I didn't know anything about Napolean's campaign in Russia, so I learned a little bit when reading this book. The two main characters develop a caring relationship with each other, but it wasn't really evident why. Their relationship is only shown on a surface level, with no dialogue really showing how they became so close. The storyline was very matter-of-fact, which could be why the 14 year old boy in the house liked it so much. ( )

To be honest, I did not particularly care for this book, which was disappointing because I thought it was going to be really good. The book follows a young, underage, soldier. The boy, a young farmhand by the name of Adam, was taken to the military recruiters despite his age. In fact, the farmer who took him to the military outpost forged Adam's name by labeling Adam by his son's name. Despite the fact that he was clearly underage, the military accepted him anyway. From there the book follows his long journey to France. Adam faces a lot of challenges along the way. He battle fatigue, escapes death, and all the while matures well beyond his years as a result. The book to me seemed to be written in such a way that it was a turn off. Instead of using simple sentences, the author goes off on long tangents in order to convey simple messages. This grew tiring to me and it wasn't until about page 130 when I actually started to enjoy the book. ( )

Young Adult. Spoiler. This is the story of a peasant boy in middle Europe somewhere who is part of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. He works as a farmhand but then the Farmer's son gets drafted & the farmer sends the farmhand instead. He has no idea what is happening. He is very young and seems stupid but is mostly young and naive. An equally young lieutenant takes him as his servant & the 2 go through the war together, managing to survive. At the end, the main character is now a Sergeant (I think...or soon to be one) and stays in the army, the Lieutenant is back with his noble family convalescing. There is an evil Sergeant who is pretty unbelievable, he is like a myth; he keeps reappearing and seems to be the leader of a band of black marketers. He is like a shadow that reappears throughout the book.

Adam, a 16-year-old orphan working as a farmhand in a small village in France in 1811, is drafted into Napoleon's Grand Army by his Farmer. Ripped from the life he knew and thrown into a completely new routine, Adam must face the harsh realities of war alone. Eventually, a young lieutenant takes him on as his personal servant, and the two forge a bond that helps them survive through an extremely harsh adventure. The book is an interesting historical tale that reads pretty easily for grade school readers. The book would be a good group-read because of the graphic material, but the relationship between the two boys is endearing and the overarching message of friendship is valuable. Ages 10-14 ( )

A good war story.