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Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers
In June 1861, when the Civil War began, Charley Goddard enlisted in the First Minnesota Volunteers. He was 15. He didn't know what a "shooting war" meant or what he was fighting for. But he didn't want to miss out on a great adventure.
The "shooting war" turned out to be the horror of combat and the wild luck of survival; how it feels to cross a field toward the enemy, waiting for fire. When he entered the service he was a boy. When he came back he was different; he was only 19, but he was a man with "soldier's heart," later known as "battle fatigue."
The "shooting war" turned out to be the horror of combat and the wild luck of survival; how it feels to cross a field toward the enemy, waiting for fire. When he entered the service he was a boy. When he came back he was different; he was only 19, but he was a man with "soldier's heart," later known as "battle fatigue."
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 8, 1998
223 people are currently reading
1531 people want to read
About the author
Gary Paulsen
418 books4,078 followersGary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 773 reviews
January 21, 2022
I feel like it makes you think about what soldiers really go through during battle. It made me look at veterans in a different way now. I personally think it's a great book and very good on details.
March 16, 2009
Pre-Read
When I first read this over two years ago, prior to teaching it to 7th graders, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard Gary Paulsen was a good young adult author but up until this point, I had never read any of his work. I remember hearing about it from coworkers who said it was good and gave me a brief description of the book.
During
Soldier’s Heart is a quick read. As I am re-reading this for the second time, I am find the pages are flying by. Paulsen does a great job of vividly describing how a confident 15 year old enlists in the Army, only to find out how insecure he really is.
Post Read
I enjoyed this book. And the bigger surprise for me was how captivated my seventh graders were when I taught this book two years ago. This book is very graphic and this was addressed with my seventh graders before we began to read. Once we got into the book, the students wanted to keep going. It was the most focused I saw my students all semester. On the surface, most people see this as a book about a 15 year old boy sneaking into the Army and going through all of the experiences of war. Going a little deeper, we see a 15 year old who thinks he knows it all and has all of the confidence in the world and quickly realizes life is not as easy as it seems. His fears and insecurities are exposed as he is quickly thrown into the realities of war.
When I first read this over two years ago, prior to teaching it to 7th graders, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard Gary Paulsen was a good young adult author but up until this point, I had never read any of his work. I remember hearing about it from coworkers who said it was good and gave me a brief description of the book.
During
Soldier’s Heart is a quick read. As I am re-reading this for the second time, I am find the pages are flying by. Paulsen does a great job of vividly describing how a confident 15 year old enlists in the Army, only to find out how insecure he really is.
Post Read
I enjoyed this book. And the bigger surprise for me was how captivated my seventh graders were when I taught this book two years ago. This book is very graphic and this was addressed with my seventh graders before we began to read. Once we got into the book, the students wanted to keep going. It was the most focused I saw my students all semester. On the surface, most people see this as a book about a 15 year old boy sneaking into the Army and going through all of the experiences of war. Going a little deeper, we see a 15 year old who thinks he knows it all and has all of the confidence in the world and quickly realizes life is not as easy as it seems. His fears and insecurities are exposed as he is quickly thrown into the realities of war.
March 23, 2011
While I am a fan of Gary Paulsen, I was not a fan of Soldier's Heart. This novel just had way too many issues for me to enjoy it. The writing wasn't very good, and there were lots of longwinded and awkward sentences. The pacing was off as well. We get a brief introduction to who Charley is, and then he is thrown into a couple battles, and then all of a sudden it was a couple years later. It didn't feel like a novel to me; I think this would have worked better as a short story. I would have liked more back story on Charley, and at the end I would like to see more of how things ended up for him. I also thought the battles were too short, and I don't like how it jumped from one to the next with very little in between. There just seemed to be so little character development and no plot! However, it did portray the horrors of war quite well, as there were some very disturbing yet true scenes! Perhaps I am a bit biased because I am used to (and prefer) long, sweeping, epic historical fiction novels, but either way I just couldn't get into this book.
September 13, 2021
One of my favorite things about being a reader is the Gary Paulsen experience. Not all his books are barnburners, but the ones that are use simplicity of action and language to awesome effect. Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers is a stunning entwinement of fact and fiction that lays bare the brutality of war, a torture machine that every society has fed its young men to without fully realizing what it's going to do to them. Charley Goddard, an actual Civil War soldier from history, is fifteen years old when he leaves the Minnesota family farm to join the Union army. His mother doesn't want him to go, but Charley persuades her to give permission, and he looks old enough to pass for eighteen and fool the enlistment officer at Fort Snelling. There he trains to obey military orders and handle a firearm, but Charley doubts he will ever see combat. Many Northerners believe the war will dissolve in a few weeks, once "Johnny Rebel" gets the message that Abraham Lincoln's boys in blue are serious. But before the end of June, Charley's Minnesota regiment is called to action, and they travel east for their first engagement with Confederate soldiers. Life will never be the same.
On their way across the country via train, the young soldiers receive the royal treatment, hailed by civilians as heroes before ever setting foot on a battlefield. Almost before Charley knows it he is plunged into combat at Bull Run, gunfire louder than thunder as bodies are torn to shreds all around him. Bullets shower down thick as raindrops, and Charley watches friends be decapitated or riddled with slugs, blood spurting in ruby fountains or quietly puddling around the bodies. There's no way Charley can evade his own death; it hangs above his head like the sword of Damocles, certain to fall any second now. He never envisioned the carnage like this, human bodies carved up with little or no gain by either army, just constant, gruesome death. This is the first battle, the one that shattered Charley beyond reclamation. Part of his soul perished that day.
How could the shellshocked young soldiers ever again be expected to march across a meadow and shoot at the enemy? Blood fills the creek at Bull Run where Charley and other Yankee fighters have to refill their canteens, and hundreds of corpses lie on the battlefield, swarms of flies ravaging the bloated bodies. What kept Charley from sharing that fate, save for pure luck? How can he take his rifle into battle again with any hope of not getting massacred this time? Under a new commander, General George Brinton McClellan, Charley's regiment continues their tour of duty, occasionally raiding Southern farms for food and other precious resources. Stealing from civilians is illegal, but what do these soldiers care for the people who enable the Rebel army to prolong the war? Another piece of Charley's soul is pared away when a young recruit named Nelson joins the Minnesota regiment, as gung-ho as Charley was at first. Nelson covets the glory of war, not yet comprehending the horrors that define it. The engagement isn't as heavy as Bull Run, and again Charley lives, but Nelson isn't as fortunate. In his combat debut he takes a bullet to the midriff, a "belly wound" that is a death sentence in this era of limited medical technology. The young man seems only lightly wounded, but Charley is aware they will never fight side by side again. Nelson is one of untold thousands who will decompose on the battlefield and be utterly forgotten before getting a chance at life.
