Brother is an odd nickname for a boy but it fits twelve-year-old Ignatius well.  After all he is the younger brother of four older brothers who are all in college,the army or boarding school but whom come home to help out on their ranch during breaks.  Brother’s dad is called up for a 14-month tour of Iraq with the National Guard which leaves Brother in the care of his grandparents on the ranch.

Now the man of the house and desperately missing his father, he wants to prove that he can take care of the ranch without the help of his older brothers. But ranching has never really been his thing anyways.  Although he knows how to do the work well, he wonders if  ranching is really what he wants to do for the rest of his life.  During the year that his father is gone and the resulting trials, Brother learns a lot about himself, family dynamics, responsibilities, loyalties, and a lot about his faith.

I really liked this following passage  in which his friends mother, who has returned from Iraq, is speaking:

“Don’t confuse the right thing with the easy thing, Brother. Sometimes choosing what’s right for you breaks your heart.” She crushes out her cigarette on the step.  Her hand retreats back up her sleeve and she gives a little shrug. “A person can live a little bit broken,” she says.  “Most of us do, I guess.”

The grandfather is a fantastic character too.  Great relationship between the two.  A beautiful book.  This little short review doesn’t really touch upon the subtlety of its many topics very well.  A great book for boys too.  Always on the lookout for that.  And definitely one that speaks up to children and really gets them thinking.  Most highly recommended.

Links of interest: Rosanne Parry website,  more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers.  January 27, 2009
Hardcover, 176 pages.  ISBN 0375848029
Source copy: Library
Heart of a Shepherd is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

When Matt returns to his unit, he’s still not sure what happened and despite his misgivings, his superiors are willing to just sweep the incident under the carpet.  It’s better to not say anything at all then incriminate ones self.  But can he live with himself, if indeed, he did shoot the little boy?  And will his friends who know what really happened speak up about it?  And worse, will he be able to pull the trigger next time he’s commanded to shoot?

Purple Heart is an excellent book that explores the idea that war is not black and white.  Instead it’s made up of boys and girls who have friends and family back home who will never understand what they experience every day.  McCormick doesn’t take sides or morally addresses the rightness or the wrongness of the war but rather focuses on the men – rather the boys who are on the verge on manhood – who are fighting it.  Matt Duffy is a character that many will relate to and his struggle with his conscience is also one that readers will sympathize with regardless of their own situations, war or not.

I highly recommend Purple Heart to teen boy readers, especially those with an interest in the military.  It’s not often that a book like this will come along and catch their attention.  And yet, Purple Heart isn’t just for boys.  It’s for any reader who wants to experience the war through the eyes of a young soldier who is just trying do what is right and make sense of his newfound surroundings and friends.

As always, Patricia McCormick continues her streak of excellent books on thought provoking subjects.

Links of interest:  Patricia McCormick website, more book blogger reviews.  Maw Books reviews of Sold, Cut and My Brother’s Keeper also by McCormick.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher:  Balzer and Bray.  September 1, 2009 
Hardcover, 208 pages.  ISBN 0061730904
Source: Review copy
Purple Heart is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.