Customer Reviews
Chris's Review 
2007-05-14
Soldier's Heart
By: Gary Paulsen
Number of pages: 102 Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Do you like a book with action, drama, and a main character with lots of bravery? Then you should pick up the book Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen.
Soldier's Heart is based on a true story about a fifteen-year-old boy in Minnesota named Charley Goddard, who lies about his age to join the First Volunteers of Minnesota, to fight in the Civil War.
The main character in the story is a young man, Charley, for his age, Charley is a very mature man and is a very hard worker in every aspect. When Charley is sent off to get prepared for the war, he battles some conflicts. One conflict that he has to battle is that his mother sends him letters saying the she wants him to come back home. Charley feels bad and at first wants to come home, but these thoughts gradually leave.
I like this book for many reasons. One reason was that I like to read about historical fiction, and about the Civil War. Another reason why I like this book was because the main character, "Charley," was only fifteen, and I can relate a lot to the things that he thought and what was going on in his head. The last reason is because the author had a good perspective of what went on during the war.
Gary Paulsen was the author of the book Soldier's Heart. He has also written many other books such as Brian's Winter, Hatchet, The Crossing, The Rifle, and Danger on the Midnight River. Paulsen is able to have a great knowledge because he went to war and fought for our country.
The part in the story that I did not care for was the battlefields. They seemed like they were made up, because of the location. I also did not like how the story had started out. I would have liked to know a little bit more about his family and the backgrounds that Charley lived in.
I would give this book four out of five stars. I would recommend this book to people who like to know historical facts about the Civil War and the battles that were fought in it. Overall, Soldier's Heart is an exciting, historical, and adventurous book that anyone would enjoy to read.
Not what i expected but a good read 2007-03-09
I didn't realize how short the book was until I already recieved it. It was my fault for not seeing it on the display page but despite how short it is it still provides the reader with an idea of how being on a battlefield during the civil war would be like.
A brave solder 2007-02-28
A brave solder who was olny 15 years old when he joined the army. He wanted to prove that was a man. Life was hard for him in the army. He got shot in one of his fingrs and for some resson he thought he was going to die. But he didn,t die he was still alive. after that he was going to another battle. His job there was to stand guard with somebody else. He didn,t know what his name was so he didn,t ask for his name. l give this book 4 stars because of the battles and the history i didn,t know that it was real. But if your going to read this book tell someone who has read it for info.
powerful! 
2006-12-05
Soldier's Heart is the story about Charlie, a fifteen year old boy from Minnesota. The time period is the Civil War. Charlie is a fatherless farm boy who is caught up in the excitement of the war before it actually begins.
In WW I, men who fought were forever changed. They had what is called Shell Shock. In WW II, many men who fought and survived were forever changed. They had what was called Battle Fatigue. In the Vietnam war, many men who survived were forever after affected by the war. For them it was called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. In the Civil War, the war in which more Americans were killed than all our other wars combined, many of the men who survived were forever after affected. For them, it was called Soldier's Heart.
Soldier's Heart starts its story on the farm. Charlie leaves on a train to join the Minnesota Volunteers. It is his first time on a train. He parades through some towns and cities. It was the first time for him to be in a city. He remembered all the pretty girls who came out to cheer on the soldiers. He then arrives at a training camp.
Charlie fights in the first organized battle of the war, the battle of Bull Run. It is a very unpleasant surprise. He remembers the woods, a meadow, and more woods on the other side of the meadow. He remembers the Rebel yell. He is shocked by the death and destruction. Men he knew, standing next to him are cut down and killed.
After Bull Run he is in camp with thousands of other Union troops. Camp is boring, and deadly. Disease is widespread. Camp does not last for long, and Charlie goes back to the battlefield.
The battlefields all become the same. The woods, the meadows, the woods. Charlie can expect what he will see. Each battle changes him a little more.
In the end, Charlie survives, but he is not the same. He has Soldier's Heart. It is inside of him. He cannot escape it. He cannot live a normal life. Inside of him he has changed. The setting inside of Charlie has changed. It has become the setting of Soldier's Heart.