Seasons pass and so do dread diseases, from soldier to soldier, killing many more of them than injuries. Charley's excruciating bouts of dysentery might level a man less young and fit, but he struggles through the agony of a ravaged gut to live another day. One night while posted as sentry beside a river that has a regiment of Confederates occupying the opposite shore, Charley quietly converses with a young Reb who suggests they trade some of their supplies. The Northern army no longer has access to Southern tobacco crops, and the Confederates have run out of coffee beans; can a single Yankee and a Reb declare a brief truce to make the trade? Charley and the boy are both willing, and they admit to each other that the war seems senseless. The two of them have no personal quarrel, so why must they attempt to take each other's lives? The informal armistice lasts but an hour or so before Charley is caught and disciplined, but the lull in hostilities does him good...for whatever that's worth, given the damage already done to his psyche.
In winter Charley's regiment is again called into battle. Cannons boom, bullets whiz through the air like deadly insects, and Charley goes to the act of killing the men in gray with frenzied excitement. It's a terrifying euphoria, this slashing of throats and goring enemies with his bayonet, but still the dogs of war have yet to claim Charley. He isn't much more than a killing machine, his fear dulled except for those moments right before battle, when dread overwhelms him even now. The worst by far will be Gettysburg, a clash of armies that sends more men to their graves than all American wars combined prior to that day. This won't be like other battles; starting after Bull Run, Charley knew his execution date would come, that a bayonet or bullet would shred his troubled gut or a cannonball blow his head apart. But in the midst of Gettysburg it dawns on Charley that today is the day. Will he desperately cling to the necrotizing remains of his life, or feel relieved to set down the burden and walk into eternity with a clean soul? This is Charley Goddard, who didn't live long enough to get to know himself before war marred his soul. Countless soldiers have suffered his fate over the course of mankind's history.
Is Soldier's Heart an anti-war book? Some of it seems calibrated to conclude that war is not acceptable under any circumstances, but the story can just as well be taken as a solemn warning: do not tread lightly down the path of military aggression. War should not be entered into for revenge, political gain, or entertainment. Sending young people to their violent deaths is cruel, and it may be worse if they survive; minds are permanently warped, and bodies become old and decrepit long before their time. How despicable it is to feed eager young men to the meat grinder for a cause unworthy of their sacrifice. If we send them to war it should only be when no reasonable alternative exists and the cause we are fighting for merits the destruction of a generation.
How is a soldier, soiled by the blood and anxiety of war, to readjust to normal life afterward? The reality of this problem becomes obvious during a passage describing Charley's actions in the heat of battle. "He attacked anything and everything that came into his range—slashing, clubbing, hammering, jabbing, cutting—and always screaming, screaming in fear, in anger and finally in a kind of rabid, insane joy, the joy of battle, the joy of winning, the joy of killing to live." Behaving this way in normal society is considered deranged, but in war it is all that keeps Charley alive. Can a warrior return home after his services as killer are no longer required, or is he doomed to wander alone the rest of his days? Despite his wrecked body and mind, Charley hasn't totally given up on life. There is beauty after destruction, pleasant surprises that soothe catastrophic hurt inside and out. Are these sufficient when most of one's existence is anguish? There's no simple answer, but the beauty of life is still there even when it feels beyond reach. The human heart, however badly scarred, can learn to cope with almost anything.
Barely more than a hundred pages, Soldier's Heart is potent without being long. Gary Paulsen wastes no time pushing us into the nexus of war, where we see things that will make almost anyone squirm. Scenes depicting the horrific damage done to horses by bullets will not soon exit your mind, and the sickening immediacy of Charlie's terror before each battle makes it clear to young readers there is no glory in the act of war, only in being willing to go through it for a worthwhile cause, though no man fully grasps what he's signing up for until he has been in battle. Soldier's Heart is something of a YA version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front; it refuses to let us ignore the cost of being a soldier in combat. This is one of the most Robert Cormier-like novels Gary Paulsen wrote, and in fact it bears strong resemblance to Cormier's Heroes, published the same year (1998). The final chapter sets up the same emotionally powerful scenario as that book's. I rate Soldier's Heart three and a half stars, and I'd almost round up to four; perhaps I'll still do that. This is Gary Paulsen near his apex, a story that will leave you deeply distressed but wiser in the ways of the world. Whether or not you're a fan of the author's other work, I hope you'll read this one.
On their way across the country via train, the young soldiers receive the royal treatment, hailed by civilians as heroes before ever setting foot on a battlefield. Almost before Charley knows it he is plunged into combat at Bull Run, gunfire louder than thunder as bodies are torn to shreds all around him. Bullets shower down thick as raindrops, and Charley watches friends be decapitated or riddled with slugs, blood spurting in ruby fountains or quietly puddling around the bodies. There's no way Charley can evade his own death; it hangs above his head like the sword of Damocles, certain to fall any second now. He never envisioned the carnage like this, human bodies carved up with little or no gain by either army, just constant, gruesome death. This is the first battle, the one that shattered Charley beyond reclamation. Part of his soul perished that day.
How could the shellshocked young soldiers ever again be expected to march across a meadow and shoot at the enemy? Blood fills the creek at Bull Run where Charley and other Yankee fighters have to refill their canteens, and hundreds of corpses lie on the battlefield, swarms of flies ravaging the bloated bodies. What kept Charley from sharing that fate, save for pure luck? How can he take his rifle into battle again with any hope of not getting massacred this time? Under a new commander, General George Brinton McClellan, Charley's regiment continues their tour of duty, occasionally raiding Southern farms for food and other precious resources. Stealing from civilians is illegal, but what do these soldiers care for the people who enable the Rebel army to prolong the war? Another piece of Charley's soul is pared away when a young recruit named Nelson joins the Minnesota regiment, as gung-ho as Charley was at first. Nelson covets the glory of war, not yet comprehending the horrors that define it. The engagement isn't as heavy as Bull Run, and again Charley lives, but Nelson isn't as fortunate. In his combat debut he takes a bullet to the midriff, a "belly wound" that is a death sentence in this era of limited medical technology. The young man seems only lightly wounded, but Charley is aware they will never fight side by side again. Nelson is one of untold thousands who will decompose on the battlefield and be utterly forgotten before getting a chance at life.
