Purple Heart audiobook

Title: Purple Heart(Realistic ¨Fiction¨)Author: Patricia McCormick This is a suspenseful psychological thriller, 18 year old Matt Duffy, a private with memory problems, with a traumatic brain injury. He, receives the Purple Heart in Iraq. Strong characters all throughout the book with very strong chapters and giving good visuals of what is going on in detail and good drama. As Matt remembers more and more, tension builds and he becomes confused about interpretations of the truth. The author raises moral questions almost in every chapter and even without judgment and will have readers examining not only this conflict but the nature of heroism and war and sometimes it gets you up on your toes and is very stressful because you just want to get to the important parts and find out. Overall this book was amazing and just had so much to it, I loved how it went into detail and how it had a real story to it and how the author put it together and made it so suspenseful. The fact that he still doesn’t know exactly what happened on that day when getting hit by a rocket propelled grenade. Like what did he do, Did he run, Did he hide, Did he cover behind something? I wanted to learn more about what it’s like on the ground in Iraq and it left out a little more information than I thought it would, but saying that this book gave so many visuals and great details but it left out somethings and I still questioned a few things and it never explained as much as I wanted it too when saying something happened it gave a viusal but no reasoning to it. A saying from Matt Duffy that stood out to me throughout the book that could connect with others that have been in war. Matt Duffy- “This is what war is all about. It wasn't about fighting the enemy. It wasn't about politics or oil or even about terrorists. It was about your buddies, it was about fighting for the guy next to you. And knowing he was fighting for you." That quote stood out so much to me because it can be true for so many people that can relate and throughout the book you can tell that those words in that quote are shown through the story. Very interesting book, I really do like this book and i'd give it a 4/5 purple hearts. In reality this book can relate to others or even just to learn about another person's life and how they went through it from their perspective. When in war the people you are with is someone you look up to and watch their back because that's all you have at that moment and you depend on them this is why the quote I took from the book means so much about these kinds of stories.

From an adults perspective the story is weak in most parts, but it's not fair to be too critical of a YA novel, especially one that does give them some perspective of this war. Children who are turning 18 and eligible to join the military were 9 when this this political situation began. I work as a YA librarian and had a 12 year old ask me "what does 9-11 mean?"... :0 ... This was in reference to 9/11/01. It was in fact on 9/11/10 that I was asked. Kids live blindly in their world of Team Edward vs. the other guy. The events leading to the current wars are like the falling of the Berlin wall to myself. Now I recognize the importance, but I was barely familiar with the concept when I was 12. Novels are greatly important to the introduction to the adult world and adult situations. I feel like they give young readers the chance to digest some of the heavier concepts on their own level before they are blindsided. I highly recommend this book for any young reader who is ready to attempt these lessons. As for myself, I appreciate any attempt to make the lives of our soldiers more real.

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.comGoing to war wasn't a first choice for Matt Duffy, but it seemed like the most sensible. He hadn't done that great in school, so college for him didn't really make sense. On the other hand, his little sister was a good student, and joining the Army would provide the necessary funds to send her to college when the time came.Whatever his reason for joining up, Matt found himself in the middle of Iraq doing the patriotic thing for his country. Even though they warned the young soldiers during basic training, he was surprised by the heat, the noise, and the people. There were slow days with routine missions; welcome days after some of the scary attacks Matt had witnessed. Recently, they'd lost their squad leader, a fellow named Benson.Amazing that this fact is one of the few things Matt can remember as he wakes up and finds himself in a hospital, answering questions from a man in scrubs standing at the foot of his bed.When Matt begins to ask questions of his own, he learns that when he and his partner, Justin, followed an insurgent into a dead-end alley, there was an explosion and he suffered a TBI (traumatic brain injury). With the exception of a weakened right leg, everything else seems to be in working order. Doctors are prescribing rest and saying he'll be back with his unit in no time.With time to think, Matt is trying to remember just exactly what happened. As events of the attack begin to come back to him, he realizes he may have been responsible for something terrible. How can he bring back the memories - and does he really want to remember?Patricia McCormick shares the life of an American soldier in Iraq. YA novels dealing with the Iraq War are beginning to appear on bookstore shelves, and PURPLE HEART offers readers a chance to experience the war through the eyes of a young soldier trying to make sense of why he is fighting and whose lives he is effecting in this controversial war.McCormick reveals not only the point-of-view and mindset of American troops, but also a glimpse of the life of the regular Iraqi citizen trying to cope in a country at war. Teens thinking about military service, teens that have family and friends stationed in Iraq, or teens just curious about the distant place they hear about on the news will all benefit from and appreciate the service and story of Matt Duffy.

