This is the story of a young boy turned into a man by enlisting in the First Minnesota Volunteers to fight in the Civil War. It�s June 1861 and all the talk is about the war taking place. As a patriotic and eager 15-year-old, Charley Goddard lies about his age to join the First Minnesota Volunteers in 1861. He never imagines that taking part in the "shooting war" means watching thousands of men be killed and wounded and seeing many others suffer from dysentery and other diseases. From Bull Run to Gettysburg, readers march with Charley to the front lines, getting a better picture of just how awful battle can be. After seeing his comrades being cut down in front of his eyes he feels he has seen enough. At one point it looks like he has been shot only to find that he was soaked in the enemy�s blood. It turns out that war wasn�t what he thought it would be. Though Charley survives the war with only relatively minor physical injuries, his mind and soul are forever changed--he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder, then called soldier's heart. In the final chapter Charley remembers what he wants to remember; "pretty things," he calls them: dew on a leaf, pretty girls, a black and shining Confederate revolver. At the ripe old age of twenty-three he dies.
Make it stop now! Charley thought, or thought he was thinking until he realized he was screaming it: �Make it all stop now!� This is what Charley thought as he encountered his first battle and saw men and boys being cut down right in front of him. Some of them were shot so many times they were dead before they hit the ground. "This can�t be, he thought. I can�t be here. This is all a mistake. A terrible mistake. I�m not suppose to be here." The use of such vivid details makes you feel like you are seeing the scene being played right in front of your eyes. As the author describes the scene you can smell the gun powder in the air as Charley tries to focus on his task. The gun shots being fired from every direction and the moaning that follows make you want to cover your ears and you feel like throwing up as the scene is vividly painted for you through the author's choice of words. "In a great cloud they went down, somersaulting, rolling over the troopers on their backs, breaking themselves and the men; and the screams--the screams of the wounded horses hit by soft, large-caliber expanding bullets, horses with heads blown open, horses with jaws shot away, horses with eyes shot out or intestines tangling in their hooves, horses torn and dying--screamed louder than a thousand, louder than a million men." Every detail adds to the story and makes it believable. Gary Paulsen's use of quotes and facts for this book are clearly cited in his sources, while the majority of the book is fact he does take some liberties, as all historical fiction authors do, to fill in the gaps. In order for a good historical novel to grasp the readers attention it is better if it's a narrative and not a book full of facts that loses the reader. Paulsen does just that in writing this novel. He gets your attention in the foreward, as he makes readers aware of the mental anguish suffered by soldiers that go to war and how the diagnosis has only changed in name, and takes you with him to the end when Charley finally dies. This novel is not for the weak at heart as it sugracoats nothing and is only filled with the reality of war.
"This short novel is an honest look at the actual Civil War experiences of Charley Goddard, a 15-year-old who served in the Union Army. Without sentimentality, Paulsen presents all the elements of 19th century warfare, from the boredom to the brutality. The story chronicles the adolescent's transition from an eager youth to a dissipated young man." ~School Library Journal
Bud, Not Buddy is about a child trying to find his father during the Great Depression. It has really been hard for Bud since his Mama died--one foster home after another. When he runs away from a family that really mistreats him, they lock him up in a shed because he got in a fight with their child, all he knows is that he has to find his father. After looking through his mother's possessions, he decides that Herman E. Calloway must be his father because his mama kept fliers of him and his band. Along the way luck and friendly people help Bud reach Mr. Calloway who is not too happy to meet his long-lost son. It is the other members of his band--Steady Eddie, Mr. Jimmy, Doug the Thug, Doo-Doo Bug Cross, Dirty Deed Breed and motherly Miss Thomas--who make Bud feel like he has finally arrived home. Bud can't figure out why his mama would want such a grumpy old man who left them alone. At the end Bud finds out that Mr. Calloway is his grandfather and has to prove that he is who he claims to be by showing them a picture of his mother when she was a child. When he is finally accepted he unpacks his few possessions in his mother's room and is finally home.
"One of the most enjoyable parts of writing is that an author can combine his or her imagination with the traits of real people to build new characters." In Bud, Not Buddy, Curtis adds some of his family history into the tale by modeling characters in the story after his two grandfathers. Herman E. Curtis was a big band leader and Earl "Lefty" Lewis was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues. This is not uncommon to do when authors write historical fiction and deciding to write the story with a child as the protagonist ensures that young readers will have something in common with the main character of the story thus be more likely to read it.. Curtis writes with humor and sensitivity and makes readers care about the characters he creates. Such is the case when Bud is describing how his friend Bugs got his name. Seems the child had a cockroach crawl in his ear and is telling Bud why he was screaming while they tried to get it out. "Did it hurt alot?"/ "Nope." /"Were you scared?"/ "Nope."/ "Then how come you were screaming so doggone loud?"/ "I didn't know I was, I probably couldn't hear me screaming 'cause that roach was so loud."/ "All he kept yelling was, 'My legs! My legs! Why have they done this to my legs?" In the process, he offers American history about the Great Depression. When Bud is trying to ride the rails he comes across a scene that was very surprising. " We looked out from behind a big tree and saw that a big wind or even two or three big wolves huffing and puffing hard could blow Hooperville into the next county. It was a bunch of huts and shacks throwed together out of pieces of boxes and wood and cloth. There were five white people sitting at this fire, two kids, a man, and a woman holding a little wrapped-up baby. The baby sounded like all those new sick babies at the Home, it was coughing like it was a half-dead little animal." With Bud, the young child, as the protagonist this is truely a book that children who suffer great hardships in todays society can relate to and enjoy because of it's simple use of words. This is a good example of historical fiction as Curtis setrs the story during the Great Depression and his use of words in describing the time and place adds to the credibility.
