When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an army hospital in Iraq, he's honored with a Purple Heart. But he doesn't feel like a hero.
There's a memory that haunts him: an image of a young Iraqi boy as a bullet hits his chest. Matt can't shake the feeling that he was somehow involved in his death. But because of a head injury he sustained just moments after the boy was shot, Matt can't quite put all the pieces together.
Eventually Matt is sent back into combat with his squad--Justin, Wolf, and Charlene--the soldiers who have become his family during his time in Iraq. He just wants to go back to being the soldier he once was. But he sees potential threats everywhere and lives in fear of not being able to pull the trigger when the time comes. In combat there is no black-and-white, and Matt soon discovers that the notion of who is guilty is very complicated indeed.
National Book Award Finalist Patricia McCormick has written a visceral and compelling portrait of life in a war zone, where loyalty is valued above all, and death is terrifyingly commonplace.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 09/01/2009
ISBN: 9780061730900
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.67lbs
Size: 8.44h x 6.04w x 0.80d
Award: Delaware Diamonds Award - Nominee
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Grand Canyon Reader Award - Nominee
Award: South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award - Nominee
Award: Iowa Teen Award - Nominee
Award: Florida Teens Read - Nominee
Review Citations: Booklist 07/01/2009 pg. 56
Voice of Youth Advocates 08/01/2009 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Publishers Weekly 08/24/2009 pg. 63
Kirkus Review - Children 08/15/2009
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2009 pg. 679
School Library Journal 11/01/2009 pg. 114
Publishers Weekly Best Books 11/02/2009 pg. 31
New York Times Book Review 11/08/2009 pg. 16
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2010
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 - Superior,Well Above Average
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 131874 / Purple Heart
Reading Level: 5.1 /
Interest Level: Upper Grade /
Point Value: 6
