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A Place Called Heartbreak: A Story of Vietnam
Introduction By Alex Haley, General Editor
“During the Gulf War in 1991, I found it odd that football players getting ready for a big playoff game described the upcoming contests as a ‘war.’ At the same time, I couldn’t help but notice how some journalists reported the war as if it was a sporting event. I can even remember one journalist saying after the ground fighting brought the war near its close, ‘It’s over. All that remains is to see how high we run up the score.’
We need to be smarter than that. Warfare is not a game. It’s a life-or-death struggle where ‘scores’ are kept not in points or runs but in dead bodies, lost limbs, and damaged souls. A Place Called Heartbreak tells you about one man’s experience among the routine horrors of war. It is not a sports report. It doesn’t pretend war is pretty or fun or a game. It’s a war story.” ~ Alex Haley.
(The Above Introduction By Alex Haley Is Presented To Our Audience Under The Creative Commons License)
A Place Called Heartbreak: A Story of Vietnam • Reviews “Engrossed is the only possible description for my boys when reading A Place Called Heartbreak. The chapters are short enough to keep a reluctant reader going and the black and white illustrations add to the story. Myers’ historic notes at the end add value to a well disguised history lesson. My boys are ages 13 and 12.” - Owensboro, KY. “A Place Called Heartbreak was a great novel. I really liked how Walter Dean Myers portrayed this book. He captured the pilots hard journey in Vietnam. Walter Dean Myers writes another highly commendable book.” - Bolder, CO. “A Place Called Heartbreak is a fairly good book. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to know about the Vietnam War. My favorite part was when Fred Cherry was finally let out of prison. He was a U.S. air force pilot who was captured when his plane was shot down by a North Vietnamese soldier. While he was in prison, he taught the other prisoners “tap.” Soldiers had to learn a tap code to communicate with other prisoners in different cells. That was pretty cool. This book was okay. Try it.” - Clover, VA. “A Place Called Heartbreak profiles Air Force Major Fred Cherry, an African American fighter pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent seven long years as a prisoner of war.” - Cambium Learning. “The courage, commitment, and vision of individuals both famous and ordinary are celebrated through stories that reveal the rich, multicultural tapestry of the American experience. The texts, most of which incorporate material from primary sources, such as letters and journals, are based on historical fact. A Matter of Conscience and A Place Called Heartbreak are the most compelling of the solid, but not outstanding, books. Competent black-and-white drawings illustrate the selections.” - Horn Book Review. “In a book that reads more like a novel than nonfiction, Myers tells the story of Colonel Fred V. Cherry, U.S.A.F. (Ret.), who was a prisoner of the North Vietnamese from Oct. 22, 1965 - Feb. 12, 1973. He relates how Cherry, an African American, overcame obstacles during his youth to attend college and fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming an Air Force fighter pilot. It was on a mission from Thailand to North Vietnam that Cherry was shot down, thus becoming the first black pilot to become a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. His experiences there, as well as some background information and his present feelings about the Vietnam War, are presented in well-organized hi/lo prose; this is accomplished without oversimplification or generalizations.” - School Library Journal. Experience Even More • Visit The Alex Haley Museum • Alex Haley Memorial • Haley Heritage Square • Alex Haley Farm
 Darren@nypoet.com | |||||||||
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