Unit 4 Extra Credit Books

Book Extra Credit Instuctions

Coyle, Harold. Look Away and Until the End. These two books span the Civil War as two brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. I read the first novel and have yet to start the second. The first was very good - long, but a great story, and Coyle writes form a very neutral perspective. Both books are available in paperback.

Shaara, Michael. The Killer AngelsThis chronicle of the battle of Gettysburg is the most popular Civil War novel of the last 30 years. (Some of your classmates read this for their ORB) Shaara’s son, Jeff, has recently published a prequel, Gods and Generals, and a sequel, The Last Full Measure. All three books are available in paperback.

Dean, Robert Diel.  Echoes of Andersonville.  Southern Heritage Press, 1999, 176 pages.
Echoes of Andersonville is the engaging, very readable story of a captured 15-year-old Union drummer boy and a bitter young Confederate prison guard. Their lives become woven together against a backdrop of battles, dramatic escapes, hangings and enough flying limbs and bad guys to keep an avid video-game warrior engaged. (Review from The Nashville Tennesseean)

Paulsen, Gary.  Soldier's Heart : Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers.  Laureleaf. 2000, 106 pages.

The level of realism conveyed in this brief but powerful novel is rarely seen in children's books about the Civil War. The book is based on the life of Charley Goddard, who lies about his age and joins the Union army at the age of fifteen. Paulsen's extensive research is evident in the richness of the details he provides, but what makes this novel so effective is the unremitting focus on the trauma caused by war. (Review from Horn Book)

Some Young Adult Titles:

A Court for Owls by Richard Adicks - the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln

Charley Skedaddle and Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty

Conspiracy of Knaves by Dee Brown

The Tamarack Tree: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg by Patricia Clapp

The Unwritten Chronicles of Robert E. Lee - the relationship of Lee and Stonewall Jackson

The Barefoot Brigade by Douglas C. Jones - Confederate soldiers

Elkhorn Tavern by Douglas C. Jones - fictionalized version of the battle of Pea Ridge, told from the eyes of a 15 year old boy

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith - A Union soldier becomes a spy - a Newberry Award winner

A Bullet for Stonewall by Benjamin King - A story built around the premise that Stonewall Jackson was murdered

The Two Hundred Ninety by Scott O'Dell - The story of a teenage boy who helps to build a ship for the Confederate navy

The Slopes of War by N.A. Perez

In My Father’s House, An Acquaintance with Darkness, and The Last Silk Dress by Ann Rinaldi

Cain's Daughter by Doris Shannon - Civil War story of three women from very different backgrounds

Jubilee by Margaret Walker - The saga of African Americans and poor southerners before, during, and after the war

As for historical accounts of the Civil War - they number in the hundreds of thousands. Some of the most popular authors are Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote, and James MacPherson. You can check the USM library or your local library if you are interested, as well as local bookstores.