A Soldier's Heart

Written By: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Laurel Leaf in September of 2000
Novel - Historical Fiction


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."

This book was an outstanding book at bringing into a reality what the civil was was really like for the soldiers. Paulsen brought real events into the story and based it off a real person. You have to be careful what age you read this to, because it can be graphic, but it does not hide what really happened for the war. I feel like I will remember stuff from this book than from all my text books I read in school. 

**** 4.5 out of 5 stars
20 points