Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Age 14 by Geert Spillebeen


Spillebeen, Geert Age 14, 210 p. Houghton Mifflin, 2009. $16.00. Violence: PG (war situations), Language: PG (4 swears). Patrick Condon is soldier crazy. He wants so badly to join the Irish Army that he assumes his older brother’s name and applies. After not too long in the regular army, World War I breaks out and Patrick lies his way into the Special Reserve and right into the trenches of Belgium. I don’t know if it’s a translation problem, but the words only flow in parts, and not enough parts. Though the descriptions of the war life around Ypres is wrenching, it is not enough to redeem this short book. Recommend Soldier X to those boys who really want to dive into war. MS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library-Teacher.

2 comments:

The romantic query letter and the happy-ever-after said...

I love it here and will visit often. You write very well. Thanks for sharing your charming blog with me.
All the very best,
Simone

Doo said...

Hey, this is a marvelous novel. However, I do want to find out what really happened in real life. The story really motivates me to learn about the history but at the same time scared me out of my wits.I surely don't want to die like that Too gruesome. He's so young.