Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9781481533225

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Reviews

Adam Verner's narration is straightforward and unemotional...Delivering the objective third-person viewpoint, Verner brings listeners into Matt's world, allowing us to feel his fears, confusion, and need to understand what happened and reach our own conclusions. -- AudioFile The author does an excellent job of putting the reader into the shoes of a young American soldier. -- VOYA Gripping details of existence in a war zone bring this to life. -- Booklist McCormick builds the plot subtly and carefully with rich, spare prose. -- Kirkus Reviews Features a gritty narrative, sometimes profane dialog, and character development that makes the young men and women in Matt's squad come to life. -- Children's Literature The characters are heart wrenching, true, and realistic. The author's research into the war is obvious and brings an awareness to readers of the situation over there. -- School Library Journal McCormick raises moral questions without judgment and will have readers examining not only this conflict but the nature of heroism and war. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Many of the soldiers in Iraq were not yet teenagers when this war began. What they and the children of Iraq are experiencing is not a political issue-it's a human issue. Purple Heart is a visceral and affecting portrait of their world. -- Bob Woodruff, New York Times bestselling author and television journalist

Author Information

Patricia McCormick is a former journalist and a two-time National Book Award finalist whose books include Cut, Sold, Never Fall Down, The Plot to Kill Hitler, Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero, and the young readers edition of I Am Malala. Patricia lives in New York. You can visit her online at www.pattymccormick.com. Adam Verner is a stage, film, television, and voice actor and an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. He holds a BS in theater arts from Bradley University and an MFA from Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

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