Seasons pass and so do dread diseases, from soldier to soldier, killing many more of them than injuries. Charley's excruciating bouts of dysentery might level a man less young and fit, but he struggles through the agony of a ravaged gut to live another day. One night while posted as sentry beside a river that has a regiment of Confederates occupying the opposite shore, Charley quietly converses with a young Reb who suggests they trade some of their supplies. The Northern army no longer has access to Southern tobacco crops, and the Confederates have run out of coffee beans; can a single Yankee and a Reb declare a brief truce to make the trade? Charley and the boy are both willing, and they admit to each other that the war seems senseless. The two of them have no personal quarrel, so why must they attempt to take each other's lives? The informal armistice lasts but an hour or so before Charley is caught and disciplined, but the lull in hostilities does him good...for whatever that's worth, given the damage already done to his psyche.
In winter Charley's regiment is again called into battle. Cannons boom, bullets whiz through the air like deadly insects, and Charley goes to the act of killing the men in gray with frenzied excitement. It's a terrifying euphoria, this slashing of throats and goring enemies with his bayonet, but still the dogs of war have yet to claim Charley. He isn't much more than a killing machine, his fear dulled except for those moments right before battle, when dread overwhelms him even now. The worst by far will be Gettysburg, a clash of armies that sends more men to their graves than all American wars combined prior to that day. This won't be like other battles; starting after Bull Run, Charley knew his execution date would come, that a bayonet or bullet would shred his troubled gut or a cannonball blow his head apart. But in the midst of Gettysburg it dawns on Charley that today is the day. Will he desperately cling to the necrotizing remains of his life, or feel relieved to set down the burden and walk into eternity with a clean soul? This is Charley Goddard, who didn't live long enough to get to know himself before war marred his soul. Countless soldiers have suffered his fate over the course of mankind's history.
Is Soldier's Heart an anti-war book? Some of it seems calibrated to conclude that war is not acceptable under any circumstances, but the story can just as well be taken as a solemn warning: do not tread lightly down the path of military aggression. War should not be entered into for revenge, political gain, or entertainment. Sending young people to their violent deaths is cruel, and it may be worse if they survive; minds are permanently warped, and bodies become old and decrepit long before their time. How despicable it is to feed eager young men to the meat grinder for a cause unworthy of their sacrifice. If we send them to war it should only be when no reasonable alternative exists and the cause we are fighting for merits the destruction of a generation.
How is a soldier, soiled by the blood and anxiety of war, to readjust to normal life afterward? The reality of this problem becomes obvious during a passage describing Charley's actions in the heat of battle. "He attacked anything and everything that came into his range—slashing, clubbing, hammering, jabbing, cutting—and always screaming, screaming in fear, in anger and finally in a kind of rabid, insane joy, the joy of battle, the joy of winning, the joy of killing to live." Behaving this way in normal society is considered deranged, but in war it is all that keeps Charley alive. Can a warrior return home after his services as killer are no longer required, or is he doomed to wander alone the rest of his days? Despite his wrecked body and mind, Charley hasn't totally given up on life. There is beauty after destruction, pleasant surprises that soothe catastrophic hurt inside and out. Are these sufficient when most of one's existence is anguish? There's no simple answer, but the beauty of life is still there even when it feels beyond reach. The human heart, however badly scarred, can learn to cope with almost anything.
Barely more than a hundred pages, Soldier's Heart is potent without being long. Gary Paulsen wastes no time pushing us into the nexus of war, where we see things that will make almost anyone squirm. Scenes depicting the horrific damage done to horses by bullets will not soon exit your mind, and the sickening immediacy of Charlie's terror before each battle makes it clear to young readers there is no glory in the act of war, only in being willing to go through it for a worthwhile cause, though no man fully grasps what he's signing up for until he has been in battle. Soldier's Heart is something of a YA version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front; it refuses to let us ignore the cost of being a soldier in combat. This is one of the most Robert Cormier-like novels Gary Paulsen wrote, and in fact it bears strong resemblance to Cormier's Heroes, published the same year (1998). The final chapter sets up the same emotionally powerful scenario as that book's. I rate Soldier's Heart three and a half stars, and I'd almost round up to four; perhaps I'll still do that. This is Gary Paulsen near his apex, a story that will leave you deeply distressed but wiser in the ways of the world. Whether or not you're a fan of the author's other work, I hope you'll read this one.
May 4, 2022
I thought It was a very very very very very very very very very good book
Read
February 2, 2022it was good
Read
January 26, 2022We read it in Ms. Halls class and it was very good.
January 21, 2022
gross very gross
January 21, 2022
Good book, would read again. Kinda scary some times, I am also REREADING hatchet because my grandma got me a physical copy
Read
January 25, 2022We read this book in social. It was pretty good!
January 25, 2022
It was amazing
August 6, 2020
A very interesting book telling the story of a young 15 year old Charley Goddard fighting in the Civil War. This young soldier got caught up in the excitement of joining to fight without comprehending the devastating and lasting effects of war. Gary Paulsen paints a vivid picture of the horrors of war. He gives graphic details of wartime death and violence all of which will have a lasting emotional imprint on Charley. A wonderful but a very sad story.
March 23, 2022
This was an amazing book that had so many interesting parts to it. Its sad how it all ended up, but overall I liked this book a lot!
January 25, 2022
It was a good book and i would recommend people to read it. It was sad that he died at the age of 23.
August 9, 2018
Personal Response
I love history and the wars that happened at the time. My favorite war was World War II because of all the new weaponry. This book talks about the Civil War, which was the most bloodiest war of all time in American history. In current day, there is a mental disorder called post- traumatic stress disorder. It's often permanent, but during the Civil War it was called Soldier’s Heart. This book brought me deeper into the Civil War, and that's why I love this book.
Plot
In almost every single war, young boys are curious and try to find adventure in every war. Kids ages of 14-17 joined saying they were 18. Charley Goddard was one of those kids who was only 15 when he joined. He didn’t join in his local recruit area, because he knew someone he knew was going to be there and spill the beans. He wanted to join so he could help his mom with the expenses of the house. His first battle was bad. The Union ended up losing that battle, but the next day they went again to fight the Confederates. They were formed in ranks marching toward the enemy’s camp. It turned out they left at night after the battle. They also built trenches, so they could snipe Union soldiers. The second battle Charley knew he was going to die, but he lived. The fourth battle came up, and that was when Charley went down. At age 21 he was back in Minnesota. He felt old because he had done and seen many things. Charley ended up dying at age 23 on December 1868 due to Soldier’s Heart.
