Customer Reviews

Amelias War

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Amelia's War, a historical fiction novel by Ann Rinaldi, takes place in Hagerstown, Maryland, at small town caught in the middle between the Confederacy and the Union in the year 1862. Amelia Grafton is the 13-year-old daughter of a staunch Union man, and is determined to stay neutral and not take part in the war going on around her. Mr. Dechart, the father of Amelia's friend Josh, is arrested after he publishes an article with southern leanings in his newspaper. Because he learned of the story he wrote about from Amelia, Amelia decides to not interfere with anything related to all the chaos anymore. Less than a year later, Jinny Pearl, Amelia's older brother Wesley's girlfriend, decides to disguise herself as a man and runs away to join the army. All around her, Amelia's friends and family are making decisions and joining in the war, be it in the army or helping out at hospitals. Amelia hasn't made it her war, like everyone else has. Jinny tells her "It isn't your time yet, that's all... when the time comes, you'll know it." Amelia's War is a fabulously accurate account of the American Civil War and how its wake took a toll on the people of Hagerstown. Rinaldi's vivid snapshot passages bring the compelling tale alive with the characters and surroundings that shape Amelia's life. "There he sat in a place of honor, all gussied up in his new cavalry uniform with the sash around his waist, the sword, and the hat turned up on one side with a feather. And those shiny boots..." Amelia's War is an intriguing story of "danger and menace, loyalty and love, during a war in which not all the casualties are on the battlefield, and some of the deepest wounds are invisible." When the final chapter is read and the answer to how Hagerstown got away with paying a lesser ransom to General McCausland without even knowing it is realized, Rinaldi's work seems nearly perfect in its conclusion.

I just finished this book literally five minutes ago. It's Friday night and normally the last thing I would be doing is reading but this book is different. I even declined going to a party just so I could finish it. It has everything you would ever want in a book especially a wondrful ending. You can really see how Maryland was cut in to by the Civil War. My favorite part is when Josh's Uncle is going to burn the town unless he gets 200,000 dollars and Amelia...Well I won't tell you what happens. Ann Rinaldi took a true fact of History and made a thrilling book. I highly reccomend it. (It is not my favorite of her books though, I prefer the Last Silk Dress and A Break With Charity).

This was not the best rinaldi ive ever read,. but it was one of her best ones to come out in the past few years. I love how rinaldi takes a myth, or mystery, and solves it with a spunky young girl. If you liked this book you will also like.. Mine eyes have seen, by ann rinaldi. i also think you will like 'a ruby in the smoke' and all subsecquent novels by phillip pullman. katherine lasky has some good historical fiction out right now also. whoever you are and what ever your looking for in a book, you will love this book. theres some romance, a lot of controversy, and some downright tough dicitions. i loved this book.

I thought this book was interesting because it tell the story of one place being divided on separate sides a war. Also because it tells alot of facts about Maryland's history. Amelia is not going to take sides in this war. Her and her frined Josh are fighting beacause Amelia is not helping this war and he feels that she should take part in it herself (not join the war but help out somehow). Her brother Wes goes off and joins the army,Her mother goes an starts working at the hospital she made a promise to God that she would help in the war somehow because she wanted to help her son out because she was scared. After the tragic death of Amelia's best friend dies in the war and Josh felt like she should be notifed first if anything happened to him . Overall the story was really exciting and it kept me interested throughout the whole book. Not knowing what will happen next. If you want to find out what happens read Amelia's War .

The Book AMELIA'S WAR by Ann Rinaldi is a very well written book and deserves 4 stars!
Ann Rinaldi truly defines the how people lived in a time of war and death. She also shows how people living in Amelia's home town suffer from the war. Houses are broken into and horses are stolen right under their masters noses. People get reports daily of how many people are dead and those small handful who know them weep and leave town in fear for their lives. Ann Rinaldi, even trying to describe this time of peril, makes her characters come to life! The battle fields she describes are terrifically defined and accurate.
This book has many genres including war, hope, and even a little bit of romance. While this war is going on people are running away from town to survive. Rebels and Confederate Soldiers are becoming restless and needy. Some towns folk who have left before the soldiers came into town have come back to find their houses totally ruined and looted. I loved this part it brought total tension into the book when folks returned home they didn't know where to go so they just fled from the enemy.
This book is amazing the details and characters just bring it out into the real world. I'm a thirteen year old boy who goes to a middle school in North Carolina and like to play football.

