Book Review: The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking, 2014)

Recommended for ages 14 and up.

I first learned about the Grimke sisters of South Carolina through the Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month blog, as they were one of the Civil War era women profiled on storyteller Jim Weiss' CD Women in Blue or Gray:  True Stories from Both Sides of the Civil War.   I again heard their story in a PBS American Experience documentary aired in 2013, The Abolitionists.  But neither captured my imagination as completely as Sue Monk Kidd's fascinating new novel, The Invention of Wings, which focuses on the elder of the Grimke sisters, Sarah, and her slave, Handful.

The Grimke sisters, separated in age by 12 years, were born into a wealthy Charleston slave-owning family, and, like other young Southern women of their class, were expected to study French, drawing and other lady-like pursuits, then make a good match and raise a family.  As Kidd tells Sarah's story in the first person, beginning with her girlhood, she never fit into the hole society carved for her.

With her keen intellect, she yearned to become a lawyer like her brother, but her dreams of pursuing a career were ridiculed and then squashed by her family.  When presented with a slave on her 11th birthday, she tried to free the young girl, called Handful, but when her father ripped up the manumission papers she soon decided to teach the girl to read--the only sort of freedom she could offer her.  When her family found out, she was severely punished--all books were denied her--and so was the slave girl.  She takes comfort in the birth of her youngest sister, Angelina, and persuades her mother to make her the child's godmother, and thus begins a close relationship that went considerably beyond sisterly bonds.  Angelina, too, develops a horror of slavery, and we discover through the diary-like narrative that the Grimke sisters' destiny does not lay in Charleston, but rather in the North, where they become Quakers and become the first female soldiers for the abolitionist cause.  This, we must remember, at a time when the idea of women speaking in public places was unheard of.  At the same time, they were among the first to champion women's rights, even more shocking than taking up the cause of slaves.  Their scandalous behavior for the time made them famous around the United States.  Indeed, their anti-slavery pamphlets, addressed to Southern women, were best-sellers in their time, and were inspirational to Harriet Beecher Stowe in her writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Sarah Grimke

In alternating sections, we follow the life of Handful, the slave given to Sarah on her birthday.  Handful is a house slave, schooled in sewing like her mother, and becomes indispensable to the household.  While her life may have been better than a field slave, she craves for freedom, and pays a cruel price for her longing.  Her story is given equal weight to that of the Grimkes, and in an afterword the author describes how while Handful is fictional, she is based loosely on the actual slave that was given to Sarah Grimke on her birthday (although that individual died a few years later).  While the Grimkes' house slaves may be fictional, they are well developed characters, and their story is interwoven with a planned slave revolt orchestrated by Denmark Vesey, a free black historical figure who plays a substantial role in the novel.

While this is an adult novel, I would recommend it highly for high school and even middle school students who are interested in US history and women's history.  It is extremely well written and provides great insight into life at that time, as well as portraying two amazing sisters who were infamous in their time (described in the novel as the most famous women in the country) but who are sadly practically unknown today.  Their inspiring story would also be an excellent choice for a book club.

There are several books for children on the Grimkes, including Sisters Against Slavery:  A Story about Sarah and Angelina Grimke (Stephanie McPherson, 1999)  but no picture books.  Authors:  we need an outstanding new resource on these amazing women!

Book Review: A Soldier's Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero, by Marissa Moss (Amulet Books, 2012)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Laurie Halse Anderson once wrote in her blog that she preferred to call her historical books "historical thrillers" rather than "historical fiction," given that many kids and teens associate historical fiction with BORING.  However, it's not every historical fiction title that can be justly called a "thriller."  With A Soldier's Secret, Marissa Moss definitely joins the club of historical thriller writers for teens.  Based on the true story of Civil War hero Sarah Edmonds, who enlisted in the Union Army as Frank Thompson, this is one story so full of incredible twists and turns that readers will be compelled have to finish it just to find out what happens.

In this novel, Moss returns to explore in greater depth Sarah Edmonds' life, which she portrayed in the lively 2011 picture book  biography Nurse, Soldier, Spy.  When we meet Sarah at the opening of this novel, it's the spring of 1861, and she has been living as Frank Thompson, a traveling book salesman, for more than three years.  Writing in the first person, Sarah fills the reader in on her back story growing up on a farm in New Brunswick, Canada, with a cruel and abusive father; when her father is about to force her into an unwanted marriage, Sarah cuts her hair, dresses as a boy, and runs away, ending up in the United States.

But when the war breaks out, the teenaged Sarah wants to be a part of history, and enlists in the Union Army as Private Frank Thompson, Army nurse.  An accomplished shot and rider, she is especially skilled at hiding her female parts when she "does her business," and no one questions her sex or her ability as a soldier.  Moss does an excellent job portraying the tedium and occasional terror of a soldier's existence through Sarah's eyes, as she wonders if she will be able to measure up in battle.  When the Union loses the first Battle of Bull Run, Sarah/Frank no longer needs to wonder; she's running around helping the doctors amputate limbs, writing letters to loved ones, and carrying out the last wishes of dying soldiers, as the reader gets a close-up view of the primitive nature of medical care in the 19th century.

But of course Sarah is a woman, and living in close proximity with so many eligible young men, the inevitable happens--she develops romantic feelings for a fellow soldier, fantasizing about him.  Eventually her feelings are so strong, she asks for a reassignment, next serving as a postmaster delivering letters to the troops.  Soon she is recruited as a Union spy, where her skill at disguises comes in very handy.  She even "disguises" herself as a woman for one of her assignments!