Characterization
Charley, throughout the book, was a brave kid. He joined the Army at age 15 saying he was 18. He felt really nervous during his first battle and regretted joining the Army. He lost all hope after the first battle. On the third battle he got an adrenaline rush, and just killed who ever got in his way. On the fourth battle he had that same rush, but ended up going down in that battle. At the end, he just felt useless and ended up dying of Soldier’s Heart.
Recommendation
I recommend this book to kids in late middle school and early high school. It is a very easy read, but it does have its violent scenes. This took me an hour and a half to read.It was a very good book and kept me active in the book.
I love history and the wars that happened at the time. My favorite war was World War II because of all the new weaponry. This book talks about the Civil War, which was the most bloodiest war of all time in American history. In current day, there is a mental disorder called post- traumatic stress disorder. It's often permanent, but during the Civil War it was called Soldier’s Heart. This book brought me deeper into the Civil War, and that's why I love this book.
Plot
In almost every single war, young boys are curious and try to find adventure in every war. Kids ages of 14-17 joined saying they were 18. Charley Goddard was one of those kids who was only 15 when he joined. He didn’t join in his local recruit area, because he knew someone he knew was going to be there and spill the beans. He wanted to join so he could help his mom with the expenses of the house. His first battle was bad. The Union ended up losing that battle, but the next day they went again to fight the Confederates. They were formed in ranks marching toward the enemy’s camp. It turned out they left at night after the battle. They also built trenches, so they could snipe Union soldiers. The second battle Charley knew he was going to die, but he lived. The fourth battle came up, and that was when Charley went down. At age 21 he was back in Minnesota. He felt old because he had done and seen many things. Charley ended up dying at age 23 on December 1868 due to Soldier’s Heart.
Characterization
Charley, throughout the book, was a brave kid. He joined the Army at age 15 saying he was 18. He felt really nervous during his first battle and regretted joining the Army. He lost all hope after the first battle. On the third battle he got an adrenaline rush, and just killed who ever got in his way. On the fourth battle he had that same rush, but ended up going down in that battle. At the end, he just felt useless and ended up dying of Soldier’s Heart.
Recommendation
I recommend this book to kids in late middle school and early high school. It is a very easy read, but it does have its violent scenes. This took me an hour and a half to read.It was a very good book and kept me active in the book.
November 4, 2018
17 Year Old Lying, Cheating, and Stealing
Book Review of Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen largely shows how underaged soldiers joined the army to fight for their country in the Revolutionary War. Charley was a farm boy in Minnesota and lived with his mother on a farm. Charley wanted to join The Continental Army. He tried to enlist in the army and is accepted because the general does not know that Charley is not 18 until later in the book. Paulsen widely expresses how underaged soldiers should not and can not handle the unpleasantries of The Revolutionary War, although Paulsen can come off as unpleasant.
Paulsen expresses that the soldiers are too young to fight in such a gruesome war. Paulsen shows this when Charley is in his first battle and does not want to hear the sounds of the war (21). The generals are accurate for once, and they show how being exposed to mature ideas can and will affect you permanently in your life. This shows that Paulsen can come off as ‘scarey’ to younger aged readers.
People try to expose themselves to ideas they should not be doing while they are too young. They have adrenaline rushes and want to experience life in a way they could not before. People do break the rules because they want to have some fun while they are underage. Sometimes people break the rules when they are out with their friends. Sometimes they are irresponsible because they have the‘safety net’ of each other. They can help one another, which can help each other. Throughout the book, Paulsen shows how the soldiers are unstable and unable to do the work of a real soldier.
Even though Paulsen can come across as a harsh person, he does this to inform the world of the dangers of doing work that is not designed you. Paulsen wrote Soldier’s Heart to inform the public of the consequences that can happen when people do work not designed for them. This book should be recommended to anyone who enjoys historical first-person fiction and some gruesomeness. Soldier’s Heart has a quick unexpected plot turns and will show the life of an underage soldier.
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Book Review of Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen largely shows how underaged soldiers joined the army to fight for their country in the Revolutionary War. Charley was a farm boy in Minnesota and lived with his mother on a farm. Charley wanted to join The Continental Army. He tried to enlist in the army and is accepted because the general does not know that Charley is not 18 until later in the book. Paulsen widely expresses how underaged soldiers should not and can not handle the unpleasantries of The Revolutionary War, although Paulsen can come off as unpleasant.
Paulsen expresses that the soldiers are too young to fight in such a gruesome war. Paulsen shows this when Charley is in his first battle and does not want to hear the sounds of the war (21). The generals are accurate for once, and they show how being exposed to mature ideas can and will affect you permanently in your life. This shows that Paulsen can come off as ‘scarey’ to younger aged readers.
People try to expose themselves to ideas they should not be doing while they are too young. They have adrenaline rushes and want to experience life in a way they could not before. People do break the rules because they want to have some fun while they are underage. Sometimes people break the rules when they are out with their friends. Sometimes they are irresponsible because they have the‘safety net’ of each other. They can help one another, which can help each other. Throughout the book, Paulsen shows how the soldiers are unstable and unable to do the work of a real soldier.
Even though Paulsen can come across as a harsh person, he does this to inform the world of the dangers of doing work that is not designed you. Paulsen wrote Soldier’s Heart to inform the public of the consequences that can happen when people do work not designed for them. This book should be recommended to anyone who enjoys historical first-person fiction and some gruesomeness. Soldier’s Heart has a quick unexpected plot turns and will show the life of an underage soldier.
Rating: 3.8/5.0
January 23, 2024
read this to my students!! crazy and graphic stuff to read to 6th graders if you ask me!!
January 21, 2026
Well-written fact based YA novel about the horrors of the Civil War.
February 25, 2022
This book is sad and happy but mostly sad because it is about a young boy who was in the civil war and saw thing that were very sad but I do recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2024
One of my favorite things about being a reader is the Gary Paulsen experience. Not all his books are barnburners, but the ones that are use simplicity of action and language to awesome effect. Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers is a stunning entwinement of fact and fiction that lays bare the brutality of war, a torture machine that every society has fed its young men to without fully realizing what it's going to do to them. Charley Goddard, an actual Civil War soldier from history, is fifteen years old when he leaves the Minnesota family farm to join the Union army. His mother doesn't want him to go, but Charley persuades her to give permission, and he looks old enough to pass for eighteen and fool the enlistment officer at Fort Snelling. There he trains to obey military orders and handle a firearm, but Charley doubts he will ever see combat. Many Northerners believe the war will dissolve in a few weeks, once "Johnny Rebel" gets the message that Abraham Lincoln's boys in blue are serious. But before the end of June, Charley's Minnesota regiment is called to action, and they travel east for their first engagement with Confederate soldiers. Life will never be the same.