What was it like to fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom? What was the relationship between the US soldiers and the Iraqi civilians? How do our soldiers process what they have seen and done in war? Patricia McCormick does an admirable job of approaching these questions for younger adolescents. I recommend this book to students in eighth grade or above if they are interested in military life. The soldiers in this book are generally well-intentioned. They are loyal to each other and have a sense of duty and commitment to the mission. However, they are also uncertain about how the mission will affect the Iraqi people and whether it is possible to bridge the two cultures. Furthermore, the military brass is uninterested in hearing anything inconvenient about the consequences of the fighting.There is a noticeable Catholic element to the book. The protagonist struggles with the concepts of guilt and confession. It adds urgency to the story.There are potentially offensive elements. The soldiers use profanity and make crude comments about women. They tease each other with gay stereotypes. I think these elements belong here as part of realism, but I wish that McCormick would unpack them a bit more by having characters remark on them or reflect about them. The frequent references to "Don't ask, don't tell" will be lost on today's teenagers, and it should be explained in a footnote or something.This book is a hard PG13. Some would say R based on the f-words alone. Recommended for age 14 and up. McCormick does her research and writes effectively. I would like to read more of her work.

"He reached over and took hold of the front of Matt's hospital gown as if he were grabbing hold of him by the straps of his vest. Then he let go and patted Matt on the cheek. 'You were lucky, man.''There was a dog,' Matt said.Justin frowned. 'What?''Dog,' said Matt. 'There was a dog.'Justin drew back slightly. 'Dude, I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.''He was near the... you know, when you throw stuff away..." It was maddening. He couldn't remember the word.Justin looked away, scanning the room.'The dog!' Matt punched the mattress with his fist. 'He had a broken tail.'Justin stood up. He seemed to be gesturing for someone.Matt jerked his head to the side, to see who Justin was calling for. A bolt of pain shot through his skull. He clenched his head and cried out in agony."Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book! Absolutely beautiful.Purple Heart was a moving book, one that made my day. I love many books, but military books are always a favorite of mine to read. It gives me sanity, and understanding. A reality check, it gives me.Private Matt Duffy was on the business end of an RPG in Iraq, when he was hit and went flying. He awakes in an army hospital, he is diagnosed with TBI, traumatic brain injury. Matt is awarded with the medal of the Purple Heart, but he feels like he does not deserve the medal. He is just confused. And he wants to get back with his army men.While recovering from his brain rattling injury, and while struggling to remember simple things, Matt has a haunting memory that keeps coming back to him. A little innocent Iraqi boy that Matt knew, getting shot and picked up off of his feet, bullet hole in his chest. That's what he remembers right before getting hit by the blast. This memory sticks with him, and it chills him to the core every time he thinks about it.Soon, though, Matt is sent back to work with his army squad. He is reunited with his friends, but he can't help but notice that everyone has changed a little since the time he was hurt. Something has changed inside Matt too, and he thinks it has to do more with the injury.Purple Heart was absolutely moving to me. It brought tears springing to the corners of my eyes by the end of the book. Everything about this book is perfect. Simple, but perfect in every way.This is one of those stories that gives you a taste of reality. It gives you an idea of what exactly men and women fighting for our country have to go through every day. It is not lollipops and sunshine out at war. There are more things to fear than say a biology quiz. It is life and death out there, and things really are serious. Patricia McCormick captures this idea very well, or at least what I would think would be very well; I'm no veteran, but I respect veterans deeply.I felt Matt's pain. I felt it from page one until the end. I felt tugged and confused and hurt when reading, which was going through him the whole time. Matt meets people who really change him, and people come and people go, and it is up to him to keep moving on.This book gives me an idea of what really is loyalty and trust. A real friend will protect your back, and they will rely on you to protect theirs. The cover of this book is gorgeous. It is simple, but the silhouettes really capture the tone of the book. Whenever Matt refers back to the Iraqi boys playing soccer, I stop reading for a moment to look at the cover and reflect for a moment.After reading Purple Heart I put on one of my favorite bands, and it makes me think about the book. If you've never listened to Sleeping At Last, I'd recommend listening to them. You might even cry after reading this book if you're sensitive. It is just beautiful.My final thoughts? Oh, I could use a million words, using a brilliant word of the day, like Justin does throughout the book (It made me smile and crack up a little, with the words he came up with). But one word just keeps repeating and echoing through my skull.Beautiful.Beautiful.Beautiful."All around him people were screaming. Things were burning. A fine gray ash was falling, like snow. While Matt burrowed his face into her shoulder and wept."

