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Walter Dean Myers books
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 11:05:00 -600
Has anyone had a chance yet to read either of the two Walter Dean Myers books that are Up for Discussion on the CCBC-Net this month? I haven't had a chance to reread either of them yet but still remember them both pretty well from when I first read them, so I'm going to go ahead and venture into out discussion because I'm curious to read what others have to say about "Scorpions" and "Fallen Angels."
At first glance, you might think that an American soldier's experiences in Vietnam had little to do with the life of a young teenager growing up in a U.S. city today. But in thinking about the two books together, I'm struck by the similarities between them, even though the settings and time frames are so different. Both books feature sensitive young Black male protagonists trying to find an identity midst the racism and violence that surrounds them. Perhaps in "Scorpions" (contemporary U.S.) the racism and violence were better organized and less chaotic than what Richie Perry faced in Vietnam in "Fallen Angels."
Together the books remind me of a statistic I came across recently: the chances that a Black male living in a big city in the U.S. will be killed by age 25 are 50 times greater than those of an American soldier on the front lines in WWII.
--Katy Horning, CCBC
UW Madison
Received on Fri 08 Sep 1995 12:05:00 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 11:05:00 -600
Has anyone had a chance yet to read either of the two Walter Dean Myers books that are Up for Discussion on the CCBC-Net this month? I haven't had a chance to reread either of them yet but still remember them both pretty well from when I first read them, so I'm going to go ahead and venture into out discussion because I'm curious to read what others have to say about "Scorpions" and "Fallen Angels."
At first glance, you might think that an American soldier's experiences in Vietnam had little to do with the life of a young teenager growing up in a U.S. city today. But in thinking about the two books together, I'm struck by the similarities between them, even though the settings and time frames are so different. Both books feature sensitive young Black male protagonists trying to find an identity midst the racism and violence that surrounds them. Perhaps in "Scorpions" (contemporary U.S.) the racism and violence were better organized and less chaotic than what Richie Perry faced in Vietnam in "Fallen Angels."
Together the books remind me of a statistic I came across recently: the chances that a Black male living in a big city in the U.S. will be killed by age 25 are 50 times greater than those of an American soldier on the front lines in WWII.
--Katy Horning, CCBC
UW Madison
Received on Fri 08 Sep 1995 12:05:00 PM CDT
