From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 Divided loyalties, adventure, and intrigue figure into this Revolutionary War-era, coming-of-age story. Francis Livingstone, 14, and his family live in the mountains of North Carolina and have relatives in the South Carolina settlements. Some of the families in the area are patriots; others are loyalists, making it hard to know whom to trust. When the teen and his sister, Kate, are sent to help their grandmother run a tavern in Camden, SC, they witness firsthand the cruelty of the British troops and their Tory allies. Afterward, Francis reluctantly takes up arms to join his father and other patriots in the fight against the British. He works as a scout, drawing pictures of the enemy camps, and later enters the battle at Kings Mountain. Francis is a fully fleshed-out character. His fears, doubts, and concerns are all on display, from his revulsion at shooting another human being to seeking his father's love and approval. This story also highlights a little-known piece of the Revolutionary War and will intrigue those interested in the topic. The illustrations are rather simplistic and do not add much to the text. However, readers will most likely pick this up for the story, not the artwork. -Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 5-7. Wisler, best known for Civil War era historical fiction, looks back to the American Revolution for this thoroughly researched tale of a teenage pacifist caught up in the Carolinas campaign. Having left his backwoods home to help his grandmother run her tavern, Francis arrives just before the patriot army is soundly drubbed by a combined force of Loyalist and British Regulars. Barely escaping with his life, he travels through country where friend is hard to tell from foe, ultimately overcoming his scruples to fight in the pivotal Kings Mountain battle. Though slowed by detailed tallies of atrocities and troop movements, the story is rich in inner as well as outer conflict, as Francis not only wrestles with his aversion to killing and need to measure up to his demanding father but also faces growing hostility from his neighbors because he is part Cherokee. Supplemented by maps, a chronology, and
two author's notes to fill in historical background, this offers a somewhat wider view of the bitter, see-saw struggle than Anna Myers'
Keeping Room (1997) or Ann Rinaldi's
Cast Two Shadows (1998).
John PetersCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