Tyler caruso not bad 2006-11-09
The book soldiers heart is not that bad but I didn't understand it that much thats why I put four stars. Well this was about a boy named Charley Godard and he is only fifteen but he is tall and skiney and decides to go to war. And he goes and they think he is eightteen so he gets his rifle and a uniform. So they practiced and practiced until the war started. So Charly goes to war and he is so nervous and could barley do anything When they start it charley see's peoples heads gettig shot off. If you whant to know more about this book you should buy it or get it from your library.
hard to explain 2008-06-03
This book is a true story and it says so in the authors note. This book is very sad, interesting, and violent. It is about a 16 year old boy who heard of a shooting war. His name was Charley. He wanted to enlist for the army but they said that you must be 18 to go and enlist for the army that would take place in the shooting war. Charley lies about his age and gets in without question. He gets training and fights in the army and in the battles he fought in he learns what it really is like to be in the army. He learned that you always think you're going to die. He learned that if someone is having a slow and painful death because of a wound they will want to shoot themselves. Charley learned a lot in the army and that is why this book is called soldiers heart. My favorite part is the whole book because it is so interesting and sad. I don't have a least favorite part. This book is good for people that like stories that can show them a lesson.
MFMS students' review 2008-04-14
After reading it in class, this is what the MFMS's 8th grade Language Arts thought of the book:
"We liked the story because some parts of the story were really detailed and seems like you were actually there. Well, not really. It was easy to read because there was not so much hard words, which made it easier and better."
--Colleen and Jessica.
"I liked the story because it was extremely detailed with words to explain everything that happened. The bigger words make it a better book to understand more."
--Tom, Desirae, Juan
"I liked the book because it teach me about history. I think it was kind of hard to read, because all the big words. I think the big words make it hard to read and not one could understand it."
--Man, Diana, Giovanna
"We kinds liked the book because it talked about the war and we wanted to know about the war and the book helped a lot. The book was kind of hard to read, but easy to at the same time. It kind of had big words, but it was better to read the book that way. The book was very interesting. The book was good."
--Kara, Maria R., Maria Z., Angelica
A Teenager in the Civil War 
2007-07-03
In 1861 Charley is fifteen years old, living on a farm in Minnesota with his mother and little brother. Everyone has heard the rumor that there is to be a war, with those in the North fighting to stop the Southern rebels from doing damage to the country. No one is quite sure if the war is really going to happen, but Charley is determined to be a part of it if it is.
He convinces his mother that he can handle himself as a soldier and tells her the eleven dollars a month he'll be paid will help her out, and she agrees to let him go. He signs up, lying about his age so they will let him into the army, and begins his training.
At first things are horribly boring. The volunteer military spends much of its time sitting around, doing drills that don't use up their ammunition, and eating really bad food. Charley is considering deserting and simply going home, when finally his unit marches into battle.
Their first battle is a bloodbath--his unit tries to march across an open field while rebel soldiers shoot at them from above. Charley isn't sure what he thought a shooting war would be like, but it was certainly nothing like this. As the war continues and Charley is a part of more and more battles, he learns what war really is, and sees more than his share of the horror of it.
I liked that war wasn't glamorized at all in this book--the narrator spoke of the boredom between battles and the horror of the battles themselves. Nothing was made out to be fun about it. I also liked that Charley was so shocked and couldn't get over what he had seen. He was just a kid when he went into war and it wouldn't have been realistic for him to handle it well.
However, this book was a little too simplistic. It didn't give any of the nuances of Charley's thoughts and feelings, and didn't explore the feelings of anyone except this one main character. I would have liked a bit more depth.
Charley is a freak (i think) 2007-05-29
I definitely recommend this book to all readers. Gary Paulsen does a great job in showing how Charley feels that he will certainly die, and how he changes from a happy farmer to a man that will kill to stay alive. This was one of the greatest historical fiction books that I have ever read because of all the amazing events that actually took place. For example, Charley and another man use dead bodies to build a wall to stop a vicious wind. This book had a lot of surprises, like when Charley is hit and wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. I couldn't wait to turn the page because of all these horrendous and shocking surprises. Because this book is only 102 pages, it makes for an astonishing quick read.
A kid at war. 2007-05-20
As already stated, this is a fictionalized story of a young 15 year Minnesota boy who fought in the Civil War. Paulsen takes liberties in relating the short life of Charley Goddard. Goddard participated in many major battles of the Civil War such as Bull Run and Gettysburg. He shows the cost of war on the youths that fight it by relating the term soldier's heart. A soldier's heart becomes hardened by the experience of death in battle. He no longer fears death, viewing it as a way to meet the soldiers who proceeded him in death.
This is a story detailing the cruelity of battle. Battle hardens our soldiers and puts severe strains on their mentail peace. This should be remembered in terms of the cost are soldiers are now going through.
