William O. SteeleRecensioni

Chris Brabson is full of hate. He hates the Yankee soldiers who are camping in his beloved Tennessee woods; he hates their snotty Northern ways and their belief that they know what's best for the South; he hates that they've taken all of his family's food to feed their own troops.

And he hates that his own brother has joined the Union side of the war when, to Chris, it is clear that the Confederacy is the side to fight for.

When his hatred proves more powerful than good sense, Chris spies for the Confederates, revealing that a Union wagon train is camped in a valley near his home - and his brother is probably in that train. Caught in the bitter battle at dawn, Chris discovers that in war, nothing is clear-cut - good and bad are equally laid to waste by the horrors of the battlefield.

My brothers love survival stories, so when I picked this book up off the shelf recently, I guessed they’d probably love it. Sure enough—they did! I can’t say as it was my favorite read ever—I found the adventure and danger a little much at times—but overall, it was an interesting read. And it made for a good read-aloud! The part I found most interesting was the description of the hard winter. I don’t know that I’ve ever read about a winter this difficult—I had to wonder if it was based on fact, or was just the author’s vivid imagination. If you have children who enjoy adventure stories, and like danger, this could be a good choice.

CW: A description of a man who was brutally killed at the beginning of ch. 3. I skipped a paragraph or two here when reading aloud.

This story is set during the civil war period.It shows us the perspective of the young boy chris .The story starts with him hating the Yankees and then change in his perspective.And the end, he realizes that they are not very bad people. It has few twists and is a quick and light read.

Follows a young boy in Tennessee through 2-3 days during the Civil War, and during his own crisis of conviction. Nicely written; this one would be an excellent middle grade read under the 'conflicts are not all black-and-white' type umbrella.

The Yankees have come to his part of Tennessee and Chris isn't happy about it. They take his family's only horse and all the food they worked so hard to store for winter. He wants revenge, and in trying to gain it, realizes that he may be endangering his own brother.

Chris is a confederate through and through. He discovers that war is more than a battle of ideas when he reports a vanguard of Yankees moving through the woods near his Tennessee home and finds that his brother is part of the Yankee troop. In his attempt to warn his brother, Chris meets the dreaded Yankees soldiers and learns how much all men have in common. Published in 1958 a recommend JF classic.

this book would be a goo book for a student's first step before they start reading chapter books! kinda long!

Well-written kid war fiction, although the emphatic statement that war always makes every man do wrong is a stretch. Not as good as Rifles for Waitie or Across Five Aprils, though.

An interesting YA adventure. An exploration party from a prehistoric tribe somewhere in what is now Ohio is on a quest to find their ancestral holy place. The tribe is beset with problems and wishes to return to the land of their origin. The party is led by an elderly priest, accompanied by his young apprentice, Kontu. Ill luck seems to follow them and the gods are silent, but the small party perseveres and manages to find what they seek - perhaps - in the Mound Builder area of what is now Kentucky.

The self-doubts and troubles of young Kontu, and his growing understanding of a priest's duties to his people make an absorbing tale for young people who may feel some of the same doubts and responsibilities. A good read.

Cute, but way too childish. Kids the age of Davy's in the story (the older one 'almost four') would love it; so would tall tale lovers. I was amused when Davy couldn't just tell the story of the actual adventure he had, but had to spice it up tall tale style. Not bad for what it is.

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