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    Soldier Boys
    Soldier Boys
    Soldier Boys
    Audiobook5 hours

    Soldier Boys

    Written by Dean Hughes

    Narrated by Stephen Plunkett

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Spencer Morgan And Dieter Hedrick Are On Opposite Sides Of The War And Fighting For The Same Thing. At the age of fifteen, Dieter's blind devotion gets him promoted from Hitler Youth into the German army. Dieter's determined to prove his allegiance and bravery all costs. Spence, just sixteen, drops out of his Utah high school to begin training as a paratrooper. He's seen how boys who weren't much in high school can come home heroes, and Spence wants to prove to his friends and family that he really can be something. Their worst fear was that the war would end too soon -- that they wouldn't get the chance to prove themselves. But when they finally see the action they were hoping for, it's like nothing they could have ever imagined.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 17, 2016
    ISBN9781501928383
    Author

    Dean Hughes

    Dean Hughes is the author of more than eighty books for young readers, including the popular sports series Angel Park All-Stars, the Scrappers series, the Nutty series, the widely acclaimed companion novels Family Pose and Team Picture, Search and Destroy, and Four-Four-Two. His novel Soldier Boys was selected for the 2001 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list. Dean Hughes and his wife, Kathleen, have three children and nine grandchildren. They live in Midway, Utah.

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    Reviews for Soldier Boys

    4/5

    72 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      OK short novel about two boys, one German and one American and how they meet up together at the very end. The story follows each alternately : farm boy from Brigham City, Utah and a German boy who was active in the Hitler youth. Good for comparisons about how it's always the young boys who pay the price in wars. This would be a good one for modern kids to learn something about WW II and about tragedy of war in general.
    • 5/5
      Parallel stories of two boys, one German, one American whose paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge. It portrays the soldier's life: the patriotism, bravado, confusion, discomfort, and fear. Despite the, at times, pedestrian writing, the message packs an emotional wallop.
    • 3/5
      A young adult novel that looks at WWII from the perspective of two young boys. One fighting for the Germans; the other for the Americans. It looks at the propaganda they believe and the realities of war.
    • 4/5
      A Nazi soldier's perspective juxtaposed to an American Mormon soldier's point of view, and of course, they come together in battle. I'm definitely recommending this novel to my middle school students, especially my boys who are really interested in WWII, and I think it's an excellent choice for any young adult. There was way more "war talk" in it than Code Talker or even My Brother Sam is Dead, which is a bonus for my students but a bit of a drawback for me. Seeing the war through an indoctrinated Nazi youth's eyes can certainly change one's view of the enemy.

      I did cry a bit (embarrassingly enough), and I felt I was actually learning something. Is it true that Hitler Youth and many soldiers on the front lines really believed that they were on the DEFENSE? Did they really not know the details about the Final Solution? These are the questions I have after reading this. I'm not that knowledgeable about WWII--just the Holocaust part of it.
    • 5/5
      Great book! Very slow beginning but when you get to the climax you dont want to stop. I like how the book is in the eyes from an american soldier and a nazi soldier.
    • 4/5
      I was somewhat surprised. I really could not get into this book. I usually absorb books for this grade-level, especially if they are based on war. But this just really did not hold my interest. I could not stand Spence or his family, and it would have been nicer to see more of Dieter (it felt like Spence got most of the spotlight). After the first half of the book, it really picked up quite a bit. If you can get passed how boring the first half is, you should enjoy the rest of the book. Granted, part of my disappointment probably lies with the editor. I was too busy getting fumed over glaring typos and mechanical errors to really throw myself into the book...who the heck throws a hyphen between a verb and "ing"? E.G. walk-ing, pack-ing, etc. I noticed three of those on one page. Thankfully the editor straightened up by the end of the book.Honestly, if your interested in stuff like this, but want something a bit more...decent, I suggest The Wave by Tod Strasser or something from the My Name is America series. You get a great deal more character depth in the case of My Name is America, and you get a fairly decent understanding of mob mentality and Naziesque peer pressure.
    • 3/5
      I really liked the book.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of Dieter and Spence, both boys, both fighting on the front lines outside of Bastogne.Dieter's story starts at age 10 as a member of Jungvolk - the young folk - because he is too young to join Hitler Youth. By the age of 15 Dieter was a commander of a Hitler Youth unit stationed in Luxembourg to dig antitank trenches along the Siegfried line. At 16, he was transferred to a company of soldiers in the 47th Panzer Corps.Growing up in Utah, SPence drops out of high school to join the paratroopers. Making it thru training at "the Frying Pan" (Fort Benning, Georgia), Spence was assigned to the 17th Airborne Infantry Division. This division was sent to help reinforce the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions at what newspapers called "The Battle of the Bulge."Spence and Dieter encounter each other on a snowy hill between the lines. One is injured, one is trying to help the other. One is killed, one survives."many people die in war. You can't think about this all your life.""He tried to think about that. But he knew the truth, and he told himself: 'I will think about it all my life.'"
    • 5/5
      This book was very emotional and it made me cry. I fell in love with both boys and their inner struggles.