Soldier's Heart (novel)

Soldier's Heart
AuthorGary Paulsen
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical War novel Civil War novel
PublisherDell Publishing
Publication date
September 8, 1998
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages128 (hardback); 106 (paperback)
ISBN0-385-32498-7
OCLC38249375
LC ClassPZ7.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.

  1. ^ The Boys of War, Henry Mayer, The New York Times, November 15, 1998.