The story is about kids who witness the civil war battles. The story starts with everyone screaming in terror since the only thing they hear is gun firing everywhere. It talks about their experience in the war as a confederate family during the war. Another part of the story talks about how a kid named willie had to fight in the war even though he was only 13 years old. He thinks it's unfair because he is only a child and he is already about to die at 13. So during the battle of Vicksburg the kid was going to leave until one of the soldiers grabbed him and made his return. The kid managed to surprisingly survived the war by himself without any parents with Lucy. Another person is a girl named Lucy wants was also in a confederate family. The gunfire was so intense at Vicksburg she had to live in a cave with her new family Wille for six weeks. They have to survive from snakes, heat, dirt, near suffocation. This is even harder on the kids since they don't even know if their parents are even alive.

In my opinion, I would rate the story 4. I would count the story as a five if, Some of the dates in the book were right. In the book, it says the battle of Vicksburg takes place in 1862 but it takes place a year after 1862. I found the story good because the story talks about how it affected the children then how it affected the parents. Most Civil War stories only talk about adults' point of view of the Civil War. Also, I like non-fiction books because they can be inspiring than a fiction book talking about superheroes saving the day. Also since it is a non-fiction book we can learn from our passed in a few hours then days/months. The reason I mostly picked out this book was that we were currently working on the Civil War in Class. ( )

The photos tell a sober tale of the plight of both the Union and Confederacy. In this well written narrative, we follow the plight of three children from three different families, two from the Confederacy and one from the Union. The anecdotes and details of their stories along with vivid photographs create an immersive experience that draws the reader into the depths of the misery that is siege warfare. ( )

War comes to Vicksburg : December 1862 -- The Christmas Eve Ball : December 24, 1862 -- The general's boy goes to war : spring 1863 -- Burying the family silver : late spring 1863 -- At the battle front : late spring 1863 -- The Yankees are coming! : May 1863 -- The road to Vicksburg : May 15-18, 1863 -- Enemy at the gates : May 17-25, 1863 -- Into the caves : late May and early June 1863 -- Dangerous days : early June 1863 -- Growing desperation : middle June 1863 -- Empty stomachs : late June 1863 -- Surrender! : July 4, 1863 -- The unfinished war : July 1863 and beyond -- Postscripts -- Other information about the war -- Facts about the war -- Children orphaned by war -- Women and the war -- Reconstruction. ( )