Purple Heart

A young soldier, Matt, is injured in an ambush. His memory is faulty as to what actually happened and his keeps seeing an Iraqi boy he befriended as part of the ambush. Matt is so terribly afraid that he killed the boy. Matt comes to realized that things are not what they seemed. Once Matt finally realizes what happened, he still has a very hard time accepting the circumstances. It still makes no sense, yet he must go on and try to live with his memories and his actions.

McCormick wrote a very realistic novel. It unrelenting in its portrayal of what life is like for our men and women in the Middle East. My nephew served in Iraq and reading this book made me want to cry knowing what he went through and what other soldiers go through now. I also mourn the kind of life the civilians and other living beings have to endure.

It is a hard novel to read, not very long, but I kept wanting to read that Matt and his squad had served their time and were going to go home in one piece. War is dirty, tiring, heartbreaking and senseless. All of these emotions are played out on the pages of Patricia McCormick's Purple Heart. I wish this was a fantasy book instead of a well researched book that used actual experiences of soldiers who gave their lives and of civilians who also died while we occupied their country. It is well written and I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good book.