On their way across the country via train, the young soldiers receive the royal treatment, hailed by civilians as heroes before ever setting foot on a battlefield. Almost before Charley knows it he is plunged into combat at Bull Run, gunfire louder than thunder as bodies are torn to shreds all around him. Bullets shower down thick as raindrops, and Charley watches friends be decapitated or riddled with slugs, blood spurting in ruby fountains or quietly puddling around the bodies. There's no way Charley can evade his own death; it hangs above his head like the sword of Damocles, certain to fall any second now. He never envisioned the carnage like this, human bodies carved up with little or no gain by either army, just constant, gruesome death. This is the first battle, the one that shattered Charley beyond reclamation. Part of his soul perished that day.
How could the shellshocked young soldiers ever again be expected to march across a meadow and shoot at the enemy? Blood fills the creek at Bull Run where Charley and other Yankee fighters have to refill their canteens, and hundreds of corpses lie on the battlefield, swarms of flies ravaging the bloated bodies. What kept Charley from sharing that fate, save for pure luck? How can he take his rifle into battle again with any hope of not getting massacred this time? Under a new commander, General George Brinton McClellan, Charley's regiment continues their tour of duty, occasionally raiding Southern farms for food and other precious resources. Stealing from civilians is illegal, but what do these soldiers care for the people who enable the Rebel army to prolong the war? Another piece of Charley's soul is pared away when a young recruit named Nelson joins the Minnesota regiment, as gung-ho as Charley was at first. Nelson covets the glory of war, not yet comprehending the horrors that define it. The engagement isn't as heavy as Bull Run, and again Charley lives, but Nelson isn't as fortunate. In his combat debut he takes a bullet to the midriff, a "belly wound" that is a death sentence in this era of limited medical technology. The young man seems only lightly wounded, but Charley is aware they will never fight side by side again. Nelson is one of untold thousands who will decompose on the battlefield and be utterly forgotten before getting a chance at life.
Seasons pass and so do dread diseases, from soldier to soldier, killing many more of them than injuries. Charley's excruciating bouts of dysentery might level a man less young and fit, but he struggles through the agony of a ravaged gut to live another day. One night while posted as sentry beside a river that has a regiment of Confederates occupying the opposite shore, Charley quietly converses with a young Reb who suggests they trade some of their supplies. The Northern army no longer has access to Southern tobacco crops, and the Confederates have run out of coffee beans; can a single Yankee and a Reb declare a brief truce to make the trade? Charley and the boy are both willing, and they admit to each other that the war seems senseless. The two of them have no personal quarrel, so why must they attempt to take each other's lives? The informal armistice lasts but an hour or so before Charley is caught and disciplined, but the lull in hostilities does him good...for whatever that's worth, given the damage already done to his psyche.
In winter Charley's regiment is again called into battle. Cannons boom, bullets whiz through the air like deadly insects, and Charley goes to the act of killing the men in gray with frenzied excitement. It's a terrifying euphoria, this slashing of throats and goring enemies with his bayonet, but still the dogs of war have yet to claim Charley. He isn't much more than a killing machine, his fear dulled except for those moments right before battle, when dread overwhelms him even now. The worst by far will be Gettysburg, a clash of armies that sends more men to their graves than all American wars combined prior to that day. This won't be like other battles; starting after Bull Run, Charley knew his execution date would come, that a bayonet or bullet would shred his troubled gut or a cannonball blow his head apart. But in the midst of Gettysburg it dawns on Charley that today is the day. Will he desperately cling to the necrotizing remains of his life, or feel relieved to set down the burden and walk into eternity with a clean soul? This is Charley Goddard, who didn't live long enough to get to know himself before war marred his soul. Countless soldiers have suffered his fate over the course of mankind's history.
Is Soldier's Heart an anti-war book? Some of it seems calibrated to conclude that war is not acceptable under any circumstances, but the story can just as well be taken as a solemn warning: do not tread lightly down the path of military aggression. War should not be entered into for revenge, political gain, or entertainment. Sending young people to their violent deaths is cruel, and it may be worse if they survive; minds are permanently warped, and bodies become old and decrepit long before their time. How despicable it is to feed eager young men to the meat grinder for a cause unworthy of their sacrifice. If we send them to war it should only be when no reasonable alternative exists and the cause we are fighting for merits the destruction of a generation.
How is a soldier, soiled by the blood and anxiety of war, to readjust to normal life afterward? The reality of this problem becomes obvious during a passage describing Charley's actions in the heat of battle. "He attacked anything and everything that came into his range—slashing, clubbing, hammering, jabbing, cutting—and always screaming, screaming in fear, in anger and finally in a kind of rabid, insane joy, the joy of battle, the joy of winning, the joy of killing to live." Behaving this way in normal society is considered deranged, but in war it is all that keeps Charley alive. Can a warrior return home after his services as killer are no longer required, or is he doomed to wander alone the rest of his days? Despite his wrecked body and mind, Charley hasn't totally given up on life. There is beauty after destruction, pleasant surprises that soothe catastrophic hurt inside and out. Are these sufficient when most of one's existence is anguish? There's no simple answer, but the beauty of life is still there even when it feels beyond reach. The human heart, however badly scarred, can learn to cope with almost anything.
Barely more than a hundred pages, Soldier's Heart is potent without being long. Gary Paulsen wastes no time pushing us into the nexus of war, where we see things that will make almost anyone squirm. Scenes depicting the horrific damage done to horses by bullets will not soon exit your mind, and the sickening immediacy of Charlie's terror before each battle makes it clear to young readers there is no glory in the act of war, only in being willing to go through it for a worthwhile cause, though no man fully grasps what he's signing up for until he has been in battle. Soldier's Heart is something of a YA version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front; it refuses to let us ignore the cost of being a soldier in combat. This is one of the most Robert Cormier-like novels Gary Paulsen wrote, and in fact it bears strong resemblance to Cormier's Heroes, published the same year (1998). The final chapter sets up the same emotionally powerful scenario as that book's. I rate Soldier's Heart three and a half stars, and I'd almost round up to four; perhaps I'll still do that. This is Gary Paulsen near his apex, a story that will leave you deeply distressed but wiser in the ways of the world. Whether or not you're a fan of the author's other work, I hope you'll read this one.
