Soldier Boys
Front cover of Soldier Boys
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| Author | Dean Hughes |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Kim McGillivray |
| Cover artist | Kim McGillivray |
| Country | United States & Germany |
| Language | English |
| Series | none |
| Subject | Dieter and Spence (Spencer) |
| Genre | Historical Fiction, Action |
| Publisher | Simon Pulse (Teen) |
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Publication date
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May 1, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Softcover) |
| Pages | 230 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 52047697 |
| Preceded by | none |
| Followed by | none |
Soldier Boys is a 2001 novel by writer Dean Hughes. The story is set during World War II and tells the story of two teenagers, one American, the other German, who join their respective armies and fight at the Battle of the Bulge.
Spencer Morgan, 16 years old, 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.
Fifteen-year-old Dieter Hedrick's blind devotion sees him promoted from the Hitler Youth into the German Army. Dieter is determined to prove his bravery and patriotism at all costs.
This book takes place during World War II in Western Germany and Brigham City, Utah, USA. A small portion of the book also takes place in and discusses various locations in Utah and the United States as training camps.
Dieter Hedrick, once a small and timid person, over time becomes a member of an anti-aircraft gun battery that scores at least one kill during Allied bombing raids. Moving steadily higher in rank in the Hitler Youth (in German Hitlerjugend, abbreviated HJ), Dieter is promoted to lead a group of 180 boys, who are part of the enormous project to build the Westwall (Siegfried Line) before the Allies arrive. Two fellow HJ's are less fortunate: Ernst Gessel is killed when a British Spitfire fighter strafes the site, and Willi Hoffmann is shot for attempting to desert. Dieter proves himself to be a capable leader, and he, along with a few other HJ leaders meet Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer and are decorated for their contributions to the German war effort. Dieter is anxious to fight and, following other senior HJ's, goes into the Wehrmacht. Assigned to a unit that is demoralized and badly understrength, Dieter meets Schaefer, a weary soldier whose cynical attitude contrasts sharply with Dieter's blind, fiery patriotism. Schaefer had a son, an HJ, who was killed while manning an AA gun in an Allied bombing raid and has seen far more of the war than Dieter, being a veteran of Stalingrad. He constantly criticizes Dieter's blind devotion to Hitler, truthfully saying that the war is lost for Germany and that simply living to see the end of it is the best thing any German soldier can hope for. Despite their constant arguing, Dieter gradually begins to form a father-son relationship with Schaefer.
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