While there are hundreds of documented cases of women disguising themselves as men to fight in the Civil War, Sarah was the only woman to be recognized by Congress as an honorably discharged soldier, with rights to back pay and pension, and the only woman allowed to join the association for Civil War veterans.  At her death she was granted a military funeral and buried in a cemetery for Civil War veterans.

Moss' well-researched novel is based in part on Sarah Edmonds' own memoir, as well as many other sources on women in the Civil War and the Civil War in general.  Moss includes extensive back matter, including background on Sarah Edmonds, brief biographies of Union Army officers, a brief Civil War timeline, which includes annotations for battles in which Frank/Sarah participated, and selected bibliography.

This is a terrific novel for middle schoolers or high schoolers, male or female.  It offers great action, suspense, twists, and star-crossed romance that should intrigue even reluctant readers of historical fiction.  

Nonfiction Monday Book Review: Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind a Friendship, by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books, 2012)

Release date:  June 19, 2012

Are your tweens and teens clamoring to see the soon-to-be-released Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter movie, opening on June 22?  If you're hoping they'll be interested in learning something about this great American, beyond what's offered in the hilariously satirical novel on which the movie is based, you could do worse than to steer them to a new book on Lincoln and the great African-American hero Frederick Douglass by Russell Freedman.  

Russell Freedman is one of our best nonfiction writers for young people; an earlier biography he published on Abraham Lincoln won the Newbery award many years ago. Anyone with an interest in American history will be sure to enjoy his newest book, which comes out on June 19.  It's a joint biography of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The book opens with Douglass waiting to see Lincoln in the White House in 1863, the only black man in a waiting area crowded with people waiting to see the president. Freedman then presents the life of stories of these two great men in alternating chapters. Toward the end of the book, their stories merge as the Civil War breaks out. They only met on a few occasions, but they had much in common, and shared a common purpose--ridding the United States of slavery. The book is abundantly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and paintings, and includes a selected bibliography, notes, and picture credits. At just over 100 pages, it's a relatively quick read, and an excellent introduction to the lives of both of these important icons in American history. 

Highly recommended for ages 10 and up.

Nonfiction Monday Book Review: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War, by Tony Horwitz (Henry Holt, 2011)

Recommended for 14 and up.

In a vague way, most of us have heard of John Brown and his famous raid on Harper's Ferry that preceded the Civil War.  Best-selling nonfiction author Tony Horwitz points out that the event merits a mere six paragraphs in his son's 9th grade history textbook.   In this compelling new work, Horwitz examines not only John Brown's own history and background but the forces in society that led to his carefully plotted conspiracy.

A descendant of the Puritans, Brown was a committed abolitionist who was not afraid to use violence to help overthrow slavery in the United States.  He and his many sons participated in the pre-Civil War fighting between abolitionists and pro-slavery forces in Kansas, before spearheading the formation of a private army.  His ultimate aim--no less than seizing the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, and freeing all the slaves.   How this conspiracy developed and its high profile aftermath is the subject of Horwitz' riveting new work.

Through contemporary eyes, Horwitz notes, we are tempted to see John Brown as an al-Queda type of terrorist, a "long-bearded fundamentalist, consumed by hatred of the U.S. government...in a suicidal strike on a symbol of American power."  In this book, Horwitz paints a much more complex picture of a charismatic leader of a large family, a man who mixed with prominent industrialists who supported him financially as well as intellectuals such as Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau. He examines John Brown's early life and the events which led to his taking up arms against his own country.

Although the insurrection was quickly put down by future Civil War leader Robert E. Lee, the case mesmerized the nation, polarizing North and South, abolitionists and those who supported slavery.  He became a hero to many in the North and a traitor to those in the South.  Horwitz remarks "Harpers Ferry wasn't simply a prelude to secession and civil war.  In many respects, it was a dress rehearsal. "

John Brown

I have been a fan of Horwitz since reading his earlier book Confederates in the Attic, in which he tries to understand Americans' ongoing obsession with all things Civil War.  Unlike many of his earlier works, which merge personal narrative with historical passages, this book about John Brown is more of a traditional narrative non-fiction history work.  Horwitz' elegant prose reads like a novel, and this book offers an in-depth and fascinating portrait of one of history's pivotal characters, and an important epoch in American history.  While this is an adult title, I would highly recommend it to high school students with a strong interest in history as well.

Civil War Sesquicentennial Book Review: Escape by Night--A Civil War Adventure, by Laurie Myers (Henry Holt and Co., 2011)

Recommended for ages 7-10.

Release date:  June 7, 2011

This beginning chapter book provides an exciting Civil War story suitable for readers in second to fourth grade.  When a wagon full of wounded Confederate soldiers rolls into their Georgia town, Tommy notices a small notebook belonging to one of the soldiers falling out of the wagon, and sends his faithful greyhound dog Samson into the street to fetch it.  Tommy's father's the minister of the local Presbyterian church, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital, filled with "a heavy, over-towering smell of death."

Tommy's desire to return the notebook to its owner leads him to make a new friend among the wounded soldiers, Red.  Tommy realizes there's something different about Red, and it's not just that he treats Henry, a slave working in the hospital, with respect.  Tommy's determined to find out the truth about this soldier. Although he talks to Tommy and Henry, he won't talk to any of the white adults.  Could his strange accent mean that he's really a Yankee?

