When it comes to The Stick Soldiers, reviewer Leilani Squire of Bookscover2cover cannot commend author Hugh Martin enough. "[The Stick Soldiers] is a brave, honest and authentic journey of a young man who served six years in the Army National Guard as an M1A1 Tanker and was deployed to Iraq in 2004. This collection of poems is not light reading but it is necessary reading if we are to heal the wounds of war and shorten the divide in our country. This is not about politics, but about poetry." Martin takes his readers to a place they've never been before, nor one they could ever imagine, by drawing the images of his own experiences and doing so with great passion. "At times the focus of the poet's intent is almost too close to witness, making the reader feel uncomfortable because war is uncomfortable. Other times, distance is the only way the poet and the reader can possibly look. This distance is perhaps necessary in order to engage within the world of RPGs, IEDs, body bags, body parts, loss and war. Martin doesn't just show us what it's like to be an American soldier at war in Iraq; he also shows what it's like to be an Iraqi child or a homeless man or a father trying to make a living for his family in war." Squire continues, "The Stick Soldiers is a journey you don't want to miss. Especially if you care about the soldiers our country sent to war and if you want to help them come home." To read the entire review from Bookscover2cover, click here. To order your own copy of The Stick Soldiers, visit the BOA Bookstore.