Purple Heart vs The White Zone: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Iraq War, Middle east, War, Children's fiction, Fiction
Purple Heart
When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an army hospital in Iraq, he's honored with a Purple Heart. But he doesn't feel like a hero.There's a memory that haunts him: an image of a young Iraqi boy as a bullet hits his chest.…
vs
The White Zone
As American bombs fall on Baghdad during the Iraq War, ten-year-old cousins Nouri and Talib witness the growing violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
The verdict
- Readers rate Purple Heart highest: Purple Heart 3.8 · The White Zone 3.6.
- Purple Heart has the widest readership — 3117 ratings behind its score.
- Purple Heart runs the darker storyline; The White Zone stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Purple Heart | The White Zone | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (3117) | 3.5 (110) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (2) | — |
Reception
| Purple Heart | The White Zone | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3117 | 110 |
| Editions | 3 | 7 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 2875 | — |
| Reading it now | 126 | — |
| Written reviews | 497 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 227 | — |
| Pages | — | 192 |