Author | Gary Paulsen |
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Language | English |
Genre | Historical War novel Civil War novel |
Publisher | Dell Publishing |
Publication date | September 8, 1998 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | |
Pages | 128 (hardback); 106 (paperback) |
ISBN | 0-385-32498-7 |
OCLC | 38249375 |
LC Class | PZ7.P2843 So 1998 |
Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers is a historical war novella by Gary Paulsen aimed at the teenage market. It is a fictionalization of the true story of a Minnesotan farm boy, Charley Goddard, who at the age of 15 enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Charley lied about his age to join the First Volunteers of Minnesota and was involved in combat at Bull Run and Gettysburg. He returned home traumatized and suffering from "soldier's heart" (Da Costa's syndrome).[1] Although some events and time sequences are not completely factual, the essential elements of the book's story are true.