Conversation: Kevin Powers, Author of 'The Yellow Birds'

"The war tried to kill us in the spring."

Those are the first words of a new novel set in Iraq and at home, narrated by a character named John Bartle, a 21-year-old private from rural Virginia. The novel is titled "The Yellow Birds," and it's the first by author Kevin Powers, who himself served in the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.

In the videos above, I talk to Powers about his book and he reads an excerpt for us. A transcript of our conversation will be will be posted soon.