seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the Army when unable to afford college and is sent to fight in the Vietnam War.
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