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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
“Once he had all his stuff, the first thing he did was write FTA on the side of his helmet in black ink. Which, of course stood for #*$@ The Army. Might as well let everyone know where he stood.” Nearly nineteen year-old Michael Jennings, a ski instructor from Colorado, is drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he is ordered to Echo Company, in I Corps - stationed in the heat of the action. Mike, or Meat, as his buddy Snoopy christens him, doesn't really understand the war – none of the guys do – but they follow orders, silently humping their way through the stifling heat, booby traps, and dense jungle of South Vietnam day after day.
Emerson presents a glimpse of a young soldier's time in Vietnam in this promising first novel of a projected series. Short bursts of wartime action provide startling realism to the hectic life of a soldier in the field – guys joking about the World Series one minute and cleaning a soldier’s exploded corpse off his best friend the next. These moments are well paired with long, detailed descriptions of the terrifying non-action of Meat's shifts standing guard at night. “A twig snapped. For sure, a twig had snapped. They were out there. Was anyone else awake? Was he the only one who had heard it? Were they coming?” Each character is well defined through short description, and confusion about the real conflict at hand may spark curiosity from readers and interest to learn more about the Vietnam War. Mostly absent from this brief novel are the politics and relentless gore of many war novels, yet the raw characterization, bursts of action, and simple writing are well-crafted. Sure to be compared to Walter Dean Myers’ 1988 novel Fallen Angels, a potentially stronger offering as it grapples with the political and racial issues of the late 1960s.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
I dunno why every time I go into one of Ellen Emerson White's books, I think this will be the one that's mediocre. I spent the second half of this book crying. It's a war book so a lot of tragic things happen, but less so than you might expect. It's more the small things that are heart breaking, and she's so good at hitting you hard with the small things when you're expecting something dramatic.
To be honest, I was absurdly biased in favor of this book from the first page because her writing style just feels like coming home to me. I adore it. It flows so well and sounds so real. I could probably pick her out of a line up every time because her voice is that familiar to me at this point. She's for sure one of my favorite writers.
The characters are great. I always love the cast she comes up with. They're sarcastic and smart and funny, but always with gravitas. I love them all, even when I hate them. She's just so good at making people likeable.
War time books are not generally my favorite, but she imbues this whole book with such sadness and melancholy that I just want to die. It's so absurdly good. This book made my soul book. I'm not entirely certain how I am meant to be emotionally capable enough to read the next three books in the series.
I love this and I love her as an author. Most underrated YA author I've ever read. If you like realistic YA (historical fiction or contemporary), I truly can't recommend her enough.
To be honest, I was absurdly biased in favor of this book from the first page because her writing style just feels like coming home to me. I adore it. It flows so well and sounds so real. I could probably pick her out of a line up every time because her voice is that familiar to me at this point. She's for sure one of my favorite writers.
The characters are great. I always love the cast she comes up with. They're sarcastic and smart and funny, but always with gravitas. I love them all, even when I hate them. She's just so good at making people likeable.
War time books are not generally my favorite, but she imbues this whole book with such sadness and melancholy that I just want to die. It's so absurdly good. This book made my soul book. I'm not entirely certain how I am meant to be emotionally capable enough to read the next three books in the series.
I love this and I love her as an author. Most underrated YA author I've ever read. If you like realistic YA (historical fiction or contemporary), I truly can't recommend her enough.
Oof. Vietnam. So many things in MY head, reading this. The boys, of course, the boys are the ages of my own boys, more or less. Some of 'em younger, even. And of course I can't help putting them in this scenario and then I get the shakes. Also, so many of my grown friends, old men now, were there, were these very boys. There's vertigo. And then there's Story. And Ellen Emerson White is a storyteller for sure. Even when she's pretending to be Zach Emerson, writing for boys.