Although this book is written for early elementary school readers, the author weaves in many serious issues. Because of his discussions with Red, Tommy begins to question the morality of slavery, and the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and mercy.  Should he turn Red in, in which case he'll be sent to a horrible prison camp, or help him escape?  There's plenty of suspense, too, for young readers, and a happy ending appropriate for the age group.

The book includes a brief author's note, explaining that the book is based on the story of the young Woodrow Wilson, who as a boy was known as Tommy.  Although the story is fictional, the young Woodrow Wilson lived across the street from the First Presbyterian Church, where his father was pastor, and which became a hospital during the war.   Wilson's early life surrounded by the casualties of the Civil War made a profound impact on him, and this book helps us imagine those times.

Author Laurie Myers has published a variety of books for children, including Lewis and Clark and Me, which tells the story of Lewis and Clark's travels from the point of view of Lewis' dog, Seaman.  This is her second historical title.

Disclosure: ARC provided by publisher.

Nonfiction Monday/Civil War Sesquicentennial Book Review: Father Abraham: Lincoln and his Sons, by Harold Holzer (Boyds Mills, 2011)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

Abraham Lincoln is a source of endless fascination to Americans of all ages; more books have been written about him than any other figure in American history.  This new biography for young people by Lincoln expert Harold Holzer is a worthwhile addition to the pantheon of Lincoln books, and could be enjoyed by young people and adults alike.

The outlines of Lincoln's life are well known to most of us; this volume concentrates on Lincoln's personality as a father, the lives of his four sons, and what happened to the two sons that survived him and to their descendants, a story that most people are less familiar with.

Although Lincoln was famous for his wit and love of telling jokes, his private life was as imbued with personal sadness as his presidency was full of grief and sorrow for most U.S. citizens, a huge percentage of whom lost family members during the Civil War.  Holzer chooses to begin his story with the death of Abraham Lincoln II, known as Jack--Lincoln's only grandson.  Like three of Lincoln's own sons, Jack died tragically at a young age, succumbing to blood poisoning at the young age of sixteen.

Lincoln with his son Tad

Holzer then turns his attention to the Lincolns who came before Jack, as the authors puts it, "the story of the clan that might have become America's royal family but instead became America's cursed family--and then disappeared altogether." We learn about Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln's courtship, their early married life (in which they initially lived in one room in a boarding house--quite a shock for Mary Todd who came from a wealthy family).  Their first son, Robert, was followed a few years later by Eddie, who was a sickly child and died shortly before his fourth birthday.  Death of children was common in the 19th century; nonetheless, his parents were devastated.  Lincoln cried openly, and Mary was in such despair that Abraham was forced to remind her, "Eat, Mary, for we must live."  Although they never got over his loss, Mary was soon pregnant again, giving birth to Willie and then to Thomas, quickly nicknamed Tad, when his father remarked he looked like a baby frog, or tadpole.

The book is full of colorful anecdotes about the Lincoln boys and their family life, including for example, excerpts of a charming letter little Willie wrote to a friend while on a trip with his father to Chicago in 1859.  We also learn about their schooling; Robert Lincoln failed his first exams to get into Harvard, and Tad had such difficulty sitting still and learning to read that today he would probably have been diagnosed with learning disabilities.  The Lincolns were incredibly indulgent parents, especially for their day, when children were expected to be "seen and not heard," and it is wonderful to imagine the gangly Lincoln lying on the floor with his young sons climbing all over him, as described in this book.

While their two young sons still at home with them must have been excited to arrive at the White House to live after Lincoln's election to president, (Bob being already away at school by the time Lincoln was elected), the family's years in the White House were not destined to be happy ones.  Initially Willie and Tad ran amok, getting into plenty of mischief, acquiring a menagerie of pets, interrupting cabinet meetings, drilling servants as soldiers, putting on plays in their own theatre, and hanging around the Union soldiers whose encampments surrounded the White House.  Oh yes, and sometimes there were lessons with a private tutor.  But their happiness was short-lived.  Willie, his father's favorite and the son most like Lincoln in personality and intellect, died tragically in 1862, to the great grief of both his parents, but particularly driving his mother into a deep depression.  After his brother's death, Tad was even more indulged and spoiled, but he, too, was fated to die young, just a few years after his father's assassination.  Tad's death was described by Mary as the worst of the many sorrows she bore during her life.

Robert Lincoln

The one son who lived into adulthood, Robert, became a cabinet minister under President Garfield, and ironically was present when Garfield, too, was shot by an assassin.  Holzer paints a somewhat unsympathetic picture of Robert as a man; he is perhaps best known today for having his own mother committed to an insane asylum (she was later released).  Toward the end of his mother's life, he took his daughter, Mary Todd's granddaughter, to see her, clearly trying to mend their relationship before Mary Todd's death.

I found it fascinating to read that although Robert Lincoln had three children and several grandchildren, none of the grandchildren had any offspring, and therefore Abraham Lincoln's last living descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died in 1985.

There are many excellent books for young people on Lincoln, including Candace Fleming's The Lincolns:  A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary and Russell Freedman's Newbery winning biography Abraham Lincoln:  A Photobiography, among others.   Nonetheless, this book covers different territory, with its in-depth look at the Lincolns as parents and what happened to their four sons and descendants.  It's a must-have for school and public libraries.

