Soldier's Heart

Paulsen, Gary. (1998). Soldier’s Heart. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf.

Annotation: Fifteen year old Charley Goddard leaves his farm in Winona, Minnesota to enlist in the First Minnesota Volunteers. Not knowing what this was about, just knowing he didn’t want to miss out, he packed up and left home. He had no idea how much this would change him.

Justification for Nomination: This book is a short, easy read. Any teen interested in the Civil War, Minnesota history, the military of the past, or who has read and loved an of Paulsen’s other great books, would likely pick up, read, and enjoy this book.

The reader can feel and sense the mental and emotional anguish Charley is going through as they get deeper in the book. It can be eye opening for someone thinking about going into the military or be comforting to someone coming out of the military. They ma be able to relate to some of the same feelings.

I think the book was pretty historically accurate. This could be a history lesson as well as just a good read. Even Charley himself is based on a real person. In the back of the book it talks about the accuracy and how it was based on a real man and his real life.

Genre: Historical Fiction