On their way across the country via train, the young soldiers receive the royal treatment, hailed by civilians as heroes before ever setting foot on a battlefield. Almost before Charley knows it he is plunged into combat at Bull Run, gunfire louder than thunder as bodies are torn to shreds all around him. Bullets shower down thick as raindrops, and Charley watches friends be decapitated or riddled with slugs, blood spurting in ruby fountains or quietly puddling around the bodies. There's no way Charley can evade his own death; it hangs above his head like the sword of Damocles, certain to fall any second now. He never envisioned the carnage like this, human bodies carved up with little or no gain by either army, just constant, gruesome death. This is the first battle, the one that shattered Charley beyond reclamation. Part of his soul perished that day.
How could the shellshocked young soldiers ever again be expected to march across a meadow and shoot at the enemy? Blood fills the creek at Bull Run where Charley and other Yankee fighters have to refill their canteens, and hundreds of corpses lie on the battlefield, swarms of flies ravaging the bloated bodies. What kept Charley from sharing that fate, save for pure luck? How can he take his rifle into battle again with any hope of not getting massacred this time? Under a new commander, General George Brinton McClellan, Charley's regiment continues their tour of duty, occasionally raiding Southern farms for food and other precious resources. Stealing from civilians is illegal, but what do these soldiers care for the people who enable the Rebel army to prolong the war? Another piece of Charley's soul is pared away when a young recruit named Nelson joins the Minnesota regiment, as gung-ho as Charley was at first. Nelson covets the glory of war, not yet comprehending the horrors that define it. The engagement isn't as heavy as Bull Run, and again Charley lives, but Nelson isn't as fortunate. In his combat debut he takes a bullet to the midriff, a "belly wound" that is a death sentence in this era of limited medical technology. The young man seems only lightly wounded, but Charley is aware they will never fight side by side again. Nelson is one of untold thousands who will decompose on the battlefield and be utterly forgotten before getting a chance at life.
Seasons pass and so do dread diseases, from soldier to soldier, killing many more of them than injuries. Charley's excruciating bouts of dysentery might level a man less young and fit, but he struggles through the agony of a ravaged gut to live another day. One night while posted as sentry beside a river that has a regiment of Confederates occupying the opposite shore, Charley quietly converses with a young Reb who suggests they trade some of their supplies. The Northern army no longer has access to Southern tobacco crops, and the Confederates have run out of coffee beans; can a single Yankee and a Reb declare a brief truce to make the trade? Charley and the boy are both willing, and they admit to each other that the war seems senseless. The two of them have no personal quarrel, so why must they attempt to take each other's lives? The informal armistice lasts but an hour or so before Charley is caught and disciplined, but the lull in hostilities does him good...for whatever that's worth, given the damage already done to his psyche.
In winter Charley's regiment is again called into battle. Cannons boom, bullets whiz through the air like deadly insects, and Charley goes to the act of killing the men in gray with frenzied excitement. It's a terrifying euphoria, this slashing of throats and goring enemies with his bayonet, but still the dogs of war have yet to claim Charley. He isn't much more than a killing machine, his fear dulled except for those moments right before battle, when dread overwhelms him even now. The worst by far will be Gettysburg, a clash of armies that sends more men to their graves than all American wars combined prior to that day. This won't be like other battles; starting after Bull Run, Charley knew his execution date would come, that a bayonet or bullet would shred his troubled gut or a cannonball blow his head apart. But in the midst of Gettysburg it dawns on Charley that today is the day. Will he desperately cling to the necrotizing remains of his life, or feel relieved to set down the burden and walk into eternity with a clean soul? This is Charley Goddard, who didn't live long enough to get to know himself before war marred his soul. Countless soldiers have suffered his fate over the course of mankind's history.
Is Soldier's Heart an anti-war book? Some of it seems calibrated to conclude that war is not acceptable under any circumstances, but the story can just as well be taken as a solemn warning: do not tread lightly down the path of military aggression. War should not be entered into for revenge, political gain, or entertainment. Sending young people to their violent deaths is cruel, and it may be worse if they survive; minds are permanently warped, and bodies become old and decrepit long before their time. How despicable it is to feed eager young men to the meat grinder for a cause unworthy of their sacrifice. If we send them to war it should only be when no reasonable alternative exists and the cause we are fighting for merits the destruction of a generation.
How is a soldier, soiled by the blood and anxiety of war, to readjust to normal life afterward? The reality of this problem becomes obvious during a passage describing Charley's actions in the heat of battle. "He attacked anything and everything that came into his range—slashing, clubbing, hammering, jabbing, cutting—and always screaming, screaming in fear, in anger and finally in a kind of rabid, insane joy, the joy of battle, the joy of winning, the joy of killing to live." Behaving this way in normal society is considered deranged, but in war it is all that keeps Charley alive. Can a warrior return home after his services as killer are no longer required, or is he doomed to wander alone the rest of his days? Despite his wrecked body and mind, Charley hasn't totally given up on life. There is beauty after destruction, pleasant surprises that soothe catastrophic hurt inside and out. Are these sufficient when most of one's existence is anguish? There's no simple answer, but the beauty of life is still there even when it feels beyond reach. The human heart, however badly scarred, can learn to cope with almost anything.
Barely more than a hundred pages, Soldier's Heart is potent without being long. Gary Paulsen wastes no time pushing us into the nexus of war, where we see things that will make almost anyone squirm. Scenes depicting the horrific damage done to horses by bullets will not soon exit your mind, and the sickening immediacy of Charlie's terror before each battle makes it clear to young readers there is no glory in the act of war, only in being willing to go through it for a worthwhile cause, though no man fully grasps what he's signing up for until he has been in battle. Soldier's Heart is something of a YA version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front; it refuses to let us ignore the cost of being a soldier in combat. This is one of the most Robert Cormier-like novels Gary Paulsen wrote, and in fact it bears strong resemblance to Cormier's Heroes, published the same year (1998). The final chapter sets up the same emotionally powerful scenario as that book's. I rate Soldier's Heart three and a half stars, and I'd almost round up to four; perhaps I'll still do that. This is Gary Paulsen near his apex, a story that will leave you deeply distressed but wiser in the ways of the world. Whether or not you're a fan of the author's other work, I hope you'll read this one.
April 1, 2015
"Soldier's Heart" by Gary Paulsen is a novel based on Charley Goddard's experience in the Civil War.
This book is very fast-paced, primarily slowing for only battle scenes; in fact, the book clocks in at a mere 106 pages. My guess is this was intended to keep the target audience (middle-grade readers) captivated.
But if you aren't a middle grade reader, the lack of content just makes the book seem unrealistic.
Another major problem is how Charley is described in battle.
One moment Charley is looking around the battlefield. Then, in the next sentence, he is suddenly filled with "savage rage".
