A Penguin Book 2001

171p pbk $17.95 0-14-100330-8         

Soldier Boy is an historical book. It tells the story of Jim Martin, the youngest ANZAC soldier. It starts off telling that he dies, which I found quite unappealing, because in the rest of the book, there is a great lead-up to how he goes to Gallipoli, and all his trials and fortunes, yet you already know the ending. So knowing this about the storyline is not great.          

I did very much enjoy the part when he left Australia until his death. I found the battle scenes very enthralling and I learnt many intriguing and amazing facts. For example, The ANZACS and the Turks made a short treaty to bury the rotting bodies of dead soldiers. What was so amazing was that the soldiers on both sides came out of the trenches to exchange tobacco, and other goods, just like old friends!

I dont think it would appeal to most people in Year Seven because it gets a little dull, although people who like historical books should enjoy it. I think it was a very good idea to include the pictures because they were very good ones and depicted the life and times of the ANZAC soldiers, as did the text.

The language might be a bit hard to read but the print was easy. I think the layout assists the reader quite well, paragraphs set out well, and the book is organised well. I think the appendices were a good idea too. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to know what it was like to be an ANZAC soldier.

Oscar, 13, ACT

I think that Soldier Boy is a great book in general. It gave the real sense of the story of Jim Martin and what it was like to be at war at those times. Through the wet and the dry the cold or the hot you know what it was like.

The print was easy to read, the pictures clear. The author wrote the book as if he was telling a story to a class or as if he was Jim Martin. The pictures in the book really were good ones and needed to be there to describe the scenery a bit better because they were the real thing.

At the start of the book I found that it was very confusing because it started with him dying and then the story is repeated four times throughout the book. Half of the book was the story and the other half the actual letters. I found it annoying when I was trying to read about what it was like for the youngest ANZAC and the story went on about his family history. The one thing that got me was how could the author know what he was thinking?  I guess there was not a lot the author had to work with apart from a few letters and an interview. Despite all this Soldier Boy is a great book.