How would you honor your veterans, especially when they go through so many problems just to keep us safe? This book has been rated a 4 out of 5 stars. Patricia McCormick did an amazing job of portraying everything that each veteran was going through. The imagery throughout the entire book was presented clearly and nicely. For some parts, it felt like I was part of the book and in the war. I liked the book for many reasons, but one reason was how the book started. It started off with suspense, due to what the main character was going through. In my opinion, one thing I didn’t like was how some parts didn’t connect to the real world or different individuals. "Purple Heart" would be a perfect book for people who like the military and who enjoy suspenseful plots. This book can interest a wide variety of people who also want to go into the military and fight for their country. Patricia McCormick includes the effects warfare has on the characters, which can make you think and really feel appreciate what our veterans do for us.

My Thoughts:A Middle School Librarian asked me to preview this book before putting it on the shelf for her students. Purple Heart is a book I would have totally judged by it's cover and passed it over. I don't normally seek out books about war. I'm so very glad I had the opportunity to read Purple Heart and experience Patricia McCormick's amazing story. Purple Heart gives you a chance to experience the War in Iraq from a soldier's point of view. It's not pretty. Matt is laying in a hospital bed with a traumatic brain injury. As Matt lays there recovering he tries to piece together the moments he and a fellow soldier were caught in cross fire and a young boy was killed. We are with Matt as certain truths are revealed and the chain of events leading up to the explosion start to become more clear to him. Soon he is back in the field with his squad-but can he still trust them and can he still protect them. Everything is different and he is changed. He still needs to know what happened to this little boy and if he was the cause of his death. He can't move forward until he finds answers.Matt is a very likable character and very soon you find yourself rooting for him and his quest for truth.I loved having a first hand look into the Iraqi War, The soldiers and The civilians. It gave me better understanding into the relationships that have been built between the Iraqi people and soldiers and the politics that rule both their worlds.My 16 yr old saw me reading this book and became interested in reading it for his English class. Hopefully he enjoys it as mush as I did.I added this blurb from Patricia McCormick that I found on Amazon.com.From the Author:Patricia McCormick(taken from Amazon.com)Sometimes a book begins with a single, unforgettable image. A few years ago, I had the privilege of working on an unusual peace demonstration─one that united Vietnam vets with recent veterans from the war in Iraq and old-fashioned peaceniks. These unlikely groups were brought together by the American Friends Service Committee, the Quakers. As a group, we arranged more than 3,600 pairs of combat boots, each one tagged with the name of a soldier who'd died in Iraq or Afghanistan, in a display that was meant to symbolize the real human cost of the war. Nearby, we laid out a pile of civilian shoes to symbolize the uncounted men, women and children who'd died in Iraq. One pair of shoes caught my eye. It was a pair of sneakers, just the right size for a ten-year-old boy. I instantly saw that boy being shot in the chest, his small body flung into the air from the force of the blast. As much as I tried to forget such a horrific image, I couldn't. And so I spent the next few years imagining how such a thing could happen. Purple Heart is a fictionalized look at that death, and how two young American soldiers may or may not have been involved in it. It isn't an anti-war book. It isn't a pro-war book. It's an attempt to portray how three children─two eighteen-year-old Americans and a ten-year-old Iraqi boy─have been affected by war. It's estimated that more than 650,000 civilians have died in Iraq. Because this war has been fought in cities, in and amongst families, civilian fatalities have become the "signature" of this conflict─causing profound moral conflicts for soldiers and profound losses for those families. I finished this book with as many questions as I had when I started. I came away with a deepened respect for our soldiers, a better appreciation of life in a war zone, and a strengthened commitment to peace. My hope is that readers will, too.