For movie fans:  a new movie about the Lincolns is set to be released in 2012; directed by Stephen Spielberg, it will star Daniel Day-Lewis as the president and Sally Field as Mary Todd, and will be filmed in Richmond and Petersburg.  The film is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestselling Team of Rivals.   If you live in the Richmond area, there will be roles for hundreds of local extras!  And history buffs will be sure to want to see the excellent Robert Redford film The Conspirator, which tells the story of the trial of Mary Surratt, accused of being a co-conspirator in John Wilkes Booth's plan to assassinate Lincoln.  Of course, I shouldn't forget the 3-D movie of the highly popular Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, which is also slated to open in 2012!  A trailer for that epic is already available on You-tube, if you want to check it out.  I have to say that's one Lincoln book I haven't read....

What are some of your favorite books about Lincoln for young people?  Please leave a comment with the title.  

Civil War Sesquicentennial Book Review: Will at the Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (Boys of Wartime series), by Laurie Calkhoven (Dutton Children's Books, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12. 

This second offering in Laurie Calkhoven's Boys of Wartime series for middle-grade readers tells the compelling story of 12-year old Will, who lives in the quiet town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and dreams of glory as a Union drummer boy. He's too young to enlist without his parents' permission, which his mother is not about to give, but when the book opens Will has no idea of the important role he'll be asked to play for the Union cause.

As Confederate troops march into the town, prowling the streets "like hungry wolves," even forcing the local candy story owner to open his shop so they can clear out the goodies, Will makes an unexpected friend--a drummer boy his age from Tennessee, a friendship that will soon prove more valuable than he can imagine.  Will is as surprised as can be when he finds himself inviting the hungry and dirty boy to supper, where he is greeted with courtesy by Will's family (his mother even offers the ragged boy clean clothes).  Through Will's eyes, we see how the battle came about, with the two sides meeting pretty much by chance at the crossroads of ten major roads at Gettysburg, making a battle at a town the commanders of both armies had never heard of all but inevitable.

As the battle draws near town, Will's sisters are taken to a neighbor's farm nearby, where his mother thinks they will be out of the way of the battle.   As Confederate soldiers take the town on July 1, Will meets an injured Union officer who is desperate to get a message to General Meade.  Can Will help him get through the Confederate lines to complete his mission?  Should he join up with the Union officer and become his messenger?

This is an exciting war novel for middle grade students; as a civilian, Will's character offers a different perspective on the war than we find in many children's novels.  First he's excited to see all the soldiers, and dreams of enlisting himself.  Soon, however, he experiences the horrible sights, sounds, and even smells of battle as he discovers that the peaceful farm where his sisters had been sent has been converted to a hospital, crammed with injured and dying men moaning in pain, begging for water, and filled with the noise of the surgeon sawing off ruined limbs.  He finds himself on the battle's front lines in spite of himself, as the battle progresses to different locations around the town.  Calkhoven vividly describes the sights and sounds of the battlefield--the cannon fire shaking the earth, the roaring of the guns--making us feel that we are right beside young Will.  She also gives us a good perspective on what is happening in the town, where Union soldiers are hiding in Will's mother's house, which is searched by Confederates who Will's mother winds up cooking dinner for.  His house, too, fills up with wounded soldiers. 

Calkhoven concludes her novel with Will hearing Lincoln's very short--but later very famous--address at the dedication of the cemetery for the thousands of dead soldiers at Gettysburg.  Will even has a chance to shake the famous man's hand. 

The novel includes an historical note, brief biographical information on real historic characters who appear in the novel, a timeline of the battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War, and a glossary.

Book Review: Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln, by Patricia Polacco (G. P. Putnam, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12.


Beloved author-illustrator Patricia Polacco returns to the Civil War in her newest picture book aimed at older readers.  This story, suitable for upper-elementary school-aged children, follows two brothers, Michael and Derek, who visit the Harpers Ferry Civil War Museum with their grandmother.  Initially annoyed when their grandmother tells them that on this trip there will be "no music, no texting, no tweeting, no e-mailing," they decide that the Civil War was "way cool" when they see the guns and cannons in the museum.  Soon they have a chance to slip into some Union uniforms, and they're told by the eccentric museum director that when they step through a door, they'll find themselves in Antietam just after the battle.  It's a game, he tells them, and they're not allowed to tell anyone they're from 2011.  Also, they have to make sure to come back before sunset.

But when they pass through the door, they're ordered to help photographer Matthew Brady and his assistant, Gardner, who are there to photograph the battlefield and the President's meeting with General McClellan.  The boys can't help but wonder where on earth the game found an actor that looks so much like President Lincoln.  When the boys look with shock at all the dead bodies, they realize this is no game, and soon they are comforting President Lincoln himself, who is agonizing over all the death and destruction he sees.  Derek can't help himself--he tells Lincoln that the North will win, and that one day, a black man will be president!  Derek and Michael must rush to get back to the present, where their grandmother insists that they have participated in a reenactment, where groups act out important battles of the war.  But when the boys examine the photo of Lincoln and McClellan in the museum--they find a surprise that might validate their trip back in time.

contemporary cartoon of Lincoln

Patricia Polacco knows how to tell an engrossing story, and kids will certainly enjoy this time-travel story about two ordinary boys who wind up meeting President Lincoln and seeing one of the most devastating battles of the Civil War (Antietam was the single bloodiest day in the war, with almost 23,000 casualties).  Her signature style artwork, done in pencils and markers, of the battle scenes is particularly powerful (you can see many of the 2-page spreads from the book on Polacco's website), although the cover image of Lincoln brought to my mind how during his lifetime Lincoln was often called in his own day an ape, baboon or gorilla.  Somehow in Polacco's cover artwork Lincoln has more than a little bit of a chimp look about him, don't you think?

