Escape by Night

April 25, 2011
Woodrow Wilson's boyhood inspired this taut novel set in 1863. Tommy's father, like Wilson's, is the pastor of an Augusta, Ga., church converted to a hospital for Confederate soldiers. In the sobering opening scene, nine-year-old Tommy and his sister watch a wagon roll into town piled with mostly dead soldiers (who "looked like old rags that had been cast aside"). When a book falls off the wagon, Tommy returns it to its owner, Red, a wounded soldier who shares his poetry with him. Piecing together clues, Tommy surmises that Red is a Yankee in disguise, and he agonizes about whether to turn him in. Myers (Cat Diaries) effectively contrasts the glorification of the Civil War at its onset, when soldiers paraded proudly off to battle, and the grim reality two years in. Though the pace is swift from the start, it accelerates in the final sequence, as Tommy helps Red and a slave he's befriended escape to the North. Sharp historical fiction, adeptly streamlined for reluctant readers. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8â12.

May 15, 2011

In October 1863, a 10-year-old minister's son in Augusta, Ga., finds himself at a moral crossroads after secretly befriending a wounded Union soldier.

When an injured, one-armed soldier arrives at the Confederate hospital, Tommy and his greyhound Samson see him drop a book. The soldier, whose name is Red, is grateful when Tommy returns the lost book. Red explains this "commonplace" book is where he records poems and stories, and he reads Tommy his poem about fighting to "make the nation whole," a decidedly un-Confederate view of the war. Red's unusual accent and kind treatment of a slave working in the hospital convince Tommy "there's something different" about this soldier. Tommy confronts Red, who admits he's a Union soldier and believes "men should be free" and "slavery is wrong." Red asks Tommy help him escape to his family in Ohio. The direct third-person narration belies Tommy's huge dilemma. Taught to distrust Yankees as enemies, Tommy will break the law if he fails to report Red, but Red's his friend and he doesn't want to send him to prison camp. Eventually Tommy finds his moral compass and helps Red for all the right reasons. Realistic pencil sketches highlight pivotal scenes.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Gr 3-5-A boy and his dog find a wounded soldier's journal as the man is taken to a makeshift Confederate hospital at the First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, GA. When 10-year-old Tommy returns it to its owner, Redmon Porter, the two develop an unlikely relationship. Tommy finds Red likable yet mysterious, especially when he begins to read portions of his journal aloud, which include his poetry with lines like, "I only tell the stars above the longing of my soul/To fight till death in early morn/to make a nation whole." Red's clothes seem oversized, and his silence with everyone except a slave and Tommy is also confusing. Could he be a Yankee soldier or a spy? This adventure combines intrigue with soul-searching moments as Tommy weighs his options against the values of his Christian teachings by his father, the Reverend McKnight. The succinct and simply written narrative will appeal to reluctant and younger-grade readers while the full-page black-and-white pen-and-ink sketches provide the visual time and epoch setting of the story.-Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2011
Grades 3-5 Its two years into the Civil War, and things are starting to look grim in Tommys Confederate hometown in Georgia. When a one-armed soldier named Red arrives at the local hospital, Tommys faith in his communitys cause get tested. He befriends the thoughtful man, who seems unusually interested in the slave Henry, and grows suspicious over a few of Reds remarks about making the nation whole as well as his misfitting Confederate uniform. When Tommy learns the real reason Red is there, he ponders what to do: turn Red in as an enemy soldier or heed a Bible passage Henry quotes him to do justly, and to love mercy. Not only does Tommy do the right thing but he boldly takes it upon himself to face danger and help Red and Henry escape. Sporadic full-page, black-and-white illustrations by Bates bring the characters, and especially Tommys pooch, Samson, to life. This quick and exciting chapter book isnt shy about advancing a moral message but does so with a light touch, allowing Tommy to arrive naturally at his convictions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)