** spoiler alert ** The young life of private Matt Duffy drastically changes when he wakes up in the army hospital, half awake and bandaged up on the head. After finding out what happened to him in the last 24 hours, he finally comes to realization. When Matt and his friend Justin go to inspect a street, 2 seconds they are in, there is a bomb that goes and unfortunately for Matt, he gets TBI. From time to time, he gets flashbacks and distant memories from the accident, which confuses him on what really happened. Through fights between one and another and major at accidents, Matt is able to figure what really happened that day in the street. What I enjoyed about the author’s style of writing and how she laid out the characters and setting was that she really made me understand the story more clear and I didn’t have trouble wondering what was going on. What I liked about the characters was that she gave a very good description that I felt like I actually knew the characters as my friends. When writing each chapter, the author made transitions very smoothly, which I enjoyed and she didn’t have choppy sentences. They flowed one after the other. What I didn’t like was that the formating of her chapters was very off. She didn’t have titles of each chapter and after you finish reading one, there would be a tiny space and the next chapter would start right away. With that, to me, it felt like the story was moving very fast and it was rushed. What I can take away from this book is that things are supposed to happen for specific reasons. Although we might not like it, in the end, there is always something we could learn from what happened. For example, without Matt and Justin going into the dark street and without Matt being in the explosion, they would’ve never learned that their little child friend, Ali, was working with the enemies. So, when we look back on it, we would think back and say that is some important conflict didn’t happen, we would never receive anything out of it. My overall rating of the book would be 4 stars out of 5. I enjoyed this book very much even though when I first read the preview, I wasn’t much interested. After reading the first chapter, I was hooked on and didn’t want to stop reading until I finished. I would recommend this book to eighth graders and above because there is a little bit of cruel language that is used, but overall I would very much recommend for others to read this well written, inspiring story.

Personnel Response: Right away I knew that this book would be the one that I would not put down. The book had a lot of close relations with the war subject and I thought that it was very exciting book to read. Honestly If I was the one that was being honored by the Army Association with a purple heart that would be one of the best gifts anyone could have received to them personally. My overall personnel response of Purple Heart is that It has very good touching relationships with the real world.Plot: One day Matt wakes up and was awarded with a Purple Heart when he was wounded in the Iraq hospital for his sustained wounds. He was always forgetting the important things in the world and the life around him, so when he was awaken by the sounds of exploding bombs in the hospital all Matt could think about was the little boy in the city of Iraq that he had to shoot because the little boy was on a suicide mission and was going to kill Matt. Matt knew he had a job to do so he lives with those memories the rest of his career and life. While he was recovering he was still in the war and was recovering in the hospital while he was doing work on the computer for spy information. When Matt was recovered, he was ready to go and was sent back to Iraq in the combat zones of war. Towards the end of the book he retired from combat missions and only did a few field missions. One day he was in a field mission when he saw his friend shooting up the place where he was recovering when he was hurt and to soon find out that his ex friend was working for the Iraqi Army and had to bring out his sniper and take his friend down. From that one day Matt decided he could not take the pain of killing his friend nor little kids. Matt decided to end his Army career and retire.Recommendations: I would recommend this book to an upper teen age level due to the swearing and violence of real life war stories and pictures. People that have an interest in war should definitely read The Purple Heart book today while they still can.

Readers will be quickly drawn into the experiences of Matt Duffy, an 18-year-old engineer serving in Iraq during the most recent war there. He has woken up in a hospital in Baghdad's Green Zone as he recovers for a head injury that he incurred in an alleyway altercation. There seems to be some sort of mystery involved with what happened in the alley because a young boy, who had been hanging around with his unit, was also killed during the altercation.Due to his head injury, he is unable to remember the events as they happened, but he is getting glimpses of his memory as he starts to recover and with the help of an army psychology who has been assigned to evaluate whether he is ready to head back into combat.As he starts to recover his memories, Matt introduces the reader to the other people in his unit, who have each become very important people in his life. Though they haven't been together long, they all consider each other to be family. This only makes what has happened even more difficult to handle.McCormick is a master at creating characters and her writing style easily draws the readers into the tale. Through Matt and those around him, readers will get to experience what it can be like to go through battle and deal with the consequences of people dying, both your friends and your enemies.My only problem with the book is it seemed to present an extraordinary experience rather than highlighting what the average solider goes through. The events that led to Matt's injuries are not something that happen to everyone who has gone to Iraq, and as a result really present a dramatized version of the horrors. This doesn't draw away from the interest of the story, and it is also not an exaggeration, but it would be like telling the story of My Lai in Vietnam and presenting it as the story of what Vietnam vets experienced.