The book includes a brief bibliography and an author's note, in which Polacco gives additional details about the history of Antietam that are not covered in the story.  Most importantly, she describes how she plays a bit fast and loose with historical accuracy in this time-travel tale; for example, by the time Lincoln visited the battlefield, two weeks after the event, all the bodies would have long been gathered up by both sides for burial.  I will allow her some dramatic license to mold her story, although in general I don't like when authors of historical fiction change the timetable of actual events, since we can't be sure if the audience will actually read the author's note at the end of the book.

What do you think about historical fiction where the author plays with the timetable of events?  Please leave a comment below.

Civil War 150th anniversary: Top 10 Historical Fiction for Kids Set in Civil War

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War--specifically the firing on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces.  Most people expected the war to end quickly, but they couldn't have been more wrong.  The war dragged on for four long and bloody years, and at its conclusion, more than 620,000 had died, more than the casualties in all other American wars combined.  Commemorations of the conflict are taking place all over the country (see the National Parks Service site for further details as well as the website of the Civil War Trust).

More than a thousand books, both fiction and non-fiction, have been written specifically for young people about the Civil War (and more than 70,000 books on the topic have been published overall since the war's end!).  In this post I will highlight ten excellent historical fiction novels about the conflict published in the last decade, listed in no particular order.  Next month I will highlight outstanding non-fiction titles for young people about the war as well as picture books about the Civil War.  Watch for those posts!

1.  Two Girls of Gettysburg, by Lisa Klein (Bloomsbury, 2008):  When the Civil War breaks out, two cousins find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict, until they are reunited in the town of Gettysburg.

2.  The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick (Blue Sky Press, 2009).  Young Homer Figg follows his underage brother into the thick of the Civil War, hoping to find him and save him, but winding up instead in the thick of the Maine regiment which saved Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.  Funny and tragic at the same time.

3.  The River Between Us, by Richard Peck (Dial, 2003).  During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.

4.  The Storm Before Atlanta, by Karen Schwabach (Random House, 2010).  A thought-provoking novel about three young people whose lives become intertwined--a Union drummer boy who dreams of dying gloriously for his country, a young Confederate soldier who he befriends, and an escaped slave who finds work in the Union camp for a surgeon.

5.  Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run, by Sam Riddleburger and Michael Hemphill (Dial, 2009).  A time travel novel about Stonewall Hinkleman, a boy whose parents are so Civil-War obsessed that they named him after Stonewall you-know-who, and who hates participating in Civil War re-enactments every weekend with his parents, where he can't play his Game boy but has to play the bugle instead.  But when Stonewall finds himself back in the actual Battle of Bull Run, he has to use his knowledge of history to stop a bad guy who has also travelled back in time from changing the whole course of American history.  Very funny but with some serious historical content.

6.  Come Juneteenth, by Ann Rinaldi (Harcourt, 2007).  Ann Rinaldi has written many excellent novels about young girls during the Civil War; this one tells the story of a young slave in Texas--where slave owners managed to keep the news of the Emancipation Declaration from their slaves for nearly two years.

7.  Hearts of Stone, by Kathleen Ernst (Dutton, 2006).  Orphaned when her father dies fighting for the Union and her mothers dies from exhaustion, 15-year old Hannah must find a way for her family to survive during the Civil War in Tennessee.

8.  My Last Skirt:  The Story of Jenny Hodgers, Union Soldier (Clarion, 2006).  Enjoying the freedom she has while dressing like a boy in order to earn higher pay after leaving Ireland, Jennie serves in the 95th Illinois as Private Albert Cashier, a Union soldier.  Based on a true story.

9.  Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown (Sourcebooks Fire, 2010).  A genre-busting blend of historical fiction, graphic novel, ghost story and mystery, about an orphan girl whose fiance is killed in the war.  When she joins up with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover mysterious secrets about the man she thought she loved.

10. Gabriel's Horses (first in a trilogy) by Alison Hart (Peachtree Press, 2008).  In Kentucky, the 12-year old slave Gabriel contends with a cruel new horse trainer and skirmishes with Confederate soldiers as he pursues his dream of becoming a jockey.





Related articles

• Reliving First Shots of Civil War (online.wsj.com)
• Solemn tribute to mark 150 years since Civil War's start (reuters.com)
• Civil War fascinates 150 years later - Cincinnati.com (news.google.com)

African-American History Month Book Review: Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation, by Pat Sherman, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2010)

Recommended for ages 8-12.


This stunning picture book for older readers is a great choice to read aloud in class for African-American history month.  Based on the true story of a young slave, Benjamin Holmes, who, despite the odds and the fact that it was against the law, had learned to read.  Ben had learned the alphabet from his father, and when Ben was apprenticed by his master to a tailor in Charleston, he discovers plenty of secret ways to figure out words, whether in the ledger, on boxes in the shop, or in store windows in Charleston.  He even picks up copies of discarded newspapers to teach himself, learning to read about abolition and freedom.  And, encouraged by his mother on a rare trip home to the plantation, Ben teaches himself to write as well.

