Soldier's+Heart

Summary:
Charley Goddard, 15, leaves his Minnesota farm to enlist in the Union army in 1861. An almost festive train ride to the South soon gives way to the harrowing realities of war. Paulsen pulls no punches, rendering the young man's experiences in matter-of-fact prose that accentuates the horror. The third-person narrative sticks to Charley's point of view, relating his immediate sensations and the simple ways he tries to come to terms with the bloodshed. The boy soon faces the inevitability of his awful situation but never loses his fear and confusion. School Library Journal 9/1/1998 Lexile: 1000

Book Talk from Booktalks Quick and Simple:
Soldiers today acquire post-traumatic stress disorder; during WW II it was called battle fatigue, and in WWI, known as shell shock. In 1861 when fifteen year old Charley Goddard enlisted in the First Minnesota Volunteers, there was no term for this syndrome, but it came to be known colloquially as soldier's heart. Soldier's Heart by three time Newbery Honor winner Gary Paulsen, details Charley's journey from farm lad bent on adventure boarding his first train thinking, "I never, I just never imagined such a thing existed," to a nineteen year old returning from war, entirely disheartened. We witness the abrupt end of childhood, the atrocities of war, and the Battle at Gettysburg, all through the eyes of an innocent. Paulsen has crafted a fine and quick read, appropriate for both middle and high schoolers. A departure from his contemporary survival tales, this is historical survival fiction, as we root for the survival of Charley's very heart. (Lisa Maher, [|Colorado Blue Spruce YA Book Award, 2003)]

More info:
[|Click here] to read an excerpt from the book. Use the back arrow to get back to the wiki. Click here to view [|photos] (historic and current) of Ft. Sumter, the place Charley was sent. (From the US National Parks)