Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam [Paperback]

Walter Dean Myers (Author), Ann Grifalconi (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Vietnam.

A young American soldier waits for his enemy, rifle in hand, finger on the trigger. He is afraid to move and yet afraid not to move. Gunshots crackle in the still air. The soldier fires blindly into the distant trees at an unseen enemy. He crouches and waits -- heart pounding, tense and trembling, biting back tears. When will it all be over?

Walter Dean Myers joined the army on his seventeeth birthday, at the onset of American involvement in Vietnam, but it was the death of his brother in 1968 that forever changed his mind about war.

In a gripping and powerful story-poem, the award-winning author takes readers into the heart and mind of a young soldier in an alien land who comes face-to-face with the enemy. Strikingly illustrated with evocative and emotionally wrenching collages by Caldecott Honor artist Ann Grifalconi, this unforgettable portrait captures one American G.L's haunting experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Camouflage endpapers set the stage for Myers's (Handbook for Boys: A Novel, reviewed below) unusual and gripping picture book set in Vietnam and geared to older readers. "The land of my enemy has wide valleys, mountains that stretch along the far horizon, rushing brown rivers, and thick green forests," the riveting narrative poem begins. Grifalconi's (the Everett Anderson books) sophisticated mixed-media collage shows a breathtaking vista, lush with trees, jagged mountains and terraced hillsides. On the next spread, Myers drops readers into the jungle with the narrator, a young American soldier, and his squad of nine men. The protagonist makes a nerve-wracking trek ("Somewhere in the forest, hidden in the shadows, is the enemy"), witnesses a bombing raid ("My body shakes. I tell myself that I will not die on this bright day") and comes face-to-face with an enemy soldier ("In a heartbeat, we have learned too much about each other"neither fires). Myers, who fought in Vietnam, lays bare the young man's emotions. Short phrases combine power with grace as the author artfully conveys the outward events of warfare and the resulting inner turmoil: in the village, the young man sees "the enemy. A brown woman with rivers of age etched deeply into her face. An old man, his eyes heavy with memory." Grifalconi, too, subtly highlights war's absurd contradictions. One particularly striking scene finds the G.I. facing his enemy across a field alight with heartbreakingly lovely flowers and wildlife. Readers will hope this is as close as they ever get to the real thing. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-Myers's verse powerfully evokes the experiences of a young soldier in this picture book. Searching the unfamiliar landscape, his squad tries to sense the presence of the enemy in the jungle. But who is the enemy? The old man in the village? The babies? Planes pass overhead, dropping bombs "at a distance that is never distant enough." The author captures the young man's fear, uncertainty, and weariness. "We move again. We are always moving." The layers of Grifalconi's full-page collage art conceal and reveal the flickering images of the text. Figures blend into the forest. Shadow and shape converge. The repetition of words and a landscape scene at the beginning and near the end of the book are particularly effective because they are the same except for the addition of fire and plumes of smoke in the "wide valleys" and "thick green forests" after the patrol has finished its mission. These pictures are difficult to erase from one's memory. When the soldier does encounter an enemy as young as himself, neither fires. Close enough to see one another, they cannot kill. "In a heartbeat, we have learned too much about each other." Myers and Grifalconi's presentation is one that is hard to forget.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060731591
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731595
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 9.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Endpapers of camouflage, May 13, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam (Hardcover)

All at once lush and frightening, Walter Dean Myers has penned a tale that seeks to remind us what war really is. There are "Enemies" that are old men and babies. "Enemies" that sit beneath trees and contemplate their loved ones. Never have the lessons of Vietnam been more poignant or needed than they are right now. In writing this book, Myers has sought to present war beyond gore and gloom, looking instead at the very essence of death itself. Helped in this attempt by the award winning collage artist Ann Grifalconi "Patrol" is a frightening story that may hit a little too close to home for some, and not close enough for others.