Here's a direct quote:
"Charley glanced at him, surprised. Nelson had been there. Cocky Nelson. He was nowhere to be seen and Charley hadn't seen him get hit, hadn't seen him fall. Charley ran on,
Some men slowed, satisfied that they'd won the fight, but Charley couldn't stop running and soon found himself in front of the line. He would have been shocked to see himself. His lips were drawn back showing his teeth, and his face was contorted in a savage rage.
He wanted to kill them. He wanted to catch them and run his bayonet through them and kill them. All of them. Stick and jab and shoot and murder them and kill them all, each and every Rebel's son of them."
Um... what?
Overall, "Soldier's Heart" is an inoffensive Civil War novel for middle-grade readers. But, other than that, little can be said. In the end, this novel is just mediocre and unmemorable.
Rating: 3/5 stars
This book is very fast-paced, primarily slowing for only battle scenes; in fact, the book clocks in at a mere 106 pages. My guess is this was intended to keep the target audience (middle-grade readers) captivated.
But if you aren't a middle grade reader, the lack of content just makes the book seem unrealistic.
Another major problem is how Charley is described in battle.
One moment Charley is looking around the battlefield. Then, in the next sentence, he is suddenly filled with "savage rage".
Here's a direct quote:
"Charley glanced at him, surprised. Nelson had been there. Cocky Nelson. He was nowhere to be seen and Charley hadn't seen him get hit, hadn't seen him fall. Charley ran on,
Some men slowed, satisfied that they'd won the fight, but Charley couldn't stop running and soon found himself in front of the line. He would have been shocked to see himself. His lips were drawn back showing his teeth, and his face was contorted in a savage rage.
He wanted to kill them. He wanted to catch them and run his bayonet through them and kill them. All of them. Stick and jab and shoot and murder them and kill them all, each and every Rebel's son of them."
Um... what?
Overall, "Soldier's Heart" is an inoffensive Civil War novel for middle-grade readers. But, other than that, little can be said. In the end, this novel is just mediocre and unmemorable.
Rating: 3/5 stars
July 2, 2019
Another one of those books I purchased and read thinking my brothers would enjoy it.
Well, I won't be letting the younger boys read it, but I enjoyed it.
The historical aspect was wonderfully accurate -- reason number one I won't let my younger brothers read this one right now. The medical details and battle details were a bit on the disturbing side of things.
The storytelling was beautiful, and I enjoyed it immensely. It was well done, and the style was very lyrical, almost poetic, and it was wonderful. The story itself was engaging and based on a true person, and that made it better.
There was language in this book -- reason number two the boys won't be reading it. I understand why the language was there, but there's no need to pollute little minds with language they have no need to know right now.
And the ending was reason number three that they won't be reading this. [SPOILER] with the almost suicide that was documented, it was quite an emotional read that the littles don't need to be dwelling on [SPOILER END]
I would recommend this to mature readers -- and it doesn't take long to read, at all -- and especially to those who enjoy the War.
Three stars.
Well, I won't be letting the younger boys read it, but I enjoyed it.
The historical aspect was wonderfully accurate -- reason number one I won't let my younger brothers read this one right now. The medical details and battle details were a bit on the disturbing side of things.
The storytelling was beautiful, and I enjoyed it immensely. It was well done, and the style was very lyrical, almost poetic, and it was wonderful. The story itself was engaging and based on a true person, and that made it better.
There was language in this book -- reason number two the boys won't be reading it. I understand why the language was there, but there's no need to pollute little minds with language they have no need to know right now.
And the ending was reason number three that they won't be reading this. [SPOILER] with the almost suicide that was documented, it was quite an emotional read that the littles don't need to be dwelling on [SPOILER END]
I would recommend this to mature readers -- and it doesn't take long to read, at all -- and especially to those who enjoy the War.
Three stars.
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January 29, 2020it was really gory
Merged review:
it was really gory
Merged review:
it was really gory
November 4, 2018
Frightened but evolving into a man
Book Review of Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen
Imagine being an average and ordinary 15-year-old boy working on the farm. This was the life of 15-year-old boy Charley Goddard’s before he decided to make the most significant decision of his entire life. Charley decided to ignore his mother's objections, lie about his age, and enlist into the Union army. He didn’t enlist in the military because he was mad at his mother, Charley enlisted into the Union army because he thought the Union was going to win easily, and he also believed that joining the military would finally make himself a man. This is precisely what happens in the novel, Soldier’s Heart. Soldier’s Heart is a fiction novel written by the poet, Gary Paulsen. Soldier’s Heart is clear and straight to the point when they talk about the life of what men had to go through to live.
Gary Paulsen uses some of the famous battles in the civil war to back up his point, including the battle of Gettysburg and the first battle of Bull Run. This explains how far they had to walk to fight each battle and the amount of ballot they faced. This shows the readers that they didn’t only suffer from the conflicts, but from even walking to each fight. Not only did they have to walk miles and miles to most likely die, but they also had to carry equipment on their backs. In this novel, Soldier’s Heart, Charley Goddard had to carry his weapon, water bottle carrying no clean water, and a ton of gunpowder. Since the Civil War four years, Charley and his comrades had to last through boiling summers to cold winters, only wearing the same clothes.
“The Union is going to win,” “There is no chance we aren’t going even to lose one man.” These were the words of the citizen that lived near Charley. Ever since he heard those words, he knew he was going to join the army. He had no idea how, but he knew he could. He talked to his mum about enlisting into the Union army, and as any other mother would, she said no. However, Charley decided to ignore his mother’s objections. One day he snuck out and went to enlist into the Union army. They weren’t going to let him in, so Charley decided to lie about his age, and he somehow successfully joined the Union army. Charley didn’t join the military because he was mad at his mum. Charley only joined the Union army because he presumed he wouldn’t get close to hurt and because he thought joining the military would finally make him a man. However, the war wasn’t as easy as he presumed. When the first battle of Bull Run came along, Charley immediately knew he didn’t want to be in the army anymore. Everywhere he looked, all he saw were dead bodies and blood. Charley started gagging and knew he should have listened to his mother. However, there was no way he could go back in time, so he had to man up and deal with the blood, guns and dead bodies.
Throughout the novel, Gary Paulsen does a good job of telling the readers that Charley matures throughout the book. He has gotten used to the cold, harsh winters, and the rotten smell of human flesh around him. He now knows that he committed, and he has to stick to that commitment. Even though Charley sends his mother cards, he still misses her with his entire heart. However, towards the end of the novel, Charley realizes that he is at an all-time low, and starts to become suicidal. The book ends with telling the readers that he sits by a river, having a picnic with a Confederate pistol by his side, dealing with suicidal thoughts.