Although he hid his reading and writing from the whites, it was harder to keep his skills secret from the other slaves.  When war breaks out, Ben is sent to a slave prison, to stay there until sold, where he decides he'd just forget about reading..."it could only lead to trouble."

But one night, the slaves bribe a guard for a copy of the Charleston newspaper, and beg Ben to read it to them.  As Ben begins to read, we read along with him the famous words of Lincoln's Emancipation Declaration:  "All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free..."  The author ends the story with Ben peering at the golden light of daybreak through the slats of the shed...wondering what this new freedom would look like.

This book would not be nearly as effective without the handsome illustrations of illustrator Floyd Cooper, using his signature oil on board technique.  His illustrations have an old-fashioned quality that makes use of warm earth tones, reminding the viewer of sepia-toned photographs of the time period.  The two-page spread of Ben reading the Emancipation Declaration is particularly striking in its dramatic simplicity, as Ben is presented in a head and shoulders perspective, reading the newspaper, while the other slaves are seen only in shadow.

An Author's Note with brief biographical information about Benjamin Holmes follows, in which we learn that after the war he attended Fisk University, where he became a member of their Jubilee Singers, touring throughout America and Europe, as well as becoming a teacher.  Additional resources, both books and websites, are also listed.

Nonfiction Monday: The Civil War: Profiles (One Event, Six People), by Aaron Rosenberg (Scholastic, 2011) ISBN 978-0545237567

Recommended for ages 8-12.

The first in a new history series from Scholastic, this slim volume focuses on biographical sketches of six key players during the Civil War: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, George McClellan, Robert E. Lee, and Matthew Brady, and how their lives intertwined.  Suitable for elementary school-aged readers, the book is abundantly illustrated in full color, with photographs, maps, and paintings selected to bring these famous individuals to life.

Each person is profiled in a separate chapter, about 20 pages long, telling about his or her childhood, early years, their families, and their accomplishments, in an easy-to-read format.  The biographical format also allows the author to compare and contrast the different individuals, explaining how Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had many things in common, for example, both having started their lives poor and having become famous speakers and leaders, and how Matthew Brady's photography helped make Lincoln president.

This is a good choice for students interested in learning more about famous individuals from the Civil War, but it is not a book chronicling the war itself.  While the information provided is not in-depth, it provides a useful introduction to the various figures profiled, and may spur students' interest in exploring their lives in more depth in other biographies or Internet resources.    Enough details are provided on each of the six figures to be used in an elementary school biographical report as well; the book could also be a good selection for older middle school or even high school students with lower reading skills, since the small size and low page count (150 pages) make it less intimidating for reluctant readers than some other nonfiction choices.  Included in the text is a bibliography of relevant books, articles, and websites, as well as an index.

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: The Storm Before Atlanta, by Karen Schwabach (Random House, 2010)

Recommended for ages 8-12.

There's no shortage of historical fiction novels for children about the Civil War, but with the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict this year, this thought-provoking new novel by Karen Schwabach is a worthy addition to any school or public library's collection.   The novel tells the story of ten year old Jeremy, who wants nothing more than to enlist in one of the New York regiments of the Union Army as a drummer boy and gloriously die for his country.  Continually told he's too young to enlist, he goes off to find the war himself--to follow the army until they take him. Soon he joins up with the 107th New York Regiment from Elmira, takes his oath, and gets a uniform, a pair of shoes, the promise of $13 a month, and best of all, a glorious drum.  Traveling to Georgia, Jeremy and the 107th become part of a new corp led by General Hooker, on the march.  "They were not told where they were going or why.  It wasn't a soldier's business to know that."  But Jeremy can't wait to "see the elephant," as the soldiers called those who had seen action, but all they seem to do is march and wait.

We're also introduced to to two other key characters, whose lives will become intertwined with Jeremy's:  Dulcie, a spunky and very bright slave girl who runs away from her cruel mistress to find the Union Army, and eventually becomes a medic for a Union field doctor, and a friendly young Confederate soldier, Charlie Jackson, just a bit older than Jeremy, who's looking to trade for coffee or anything else.

War isn't as black and white as Jeremy had imagined back home.  Jeremy knows that Charlie shouldn't really be his friend, but he's hungry for company his own age.  And Charlie, on the Confederate side, wonders why he's fighting a war started by a bunch of rich men who "Told us we had to stand by the South.  Then they went home to their families, to watch their slaves makin' money for 'em."  And both sides learn that war is more about rain and mud and staying alive than glory and being a hero.

Schwabach creates sympathetic characters in her three young protagonists, as well as a very convincing sense of place.  The reader feels right there in the middle of the action, as 98,000 Union soldiers march into Georgia complete with hundreds of wagons, cattle to be butchered, ambulances, servants, contraband slaves, and even some dogs and a pet pig.  We experience along with Jeremy and Dulcie the chaos, blood, and horrors of the battlefield and its aftermath.  There's plenty of action, drama, and even a surprise ending (no spoilers here!) as Jeremy and his comrades in the First Division march closer to Atlanta.

The author includes a brief historical note with additional background information about the characters, many of whom were real people, and a bibliography of selected sources.  To learn more about events across the country commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, see the website of the Civil War Trust.  

Other reviews:
Kirkus
Tribute Books Reviews

I'm planning to compile a list later this spring of top 10 novels for young people about the Civil War.  What's one that you've read that should definitely be on my list?  Let me know your favorites in the comment field below.




Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires, by Molly Roe (Tribute Books, 2008)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

Fourteen year-old Katie McCafferty does not have an easy life--when her father is injured in a mining accident, she has to give up her dreams of completing school in order to go into service to help her family put food on the table.  The battlefields of the Civil War might be far away for the hardworking Irish immigrants in Katie's Northeastern Pennsylvania community, but when Lincoln enacts a draft in 1862 for anyone who can't come up with $300--an impossibly high figure for all but the rich--to hire a replacement, tensions run high.  After all, as Katie's mother points out, "Asking American citizens to fight against the Rebs is reasonable, but it isn't fair to expect men who aren't even citizens to fight."  Men begin to talk about striking, and organize a secret labor movement, the Molly Maguires, to fight the coal barons. 

Molly is fortunate to secure a position with a rich family in their thirty-room mansion, which provides her a unique opportunity to spy on the rich coal mine owners who congregate there for social occasions.  When she comes across information that endangers her childhood friend, Con, and his family, she knows she must act to save her friends and her community from the revenge of the mine owners, even if it means infiltrating the Molly Maguires herself and volunteering for a dangerous mission. 

The author's careful research shines through in the novel, and she peppers the narrative with many interesting details of the life of a servant in a mansion of the period.  For example, Katie takes an immediate dislike to the owner's little lapdogs, who are fed tidbits of the best meat while people in her own community have no meat at all to put on the table.  And how must it have felt to have a mistress who could not be bothered to learn your name, but instead called all the Irish servants "Bridget?"

Told in the first person, this novel will appeal to readers who enjoyed series such as American Girl and the American Diaries book series, and are looking for a novel aimed at a slightly older audience.  The heroine, Katie, with her courage and can-do attitude, will appeal to contemporary girls.  Those of Irish heritage as well as those in Pennsylvania are likely to find the book especially interesting, with its insight into the Irish immigrant experience and the harsh realities of life in the coal-mining communities, but the book also has broader appeal to those looking for a fast-paced historical fiction tale set in one of the most turbulent and fascinating periods in our nation's history.

Nonfiction Monday Book Review: Old Abe, Eagle Hero: The Civil War's Most Famous Mascot, by Patrick Young (Kane Miller, 2010)

Recommended for ages 5-9.  


Civil War regiments sometimes marched into battle with animal mascots; the most famous of these was a bald eagle dubbed "Old Abe" by the soldiers of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry.  This "biography" of Old Abe starts with his early days, when he was hand raised by an Indian village and then traded to a farmer named Dan McCann.  The eagle became a family pet, and when McCann's neighbors marched off to fight in the Civil War, McCann, who couldn't fight himself because of a bad leg, sent the eagle off to war instead.  The soldiers constructed a special perch trimmed with American flags for the bird to sit on, and off he went.

Old Abe turned out to be very courageous in battle, and was an inspiration to his regiment, so much so that Southern soldiers tried to capture him.  As he made his escape, Old Abe was injured, but survived the battle, flying away behind the Northern lines.  The press loved the story, and soon Old Abe and his adventures were famous all over the country.

Old Abe had a distinguished military career, participating in twenty-five major battles before being sent home to safety, where he was given a place of honor at the Wisconsin Capitol building.  P.T. Barnum even tried to buy him, but Old Abe stayed put, visiting with the soldiers from his regiment who came to see him as well as the general public, as well as making an appearance at the Chicago World's fair.

The author, Patrick Young, is a descendent of the commander of Old Abe's regiment, and grew up hearing family stories about the eagle from his grandmother and mother.  His book was originally published with different illustrations in 1965, but the text is not at all dated and offers a lively narrative, well-suited for reading aloud.  

Artist Anne Lee makes her picture book debut with this title, and her atmospheric watercolor and ink paintings of Old Abe and his friends add a fresh touch to this story; I particularly like her images of the eagle soaring in the vast sky as he hovers over the battlefield, with an American flag below, on his way to safe haven after being injured.  She uses a palette with many shades of yellow, browns, and oranges, which evoke the sepia-toned photographs of the Civil War era, highlighted by the blues and grays of the soldiers' uniforms.

This book would make an excellent read-aloud for elementary school teachers for units on the Civil War or for discussing our national bird, the bald eagle.  It's also a heartwarming animal story that many  parents would enjoy sharing with their children.

A website devoted to the book can be found here.

Book Review: Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown (Sourcebooks, 2010)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have written a unique illustrated young adult novel that is difficult to categorize. It's carefully researched historical fiction but also a ghost story and a mystery with graphic novel elements as well. With illustrations that mimic the look of a Civil War scrapbook kept by our heroine, our story is told in the first person by orphan Jennie Lovell, who together with her twin brother has been raised for the last four years by her aunt and uncle alongside their two sons, Will and Quinn. Before the novel opens, Jennie and Will have fallen in love and become engaged.

Jennie's girlish dreams of happiness vanish as all three young men in the household go off to fight for the Union cause. First her brother dies of disease (which killed many more soldiers than did the battles themselves), then her cousin Quinn staggers home with a terrible wound to his face and the news that her fiance, Will, has died in combat. Or has he?

Jennie soon realizes that Quinn has a secret he's not telling--"and the dead cannot defend themselves." With the death of her fiance, Jennie has no status in the household. She writes:

I am sixteen years old, nearly grown, my school days finished, my fiance dead on the battlefield, my future as valuable as a wooden nickel.

