#tbt: Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

The Daily Booktalks for the month of February will highlight books written by African American writers. We will kick off the month with one of my favorite writers of all time - Walter Dean Myers.

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. 336 p. Scholastic Inc., 1988. (Own.)

Fallen Angels is the first-person narration of Richie Perry, a young, black soldier recently drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. It may be hard to fathom that college was beyond reach for many teenagers in the early sixties and just not an option for Richie Perry, a bright African American boy in Harlem. This novel chronicles Richie's time "in country" from the boredom and tedium of certain duties to the abject terror of combat. Originally published in 1988, Fallen Angels ranks sixteenth on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged or banned books between 1990 - 2000 and eleventh for the years 2000 - 2010.