Purple Heart [Hardcover]

Patricia McCormick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In this suspenseful psychological thriller…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) )

“McCormick builds the plot subtly and carefully with rich, spare prose.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“Gripping details of existence in a war zone bring this to life.” (ALA Booklist )

“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, ABC News )

From the Author

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.  --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061730904
• ISBN-13: 978-0061730900
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia McCormick is a former journalist, novelist and National Book Award Finalist. "CUT" was her first novel. Published in 1999, it has sold nearly 800,000 copies. Her other books, "SOLD," "My Brother's Keeper", and "Purple Heart" have received numerous awards.

Her new book, "NEVER FALL DOWN," is based on the true story of an 11-year-old boy who survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia by playing music for the Khmer Rouge. He would later find out that the music was used to cover up the sounds of the killings; as a man, he has worked to revitalize the traditional songs of Cambodia, an art form that would otherwise have been lost in the genocide.

'The Khmer Rouge used every means possible to break the spirit of their victims," McCormick says. "But Arn Chorn Pond, an 11-year-old boy, would turn the tables on them. He used music to save his life, to save his soul and to repair the broken heart of his country."

NEVER FALL DOWN, due out in May 2012, is available for pre-order now.

"One of the most powerful and inspiring books I've ever read. NEVER FALL DOWN teaches all of us about the courage it takes to speak our truth." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

For more information: http://www.pattymccormick.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patricia-McCormick/150993641605301

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books I Have Read in Years, October 26, 2009

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purple Heart (Hardcover)

It is quite a shock to be in a war zone one moment and to wake up in a hospital bed the next, barely able to move.

Matt Duffy, a private in the U.S. Army who is serving in the Iraq War, opens his eyes to a doctor poking his feet with a sharp object, testing his nervous system. He is having flashbacks from the attack, a strange sequence of events that seems to culminate in a child being shot and an explosion right next to him. Matt doesn't remember exactly what happened, just a series of bizarre details from the alley: a stray dog sifting through garbage, a candy wrapper caught on a coil of razor wire, and the resonation of a muezzin call for the mosque. Then a man speaks to him "on behalf of the President of the United States and the citizens of a grateful nation," and he is awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. The man goes on to tell Matt, "Your mission now, son, is to get better." But such an order is easier said than done.

Matt has to relearn to walk and think. He has constant headaches and is medicated for them. One of his legs drags, a permanent injury. The Army doctor assesses him regularly to determine if his other injuries will be permanent as well. His buddy, Justin, comes to visit him in the hospital, and he tells Matt, "You're fine. You've got a black eye, but to tell you the truth," Justin jokes, "it's actually an improvement." Matt discovers that Justin, while under heavy fire, carried him out of the attack zone --- he saved Matt's life. And Justin tells him what he remembers of the attack:

"We got separated...So we end up in an alley...and the bastards jump out of their car and disappear inside a house at the far end of the street. So we jump out of the Humvee and take off on foot. As soon as we do, we start taking fire...So we duck inside this house across the street...We find an upstairs window. We rip down the curtains and we see, across the street, at the other end, this one haji...leaning out the window to get a head on our location...And so I light him up. Bam! He goes down like a ton of bricks." But Matt unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) can't remember any of the events that Justin recounts to him.

The effects of Matt's traumatic brain injury eventually begin to clear, but he still only remembers bits and pieces of the events surrounding the attack. He sees an Army psychiatrist who tells him that, as a coping mechanism, the mind often blocks out what it can't handle. After a few days in the hospital, Matt is escorted to the office of Lieutenant Colonel Fuchs, the same officer who awarded him the Purple Heart. Fuchs tells him that a child Matt knows was killed in the attack and that he will have to report on what happened in a criminal inquiry, an attempt to determine if Matt or members of his squad broke the Rules of Engagement. Under these rules, it is stated that civilian casualties come with a prison sentence if the situation could have been avoided. Fuchs warns Matt to weigh his words carefully and dismisses him, only to call him back shortly after to file his official report.

PURPLE HEART is one of the best books I have read in years. I ended up reading it straight through in only a few hours. It's an incredible --- and yes, very sad --- story about the realities of war and its effects on real people. One of the most refreshing things about the book is that it doesn't hash out old politics or the news, and it doesn't seem to be written with either a strongly liberal or conservative mindset --- it's really just a story about people. To write the book, Patricia McCormick interviewed soldiers from across the United States, and the effects of her efforts are clear because the story feels like a realistic representation of a war zone. It's not surprising that McCormick is a former reporter or that she has been a National Book Award Finalist; she's quite a gifted writer who gets right to the heart of people.

--- Reviewed by Melanie Smith

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick, December 22, 2009

By 

James F. Booth "Book Chic" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Purple Heart (Hardcover)

I picked this up from my shelves to read recently mainly because I'd been reading a LOT of more light-hearted novels and so felt I needed something more serious to kind of balance it all out. I've also read a tiny bit of McCormick before ("Cut" and her story in "Up All Night") and was excited to read this new book of hers. This is a great book and is written so well. It's told in third person but mainly focuses on Matt and his story is so compelling. There's a bit of a mystery to it as Matt is trying to put the pieces back together of just what exactly happened to give him the head injury. The first half of the book details his recovery and the second half deals with him getting back out into the war. I don't think I've read a story about a soldier in a war, especially one still going on, and it hits you emotionally, reading about what these soldiers go through. This book opened my eyes and gave me a new-found appreciation for soldiers going into war. The relationships between everyone are clearly defined and the interactions are written realistically. This is definitely a book that needs to be read by everyone, no matter what age.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 4, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purple Heart (Hardcover)

Going 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.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"