Guerrilla Season [Hardcover]

Pat Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2003

The Civil War in Missouri

In 1863, at fifteen, Matt Howard is old enough to join the Southern guerrillas and help protect Missouri from Union forces. But Matt would rather farm than fight – tending his beloved pa's land is the next best thing to having him still alive. What’s more, to safeguard her six children, Matt’s mother insists that the family take a neutral position. In Missouri's Civil War, which pits neighbor against neighbor, armed men often bang on doors in the middle of the night, shouting "Union or Secesh?" The wrong answer can get a civilian killed.

Matt’s mother is from the North, and when Ma decides to move them back, Matt is torn: Should he abandon his farm or his family? And what about his friend Jesse, who has no doubts about joining the guerrillas? What will Jesse say if Matt runs away? In this large, gripping examination of the Civil War in Missouri, a boy bewildered by the madness around him wrestles with questions about family ties, friendship, and loyalty.

 

Guerrilla Season is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-Called "Coward" for not choosing sides during the Civil War, Matt Howard contemplates abandoning his family's Missouri farm and his beloved father's grave site to find refuge. The teen wants nothing more than to continue farming, "but nobody will let him do that," including the militia that forces him to sign an oath and do weeks of labor for the Union. His mother has made up her mind to leave their land and take her children to her once-estranged parents in Pennsylvania. Even his best friend plans to fight for the South alongside his brother, under the leadership of the ruthless guerrilla leader, Quantrill. Finally, after death and destruction hit home and Matt falls under suspicion, he decides to take a stand and sacrifice everything. Delivering lifelike characters and a stimulating plot, this novel is a good exploration of the turmoil surrounding war-torn Missouri. It offers a rare look at a time when youth had a strong appreciation for land, respect for elders, and were forced to grow up early and look death in the face. One can't help but empathize with this strong-hearted boy forced into the role of caregiver for his family, swallowing his pride at every turn and protecting those in his charge against things they should not have to do, hear, or see.
Kimberly Monaghan, formerly at Vernon Area Public Library, IL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. "I don't fight, I farm." In 1863 in Missouri, 15-year-old Matt wants nothing to do with the Civil War raging around him. His only wish is to grow corn and help his strong, widowed mother care for the family. He takes no sides and sees no righteous cause (slavery is not an issue), but the violence comes closer until it threatens to tear apart his home and his lifelong bond with his best friend, Jesse. This first novel is very long, with many confusing twists and turns. But the confusion is the point of the story. Like Matt, the reader keeps asking, who's fighting whom? Why? Are the "guerrillas" for the South or the North? The atrocity on both sides is brought home after Union soldiers torture Jesse's Rebel family, and then, later, Rebel soldiers become brutal perpetrators. There's lots of physical action, but the best part of the story concerns Matt's close relationships with family and friends: the furious quarrels, the vulnerability, and always the threat of betrayal. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374328110
• ISBN-13: 978-0374328115
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,271,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two thumbs up from a Georgia parent and son, May 27, 2005

By 

Georgia Dad "Georgia Dad" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guerrilla Season (Hardcover)

My 14 year-old son came home from school with this book, because of our family interest in the WBTS when our ancestors fought for the South. The book is nominated for the Children's Book Award in Georgia. When I saw on the back that it was written by a northerner I got suspicious. But I assure you the book is not just one more Yankeefied version of the war. If you have kids in school you know that most books about the war put Southerners in a bad light but this one is different. For one thing it shows Southerners who didn't own slaves. (Like my ancestors didn't.) Also the people in the book who do have slaves, don't beat or mistreat them.

Guerrilla Season is about a boy named Matt who lives in Missouri, where they had heavy guerrilla activity through out the war. Matt is 15 and he to decide, will he go to fight for the South with Quantrill, or will he leave his home and stay safe with his family? (Fighting for the Union, NOT an option for this proud Southron boy!) The story is about everything that happens to Matt and his family, his neighbors and his friend Jesse through that summer, 1863. North and south, both do terrible things and the author is very fair in showing it. I won't say how it ends because until the last minute you can't be sure if Matt will change his mind.

I can't say enough good things about this book. All the characters are so real, and for boys, there is alot of action. This is a great story for parents to read, along with their kids.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a young reader's book, November 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Guerrilla Season (Hardcover)

Guerrilla Season invokes so many feelings and emotions on many levels. You will be pulled and then transported right into the middle of the times, feelings, and circumstances of the story. Love, hate, anger, joy, frustration, grief, regret and so much more all integrate to make this story one that will keep you reading until the end of the book and keep you thinking about all you've read for days after. I hope to see more from this author.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, August 31, 2003

By 

Gail Giles (Woodlands, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guerrilla Season (Hardcover)

I must admit the cover art did not attract me to this one, but the novel is a stunner. Wonderfully researched, even in its handling of the atrocities committed on each side of the Civil War's factions, and bringing the history of the neutral states to light, this book never disappointed. Matt's love of his Southern farm and his Northern born mother puts him in conflict immediately. His lifelong friendship with the fascinating Jesse (and what a surprise to find out Jesse's identity at the book's end), pushes Matt's conflict into a moral problem that puts Matt and his family at risk. What would his father have done? And more importantly--when does a boy begin acting on his own ethical compass rather than an adult's dictated course?

Since it's necessary for a lot of information to be presented early in the novel to set the story--the start may seem just a tad slow for some teens, but that would be my only slightly non-glowing thing to say about this book. And, once that information is set, the book is galloping.

Rich in historical detail, a page turner with terrific characters. A winner.