Wow. After reading this, I seriously needed some time to catch my breath. Between my past family and present family having fought/fighting in the army, the topic of war has always been very close to my heart and I admit I'm picky about what I read with this topic. I hate novels where the army is mocked or put in a bad light or just written in a sloppy style because I read in my family's letters and other books how horrible and life shattering war can be. This novel blew me away. I read it in one night just because something about it wouldn't let me put it down. It's about a soldier who wakes up in the hospital and realizes that he was blown up by a RPG (basically like a grenade). He's awarded a Purple Heart, but he can't remember the incident that caused him to receive it. He has a form of concussion which causes memory loss, trouble thinking of common words etc. The first half of the book is him recovering and trying to understand what happened and if his nightmares are really his reality. The second half is when he's out of the hospital and it's when the chaos really starts. I didn't ADORE McCormick's writing style, but the plot was so amazing, it didn't really spoil anything. The ONLY reason it is 4 stars is because I felt the ending wasn't full enough and wrap things up and didn't leave enough to leave us wondering what happened next. There were just a lot of lose ends. It was one of those books where I wondered where the next chapter was. But the rest of the story just made up for everything so much I barely even remember the parts I didn't love. Overall, a great overnight, can't put down, compelling read. There's death and realizations that shock you and make you think for hours after you've finished the book. A great read.

Personal Response: I think this book was really good over all. It was a really interesting story about the war in Iraq. Its really interesting how they have the main character, Matt, get hurt in one of the first chapters of the book. Some of the parts in the book were boring, and not very interesting, though. Plot Summary: The story was about a squad that had been fighting in the war against Iraq. In one of the first chapters of the book, Matt had gotten hit by an RPG, and was pinned underneath of a car. The story was mainly about Matt recovering. He had TBI or traumatic Brain Injury, and he could not remember what had happened before the accident. His right leg always drags behind him, because he was pinned under the car. Towards the end of the book he got to back to his squad, and when he got back there squad was under a ceasefire. So they all had to patrol the grounds in pairs of two. At the end of the book they were attacked, and over all two of the six people in the squad had died, and one was injured. The two that had died were Matt`s closest buddies, even though one of them was a girl. He basically watched both of them die. It was crazy.Recommendations: I would recommend this to anybody, there are a few swear words in it, though. So, i would recommend it to somebody that is mature enough to handle it.

My overall opinion on the book is that is a pretty good book. There were a lot of parts that made you think and then there were a lot of parts that made you wonder what was going to happen. When the book starts out it seems kind of boring but it gets better throughout the book. The middle part where he is getting questioned and finally gets to go back is my favorite part. The one part that I absolutely hated was the ending. It was one of the worst endings if ever read in my opinion.If you like war and thing that go on in a war than this would be the perfect book for you because it shows a real life situation that could happen to anyone. It really shows what goes on “behind the scenes” if you want to put it like that. When someone asks you something about war the first thing you think of is fighting and killing people for the rights of others. But in the book it really shows what happens to a soldier that gets hurt in battle and is trying to make a comeback so he can get back with his squad and get things back to normal. After reading it I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes war stories. GOOD BOOK!!!

** spoiler alert ** Personal responseI liked this book because it was written very well. It portrayed what life is like in Iraq for the American soldiers over there fighting. I also thought it had a very interesting plot.Plot summaryThis book was about what an American soldier named Matt fighting in Iraq was going through. It started out with him laying in a hospital bed and not knowing why. Then as the book went on,he slowly started to understand what happened to him. He finds friends in the hospital that help him on his road to remembering. He eventually gets sent back out with his squad to do patrols,and he ends up knowing what really happens.RecommendationI would recommend this book to people 14+ because it talks about the war life in Iraq. I would also recomend it to people who are interested in the military because I feel that is very accurate in the stories it tells about it. People who are young should not read this book because I feel they would have a hard time understanding the death in the book.