"Children's book fans had a red-letter day when the Newbery Award was announced. Curtis' book follows a young African-American boy as he struggles to find a home during the Depression. The author takes on a difficult time and seemingly sad plot, but Bud, the hero, has humor and originality that will open new doors and understanding about this era." ~Children's Literature
Crispin, transports us back to 1377 England, where a young serf from a rural village finds out who he really is. When his mother dies, the thirteen-year-old boy grieves his loss. He is alone in the world, never having known his father. In fact, he doesn't even know if he has a name, he has always been called Asta's son, nor does he know who his mother really was and why she was an outcast or how she learned to read and write. Events become puzzling when Asta's son learns he has been declared a "wolf's head," which means anyone could kill him, for he is not considered human. It is said that he stole money from the manor house. Asta's son wonders why the steward would make up such a story. In an effort to get some answers he turns to the village priest. The village priest, Father Quinel, tells him he was baptized "Crispin," gives him his mother's lead cross and tells him he should leave the village for a big city where he could become a free man within the year if he is not killed before then. Father Quinel promises to tell him what he knows about his parents, but he is murdered before he tells Crispin anything. Fearing for his life, Crispin leaves. After several days he meets a large, red-bearded man called Bear who is a juggler. He makes Crispin swear to become his servant and teaches him to sing and play the recorder. As they get to know one another their friendship develops to the point where Bear thinks of Crispin as his son. Bear is imprisoned as bait to catch Crispin after he is caught in an illegal meeting with John Ball as they discuss the Peasant's Rebellion. The young boy, armed with the knowledge of what is written on his mother's lead cross, attempts a brave rescue of his friend. In the end he gives up all that could have been and leaves with Bear to a better life.
Avi creates a strong sense of time and place by using the first person narrative. "In the midst of life comes death." How often did our village priest preach those words. Yet I have also heart that "in the midst of death comes life." If this be a riddle, so was my life. As Crispin learns about the world of fourteenth century England beyond his village, so too does the reader. But now the market town of Great Wexly loomed before us, as if it had sprung from the ground. Its brown stone walls were immense, stretching away for as far as I could see. "Where do those walls go?" I asked, for I had never seen anyting so vast.... If I had been amazed by what I'd seen on the road. I was more astonished once within Great Wexly. I saw more people in that one moment than I had seen in all my life together. The harshness of medieval life is also presented, with descriptions such as that of the hanging man, but it is done without sensationalism. Avi has described the sights, sounds and smells so well, you would think you were there. Using a young boy as the protagonist of the story also adds to the credibility as young readers are likely to take Crispin's place in this historical narrative. From beginning to end you are captured by the plot and don't want to put the book down until you figure out who Crispin really is.
"Avi has done an excellent job of integrating background and historical information, of pacing the plot so that the book is a page-turner from beginning to end, and of creating characters for whom readers will have great empathy. The result is a meticulously crafted story, full of adventure, mystery, and action." -School Library Journal
Joan of Arc is a biography of a fifteenth-century peasant girl who led a French army to victory against the English and was burned at the stake for witchcraft. She was an illiterate peasant child of wartime, for her country had long suffered under the twin horrors of invasion and civil war since her great-great-grandparents were children. At thirteen she began to hear the voices of saints who commanded her to leave her village, take up arms and go to the aid of the young prince of France. Terrified, she protested for she was just a poor girl who did not know how to ride or lead a war. At seventeen she rode into battle and faced hardship and danger as she fought with bravery and became a legend. She was wounded twice and survived only to be taken prisoner. By nineteen she was dead�burned at the stake as a heretic. Almost five hundred years later she was declared a saint after the transcripts showed she had basically been given an unfair trial--she had been found guilty before the trial had even begun "as documents were falsified and the judges were hardly impartial. "
Diane Stanley brings history to life through carefully researched, vivid narrative and sumptuous illustrations inspired by the manuscripts of the time. She takes readers to Joan's humble village of Domremy " where there were no bathrooms, and no one in the village was likely to be very clean", to the battlefields where Joan fought so bravely, and to the dark and terrifying halls where she was condemned to die "early in the morning of May 30, 1431, as two priests came to Joan's cell to hear her last confession and to tell her that, within the hour, she was to be burned at the stake." As Stanley cites her sources, the quotes in the book are taken from Joan and her contemporaries as well as the trial transcripts. She uses the sources to describe the pivotal moments in battle and chronicles Joan's trial, imprisonment, recantation, and execution. At the end, Stanley offers readers different theories about Joan's voices. She concludes, "Sometimes, in studying history, we have to accept what we know and let the rest remain a mystery."
The illustrations by Stanley show in great detail the costumes, interiors, countryside and residences of the rich and the poor. The paintings testify to the trememdous amount of research done. The cathedrals, weaponry, and landscapes are accurately depicted and the paintings are shaped irregularly. An especially captivating illustration is that of Joan breaking down while her verdict is read. The illustration clearly shows the drama which must have taken place as on lookers are angry that she had escaped with her life and Joan agrees to sign a document while her hand is over her heart and she lowers her head in shame. Unlike the other illustrations that depict the people in a mesmorized state, this illustration shows actual human emotion which makes it stand out from the rest.
"Appealing to the audience's intelligence and imagination, this book stimulates an interest in both its particular subject, Joan of Arc, and history in general."~Publisher's Weekly
Texas Women's University
A requirement for LS5603