Told in picture book format (a format that I suspect will raise a few eyebrows right there) the story follows one man throughout his day in Vietnam. The man is frightened. He knows that his enemy is nearby and wants to hurt him, just as he (on some level) wants to hurt his enemy. The man's patrol burns down an innocent village that may house members of the enemy. He calls in bombs and dives into elephant grass for cover. There, he accidentally runs face to face with the enemy. "In a heartbeat, we have learned too much about each other". Both men escape and the patrolman goes back to base camp to write a letter to a loved one. He writes, "I am so very tired of this war".

Taken in total, the book is a mélange of beauty and fear. Grifalconi has deftly intertwined illustration and photograph in the pages of this book. There are extraordinary pictures in which men drawn only with the slightest of pen lines crouch beneath huge overblown tree leaves. When bombs burst in the distance, planes are both the actual cut-outs of airplanes and the hollows cut out of a misty sky. The men watching are bathed in the orange light of the distance. Myers' text is up to the challenge of confronting what war is. Though the author never goes so far as to condemn the idea of war itself, he finds other ways of showing how ludicrous some wars really are. When you're as good an author as Walter Dean Myers, all you have to do is write the truth and your message will appear for you.

The inside cover of this book proclaims that its age range is 8-12, which is patently ridiculous. I won't debate if it is appropriate or inappropriate for an eight year-old. That is left entirely up to the reader (though there is nothing gory or horrific enough to shock a kid of that age). What I take issue at is the age of 12 designated as the oldest age at which a person would want to read this book. First of all, this book is perfect for teens and even college age kids and adults in giving a good eye for eye glare at the horrors of being caught in a fighting situation. Second, this book has a myriad of different uses. Teachers and librarians are constantly on the look out for picture books that are mature enough for those adults learning to read. What better purpose could this book have?

When Walter Dean Myers joined the army at the age of seventeen, he had to come to grips with Vietnam and the fact that his brother died in combat. For this author, this book strikes close to home, revealing the stupidity of fighting. With our nation constantly in combat these days, it takes books like this one to remind us of the dangers of acting as a nation without thought or intelligence. "Patrol" gives us many lessons to learn.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Realities of War....., September 9, 2002

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam (Hardcover)

"The land of my enemy has wide valleys, mountains that stretch along the far horizon, rushing brown rivers, and thick green forest. My squad of nine men are in the forest. Above me, birds twitter nervously in the treetops. Insects and small animals scurry through the underbrush, trying to avoid the crush of my combat boots. The squad leader raises his hand. We stop. The sound of my breath is soft in the morning air. Somewhere in the forest, hidden in the shadows, is the enemy. He knows I have come to kill him. He waits for me..." Walter Dean Myer's autobiographical picture book chronicles a day in the life of one soldier, on patrol, in the jungles of Viet Nam. His spare, poetic text comes alive on the page, and takes the glamor and excitement out of war as you trudge through the difficult, hot terrain, ever vigilant. "We move again. We are always moving. My legs ache. My shoulders sag. My thousand eyes look for death in the waving bamboo fields." You can feel the smooth wooden stock of the soldier's rifle, the cold sweat running down his back, the fear and trembling as shots are fired and bombs explode, and the rapid beating of his heart. "I think I see the enemy. I reload and shoot again. It is only a shadow, but I do not stop shooting. In war, shadows are enemies, too." But mostly, you feel the weariness and futility. "I am so tired. I am so very tired of this war." Ann Grifalconi's stunning, multi-media collages are evocative and gripping, and together word and art paint an eloquent and powerfully vivid portrait of the Viet Nam War. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, Patrol: An American Soldier In Vietnam is a haunting experience that shouldn't be missed, and definitely one of the best new books of 2002.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PATROL, May 23, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam (Paperback)

This book has different types of pictures. The pictures are a bunch of picturesf cut out and put on one piece of paper. I think this army book is a great book for kids to understand what it feels like to be in a war.
The writting of this book is also unique because it is a type of poem writting form. This book is easy to read and understand. Kids should read this book if they are interested in war stuff and if they don't like to read long books.