Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

It’s 2003, and Harlem teen Robin Perry has graduated from high school. Although his father wants him to go to college, he makes his first major adult decision and decides to join the military. His life quickly becomes a blur of activity as he is introduced to his unit – a Civil Affairs detail – and before he knows it, he is in the thick of the war in Iraq. The soldiers in his unit quickly become tight; they stick together and watch each other’s backs like brothers and sisters. All the while they struggle with their mission to interact and make peace with the people of the war-torn but beautiful land of Iraq – the very same people they are fighting. Through tragedy and triumph, they simply try to survive a war that just doesn’t seem to make sense.

http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/ Cara Woudenberg