In conclusion, Charley now knows that his mother knows best and that he should always listen to her advice. If he had listened to her objections in the first place, he would be at home working on the farm just like the rest of 15-year-old boys instead of risking his life with old men. Overall, this novel will never get boring due to all high action battles Charley faces.
Work Cited:
Time4Writing. “Writing a Good Conclusion Paragraph.” Time4Writing, www.time4writing.com/writing-resource....
“Soldiers heart.” Soldiers heart, www.soldiersheart.net/.
Book Review of Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen
Imagine being an average and ordinary 15-year-old boy working on the farm. This was the life of 15-year-old boy Charley Goddard’s before he decided to make the most significant decision of his entire life. Charley decided to ignore his mother's objections, lie about his age, and enlist into the Union army. He didn’t enlist in the military because he was mad at his mother, Charley enlisted into the Union army because he thought the Union was going to win easily, and he also believed that joining the military would finally make himself a man. This is precisely what happens in the novel, Soldier’s Heart. Soldier’s Heart is a fiction novel written by the poet, Gary Paulsen. Soldier’s Heart is clear and straight to the point when they talk about the life of what men had to go through to live.
Gary Paulsen uses some of the famous battles in the civil war to back up his point, including the battle of Gettysburg and the first battle of Bull Run. This explains how far they had to walk to fight each battle and the amount of ballot they faced. This shows the readers that they didn’t only suffer from the conflicts, but from even walking to each fight. Not only did they have to walk miles and miles to most likely die, but they also had to carry equipment on their backs. In this novel, Soldier’s Heart, Charley Goddard had to carry his weapon, water bottle carrying no clean water, and a ton of gunpowder. Since the Civil War four years, Charley and his comrades had to last through boiling summers to cold winters, only wearing the same clothes.
“The Union is going to win,” “There is no chance we aren’t going even to lose one man.” These were the words of the citizen that lived near Charley. Ever since he heard those words, he knew he was going to join the army. He had no idea how, but he knew he could. He talked to his mum about enlisting into the Union army, and as any other mother would, she said no. However, Charley decided to ignore his mother’s objections. One day he snuck out and went to enlist into the Union army. They weren’t going to let him in, so Charley decided to lie about his age, and he somehow successfully joined the Union army. Charley didn’t join the military because he was mad at his mum. Charley only joined the Union army because he presumed he wouldn’t get close to hurt and because he thought joining the military would finally make him a man. However, the war wasn’t as easy as he presumed. When the first battle of Bull Run came along, Charley immediately knew he didn’t want to be in the army anymore. Everywhere he looked, all he saw were dead bodies and blood. Charley started gagging and knew he should have listened to his mother. However, there was no way he could go back in time, so he had to man up and deal with the blood, guns and dead bodies.
Throughout the novel, Gary Paulsen does a good job of telling the readers that Charley matures throughout the book. He has gotten used to the cold, harsh winters, and the rotten smell of human flesh around him. He now knows that he committed, and he has to stick to that commitment. Even though Charley sends his mother cards, he still misses her with his entire heart. However, towards the end of the novel, Charley realizes that he is at an all-time low, and starts to become suicidal. The book ends with telling the readers that he sits by a river, having a picnic with a Confederate pistol by his side, dealing with suicidal thoughts.
In conclusion, Charley now knows that his mother knows best and that he should always listen to her advice. If he had listened to her objections in the first place, he would be at home working on the farm just like the rest of 15-year-old boys instead of risking his life with old men. Overall, this novel will never get boring due to all high action battles Charley faces.
Work Cited:
Time4Writing. “Writing a Good Conclusion Paragraph.” Time4Writing, www.time4writing.com/writing-resource....
“Soldiers heart.” Soldiers heart, www.soldiersheart.net/.
August 29, 2017
I'm torn on this book. One the one hand, it's a quick read that gives a very good (and often graphic) look at what life was like for a civil war soldier. As such, it might be a book that would hook a teen boy who might not love reading and get him interested. On the other hand, there is virtually no character development and the plot skips from battle to battle with no real story development or flow. I found I really didn't care much about Charley as a person. Maybe the author's purpose for this short book is to give a look at the conditions a 15 year-old boy faced as a soldier in the war and not to develop a full blown novel. Not sure.
May 25, 2017
The book was excellent, yet it was a bit short. The story was great because it went to detail about each battle. The book had many true historical details, like what the surgeons did during the war. The plotline is very entertaining, and I think anyone would enjoy reading it. The characters were also very well chosen and simple. It is a very humbling experience to learn about a little boy who has had to endure so many hardships.
July 5, 2018
The audio book was enjoyable, with the prologue and epilogue adding value to the story itself. There is even an interview with the author prior to the reading of the book.
The book itself is disappointingly brief. It doesn't go into near the depth that I would have wanted, focusing the majority of the work on the wonder of being in the military prior to the actual nastiness of battle.
There is little appreciation of the southern perspective in this book, nor a recognition of the impact of the war on the civilians.
Although I appreciate the efforts made to authentically bring to life a true story from the Civil War, it would have been great to go into a little more detail. Rifles for Watie is an example of a book that provides a more rounded soldier experience in an engaging voice.
The book itself is disappointingly brief. It doesn't go into near the depth that I would have wanted, focusing the majority of the work on the wonder of being in the military prior to the actual nastiness of battle.
There is little appreciation of the southern perspective in this book, nor a recognition of the impact of the war on the civilians.
Although I appreciate the efforts made to authentically bring to life a true story from the Civil War, it would have been great to go into a little more detail. Rifles for Watie is an example of a book that provides a more rounded soldier experience in an engaging voice.
December 28, 2024
A heartbreaking account of a young boy’s service in the American Civil War. Written in such a descriptive manner as to transport the reader into the mind and feelings of a soldier as he watches men die and as he watches friends fight and kill friends and Americans fight and kill other Americans.
“This is what hate, evil and disunity can bring. “
“This is what hate, evil and disunity can bring. “
November 13, 2022
A short and evocative novel aimed at readers a little younger than the protagonist, who was a real person who lied about his age to enlist. Despite this, it presents a fairly graphic depiction of the battles in which he participates and the psychological and physical impact of his experiences.
October 17, 2025
Homeschool Lit book with my 7th grader. This was more gruesome (it IS about a war) than I was expecting but tied in with our trip to Antietam Battlefield this summer (although the book doesn't take place at that battle, same war).
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