She tries to make herself useful as a nurse to Quinn, and helps with various household tasks, becoming more like a servant than a member of the family.

But when her uncle asks Jennie to contact a photographer who also has a reputation as a medium, strange things begin to happen. Is Will trying to communicate with her from the grave, or is the spirit photographer playing tricks on her? How can she explain the mysterious events that lead her to discover a lost locket, Will's last letter, and perhaps the secret as to how Will really died--not on the battlefield at all, but as a prisoner at the infamous Andersonville prison camp?

There is certainly no shortage of novels for young people about this period, but Picture the Dead, with its genre-bending story, makes an important contribution to Civil War novels and would be an excellent purchase for school or public libraries, as well as for any reader who enjoys a good mystery and ghost story.

What is unique about this book is the way the author/illustrator integrate both spiritualism and photography into their tale, both of which played a critical role in this time period. Spiritualism, or the belief that the living can communicate with the dead through mediums, attracted enormous numbers of followers during this time period, capitalizing on the millions who grieved for loved ones lost during the war. Photography, too, was tremendously important at the time; the Civil War was the first major combat to be widely photographed, with teams of photographers sent out to cover the action. Because of the unwieldy equipment, photographers could depict only camp scenes, preparations for or retreat from action, or the horrifying aftermath of battle.

In this novel, the many illustrations are integral to the story, even providing clues to the mystery; Brown based her images on Civil War-era photographs from the Library of Congress. Here's an example: In fact, the models for the different characters are one of the many topics that can be explored on the book's terrific website, which also includes lots of additional information about the Civil War, the authors, photography during the period, and more, as well as useful links to other informational sites.

An interview with Lisa Brown about Picture The Dead can be found here:

To read the first chapter of this book, click here.

Book Review: Two Miserable Presidents: Everything your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War, by Steve Sheinkin (Roaring Brook, 2008)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

"History--with the good bits put back!"

My teenage son and I are big fans of Steve Sheinkin's graphic novels about Rabbi Harvey, and I wasn't surprised to find out that his series on U.S. history for young readers is just as entertaining. His website describes these books as "guaranteed-never-boring history books, packed with all the true stories and real quotes he was never allowed to use during his career as a textbook writer." Three have been published to date: one on the American Revolution, (King George: What Was His Problem?), another on Western expansion, (Which Way to the Wild West?) , and the one on the Civil War that I am discussing today.

I have been on a bit of a Civil War reading binge since spending three days in Gettysburg last summer (where my daughter complained of Civil War overload); my 14-year old son and I have recently been spending evenings since school got out watching Ken Burns' mammoth Civil War documentary (5 DVD's and 11 hours worth). I watched the series when it was first broadcast on PBS 20 years ago, but it's the first time for my son.

For those who don't want to spend 11 hours watching Ken Burns' documentary, however, Sheinkin, a former writer of American history textbooks, includes much of the same information in a much briefer format, complete with cartoon illustrations by Tim Robinson. Despite the comical look of the series, Sheinkin includes a serious historical overview of the war, which highlights all the key events leading up to the war, from the Fugitive Slave Act to John Brown, the Dred Scott decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates, among others, as well as the key events of the war itself. Like Ken Burns, Sheinkin includes many anecdotes from ordinary citizens, as well as highlighting lesser-known participants such as Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a Confederate spy known as the Wild Rose of Washington.

Sheinkin does not forget to profile some of the famous colorful personalities of the war, who continue to fascinate us, such as Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, George McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant, and of course, Lincoln. Did you know Lincoln was a terrific wrestler? The author also provides plenty of details on ordinary life for soldiers, especially how hungry they were. One story that appears in both Burns' documentary and Sheinkin's book is the following:

John Billings of Massachusetts remembered that the most popular way to eat hardtack (the basis for the Yankee soldiers' diet) was to crumble it up into coffee. One problem: hardtack was often home to weevils and maggots and other bugs. "It was no uncommon occurrence for a man to find the surface of his pot of coffee swimming with weevils," he said, "but they were easily skimmed off and left no distinctive flavor behind." That gives you an idea of how hungry these boys were.

Sheinkin's book ends with Lincoln's assassination, but he provides an excellent "What Ever Happened to" appendix which provides follow-up information on key personalities who appear in his book. He also provides a bibliography of many of the sources he used, which is divided into specific categories including general books on the war, biographies of major Civil War figures, books about everyday life during the war, books on specific battles, memoirs by Civil War personalities, and more.

I highly recommend this book for young readers, not only those who enjoy history but more importantly for those who think history is boring; unfortunately, this is an attitude which is not surprising given how dry our history textbooks for young people are. It even makes a great review of the Civil War for adults who want to brush up on this fascinating period of our history.

I love this quote by Sheinkin about history textbooks:

Why are textbooks so boring? I could explain--but it would be boring. I'll just mention one serious problem with textbooks: they always seem to avoid quotes that are at all funny, amazing, surprising, disgusting, confusing, stupid, mean, or anything else interesting. One of my main goals with this book was to fill it with all the quotes I never got to use in textbooks.

One of the quotes his editors probably cut is the following delightful anecdote about the Confederates' fighting spirit: Sheinkin relates that Southern school books of the era included math problems such as the following:

If one Confederate soldier can ship seven Yankees, how many Confederate soldiers can whip forty-nine Yankees?

Here's some pictures of Sheinkin's other history books with the good bits put back: