Customer Reviews

Soldier Boy

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Soldier boy is the story of a boy named Johnny "The Kid" who joins the cavalry to get away from his manager and some thugs who are trying to kill him because he wouldn't throw a game. Johnny finds himself as a private in Custer's cavalry getting ready for the spring when they will go after the Sioux Indians in the Black Hills. Soon he will be fighting again, this time for his life. I liked Soldier Boy because it gives a personal and realistic view of what being a soldier in Custer's cavalry was like. Also you normally hear that Custer's men loved him, but in this book you learn that his men didn't like him. Soldier Boy gives an inside view of what being in the cavalry was like. It shows that it wasn't all gallantry and riding but it also included things like doing the dishes and playing pranks. Soldier Boy was a exciting and wonderfully written book. From the saloons to Custer's last stand, Soldier Boy is a great book for all ages.

In the late eighteen-hundreds, Johnny is about sixteen and orphaned, living in Chicago. He is a really good fighter, which works in his favor, getting him jobs as entertainment in bars. But then his manager tells him to lose a fight on purpose and he refuses. Now his life is at risk and he goes on the run.

By chance, Johnny ends up sitting at the counter of a cafe in St. Louis next to an army recruiter. The man says such good things about life in the army that Johnny lies about his age and joins up that very day. But army life isn't quite what he had imagined.

First he is confused and nobody will tell him what he is supposed to do or how he is supposed to act. When the older and more experienced men try to take his clothes, he gets into a fight and gets into trouble with his commanding officer. He is all set to desert the army and go on the run again when he is transferred out west to fight against the Indians with General Custer's band of men.

This book gave me a taste of what life was like in these times, and of how confusing joining the army would be for a kid like Johnny. I liked that Johnny acted his age and that he didn't really want to kill anyone, even though he had joined the army. I didn't like that Johnny brought up the issue of unfairness to Indians, but then just went along with killing them.

In my opinion this book was quite boring. It is about a boy who is a prize fighter (fist fighting)in Chicago, who is forced to run away for his life. Then he finds himself in St. Louis. In St. Louis. He soon finds Army life is not all he heard it was. But eventually he is transfered to Cluster's army. He then is told about the Indians and how they are to go to the black hills in a month or so to battle. In the end it comes to a trajic ending. Over all in my appinion it is a well written book that has a horrible story behind it.

Soldier boy was a book about a boy who enlisted himslef in the army to hide from the mob. After enlisted he started to dislike the Army, he was not being treated with respect. He then was moved to a fort in the Black Hills where he would fight the Indians under the great leader General Custer. The boy made many friends and became excited about the army but was not to sure about fighting against the Indians. This book was well written and I loved the book up till the ending! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes war stories.

I enjoyed this book for the novelty of the plot. A tough kid, running from his past, is recruited into the cavalry. He has much to learn about himself and western expansion. He is the victim of pranks within his division and must prove his manhood in a showdown of sorts. I know of no other books for youths that present the cavalry in all its unglory and ignorance. The reviews fault Burks for not providing more historical detail to the routine within the ranks, but sometimes this works against the book, making it less appealling to the intended age group. The review also point out an abrupt and somewhat ambivalent ending. I counter this again with the intended age group. As adults we can emotionally read about long suffering, the gore of war, and the pain of death without repercussion. I believe author Burks was trying to avoid this, and cannot fault him for that. Ending the book as and where he did, he left it up to the reader to decide how much they wanted to ponder Johnny's death and the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Soldier Boy is a very good book. It is based on the history of the Civil War. The book came from a view point of one character's experience. The writer, Brian Burks, detailed the story from the research he had done. The story has a great significance in how it can affect so many people's lives. It may be short, but it has a lot to offer. It actually gave me a sense of experience itself instead of a sense of just history. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history. I think the book is worth the time to read.

There is very little story here. This is simply a history lesson of what life was like in the Western Army in the late 1800s.The author takes nearly the whole book to get to the action of the war against the American Indians.

This book made me want to learn more about the old west and how we fought the Indain wars. It is a historicly acuret book with great details.