A time for war...a time for peace....

There has been some controversy over Sunrise over Fallujah. Some say that this book is glorifying the war in Iraq and that there should be a book about the Iraqi view of the war. Okay, that’s fair. Maybe someone should write such a book, but they haven’t (as far as I know) and this book is about a young American man shipped overseas. As for glorifying the war, Mr. Meyers does none of that. Readers get a gritty realistic portrayal of war.

Robin aka “Birdy” as everyone calls him has been shipped overseas where confusion reigns supreme. Who are his enemies? What are they all doing there? How can they tell the enemy from a friend? As Jonesy one of the characters said, “Okay, let me straighten this mess out. If somebody who looks like an A-rab shoots you, the first thing you do is to pull out your Rules of Engagement card and see what the rules are for the day. Because it could be a Rodeney King day and we just all trying to get along and then you don’t shoot him.”

Mr. Myers gives the reader a realistic portrayal of this confusing war. Sprinkled throughout the book there is also humor, which lightens the mood. For instance Birdy said “Captain Miller, who curses better than anyone I had ever heard, said something wonderful about the lieutenant’s parents that I wish I had had the time to write down even though I don’t really believe that a human being could be conceived by sand crabs under a flack rock.

Sunrise over Fallujah is an excellent novel and I believed it approached the subject matter with dignity. The cast of characters are great and the reader is quickly drawn into this novel wondering what will happen next.

For students looking for a good war novel, and for those who want to see what life is like for our soldiers overseas I recommend this book.

Dark Gothic Romance

Leslie’s life sucks. Her father drinks a little too much..ok way too much, her brother is a druggy and she is struggling to pay the bills with her job as a waitress. She is also dealing with a dark secert.

As she tires to pull her life together, Leslie decides she needs to get a tattoo. She believes that in doing so she will be reclaiming her body and it will set her free. What she doesn’t know is that this tattoo is going to link her to the fairy world and that her life will forever be changed.

I enjoyed Ink Exchange. Lets face it, I’m a cover snob and the cover caught my attention. So I decided to give it a go. I liked the story, but I did get a little confused with the characters and who belonged to each fairy kingdom. The author also wrote Wicked Lovely, and I’ve gotten conflicting reports on which book to read first. Is this a series? So I never read Wicked Lovely, which could be one reason why I was confused.

Looking beyond that point I enjoyed the characters, and the pacing of the novel. There was also a little romance thrown in, which added to the story. It was really cool to read about a fairly/human love affair. The vampire thing has been done to death so I applaud Ms. Marr for trying something different.

I think the same teens who liked the Twilight Series will enjoy Ink Exchange.