Amelia's War, written by Ann Rinaldi is a historical fiction novel. This story takes place in Hagerstown, Maryland, with a family consisting of Amelia, her mom, her dad, and 2 brothers, Wes and Sky, the whole family was caught in the middle of the Civil War, which was moving closer, and closer to Amelia's family. All love in the city have lost it for one another as some people savor the south and some savor the north. One of the most dynamic events that Amelia first sees is a young man who joins the Confederate army and who soon is shot by a mob. Amelia soonly tells a newspaperman, who prints the story. The journalist soon is arrested for southern leanings and his newspaper business is soonly wrecked by a vicious angry mob. Because she feels she made the harm for the journalist she decided to take no sides and stay as much as possible out of the war. The journalist's son, who is one of Amelia?s good friends stays in the abandoned workshop and lives there. She helps him out by taking him food and going to visit him so he wont be alone. Finally the war moves so close to Amelia and her family that she cant keep her vow that she wouldn?t get into the war. When the confederate army is about to occupy the town, Josh decides and goes to interview a Southern general or as known his uncle. He returns a reluctant courier, with awful news. If the townspeople cannot come up with $200,000.00 to pay the Southern army, Hagerstown will be burned or the town will no longer exist. Amelia saves the town by taking an awful and deadly judgment she secretly paints over a zero on the order that Josh has been carrying around with him, making the cost 20,000.00. I must say that I enjoy this book because it was about the confederacy and if you enjoy learning and reading about the confederacy then you will enjoy this book.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about the confederacy.

Well i am only 13 and i fell in love with this book i teaches you about what happen in Gettysburg and what the people who lived there had to go thougt so i think you should read it and i hope you do

I can count on Ann Rinaldi for two things: good writing and historical accuracy. This is the first Rinaldi book I've read for three years--since I hit my 20's--and she hasn't lost her sparkle to me, even though I no longer qualify for the youth computers at the library.

I don't envy writing about and for adolescents, it's a complicated period of life and Rinaldi always creates that friction with the parents and children that can hit a youth right where they are, even if, as in this book, the events happened 150 years ago. It is a mark of Rinaldi's talent and dedication that she could make teens from 2008 identify with teens from 1864.

Rinaldi did the Hagerstown ransom proud, along with Amelia Grafton, and all the well-researched folk of Hagerstown. And she satisfied my craving for civil war history, which she always does.

There are two criticisms I have on this book. One, I had difficulty following the time periods of the book, and I had to pay attention to the dates guarding the chapter's title, because everything made that much more sense when I did. I think the lazy reader (i.e. myself) would have profited had she prefaced time jumps and reversals with paragraphs, not with bored, old numbers. Two, towards the end of the book Amelia made some huge changes in self without tne necessary huge factor brought in to jolt her to that change in her ideals about the war. I think the plot would have been more accurate to Amelia's character if she had maintained her opinion on the war, her need for neutrality. Her actions do not necessarily constitute "doing something for the war" as much as "doing something for Amelia." I think it would have been a tighter, seemingly less contrived story if Rinaldi had been steadier with Amelia.

Living During the Confederacy

Amelia's War, written by Ann Rinaldi is a historical fiction novel. This story takes place in Hagerstown, Maryland, with a family consisting of Amelia, her mom, her dad, and 2 brothers, Wes and Sky, the whole family was caught in the middle of the Civil War, which was moving closer, and closer to Amelia?s family. All love in the city have lost it for one another as some people savor the south and some savor the north. One of the most dynamic events that Amelia first sees is a young man who has joins the Confederate army is shot by a mob. Amelia soonly tells a newspaperman who prints the story. The journalist soon is arrested for southern leanings and his newspaper business is soonly wrecked by a vicious angry mob. Because she feels she made the harm for the journalist she decided to take no sides and stay as much as possible out of the war. The journalist?s son, who is one of Amelia?s good friends stays in the abandoned workshop and lives there. Finally the war moves so close to Amelia and her family that she cant keep her vow that she wouldn?t get into the war. When the confederate army is about to occupy the town, Josh decides and goes to interview a Southern general or as known his uncle. He returns a reluctant courier, with awful news. If the townspeople cannot come up with $200,000.00 to pay the Southern army, Hagerstown will be burned. Amelia saves the town by taking an awful risk; she secretly paints over a zero on the order that Josh carries, leaving the town the task of coming up with just $20,000.00. I must say that I enjoyed this book because I like ready about that war and what had gone on in the past. It was an exciting book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read about the past.

I just finished reading this book and it was great! I was recommended to me by a friend and I am sure glad I read it. It is about a girl named Amelia who is growing up in the Civil War and lives in Hagerstown, Maryland. She is for the Union and is having a hard time dealing with war times. And to make matters harder she has a friend by the name of Josh that has southern leanings and has made a pact with him to stay friends through and through. But Josh was the nephew of General McCausland and when he comes to town it puts their pact to the test. This book was even more interesting to me because I live very near to Hagerstown and the town I live in was mentioned several times in the story. This book rocks and you should definitely read it!