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The Storm Before Atlanta

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There's no shortage of historical fiction novels for children about the Civil War, but with the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict this year, this thought-provoking new novel by Karen Schwabach is a worthy addition to any school or public library's collection. The novel tells the story of ten year old Jeremy, who wants nothing more than to enlist in one of the New York regiments of the Union Army as a drummer boy and gloriously die for his country. Continually told he's too young to enlist, he goes off to find the war himself--to follow the army until they take him. Soon he joins up with the 107th New York Regiment from Elmira, takes his oath, and gets a uniform, a pair of shoes, the promise of $13 a month, and best of all, a glorious drum. Traveling to Georgia, Jeremy and the 107th become part of a new corp led by General Hooker, on the march. "They were not told where they were going or why. It wasn't a soldier's business to know that." But Jeremy can't wait to "see the elephant," as the soldiers called those who had seen action, but all they seem to do is march and wait.

We're also introduced to to two other key characters, whose lives will become intertwined with Jeremy's: Dulcie, a spunky and very bright slave girl who runs away from her cruel mistress to find the Union Army, and eventually becomes a medic for a Union field doctor, and a friendly young Confederate soldier, Charlie Jackson, just a bit older than Jeremy, who's looking to trade for coffee or anything else.

War isn't as black and white as Jeremy had imagined back home. Jeremy knows that Charlie shouldn't really be his friend, but he's hungry for company his own age. And Charlie, on the Confederate side, wonders why he's fighting a war started by a bunch of rich men who "Told us we had to stand by the South. Then they went home to their families, to watch their slaves makin' money for 'em." And both sides learn that war is more about rain and mud and staying alive than glory and being a hero.

Schwabach creates sympathetic characters in her three young protagonists, as well as a very convincing sense of place. The reader feels right there in the middle of the action, as 98,000 Union soldiers march into Georgia complete with hundreds of wagons, cattle to be butchered, ambulances, servants, contraband slaves, and even some dogs and a pet pig. We experience along with Jeremy and Dulcie the chaos, blood, and horrors of the battlefield and its aftermath. There's plenty of action, drama, and even a surprise ending (no spoilers here!) as Jeremy and his comrades in the First Division march closer to Atlanta.

The author includes a brief historical note with additional background information about the characters, many of whom were real people, and a bibliography of selected sources.

Eleven-year-old Jeremy dreams of leaving Upstate New York to die nobly in battle like the famed Drummer Boy of Shiloh. He cannot remember his mother, and his father is currently a long-term guest of Auburn State Prison. He has run away from the man whose bond he was put into after his father's arrest, and ended up in Syracuse as a paper boy.

But every time he tries to join the army to be a drummer boy so that he can achieve his dream of heroic death, he is told eleven is too young. Finally, he decides to leave New York, head south and try again. This time, he succeeds in joining New York's 107th. When he finally achieves his dream, he learns that battle was not what he dreamed it to be.

He befriends a young runaway slave who has also joined New York's 107th as a medic. Dulcie's outlook on the war is very different from Jeremy's. Also eleven, she has "seen the elephant," a thing which Jeremy longs for. Highly intelligent, Dulcie understands the horrors of war, as well as the horrors of slavery, and longs to see the end of both.

Jeremy also makes friends with a young Confederate, Charlie. Charlie is two or three years older, but is always friendly to Jeremy. Jeremy learns a lot about slavery and the South from him, but Charlie as a larger secret...

The Civil War as seen through the eyes of an 11 year-old drummer boy - he went in search of Glory, and learned to hope that he and his messmates would just survive somehow -
This is a fascinating book, providing meticulous details of the later Civil War as well as an eerie penetration into the mindset of the two opposing forces. One can't help but feel that some universal truths emerge about the means by which soldiers are recruited so that wars can be prosecuted. None of this is forced on the reader, though. What appears is just a good action story, some captivating anecdotes about small southern political groups fighting for peace and union (or re-union,) and a cast of characters - mostly children - whose involvement in the war is at once horrifying and inevitable.
All three of the children who are the principle characters in the book - Jeremy, the 11 year-old newsboy; Dulcie, the self-liberated former slave of roughly the same age; Charley, a few years older but decades wiser than the other two - have run away from terrible circumstances in search of a war that has been sold to them by an older generation.
A wonderful and thought-provoking book.

I've read all of Karen Schwabach's books and enjoyed each one. Excellent story lines, great characters, and intriguing historical details. If you're not familiar with her work, begin here -- you'll be glad you did!

Why would a 10-year-old boy wish to die in battle? Could a life that has not yet truly begun be so easily forsaken? Jeremy DeGroot's circumstances are not ideal. His father is in jail. He is an indentured servant on the run. He is trying to support himself by selling newspapers barefoot through the cold streets of Syracuse, New York. The Civil War headlines he delivers speak of the glory and honor of death on the battlefield. He wishes to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to join their ranks. By becoming a casualty of war, he believes he will finally obtain the respect and dignity lacking in his life. Karen Schwabach demonstrates the persuasive power of propaganda on the youngest members of society in "The Storm Before Atlanta."

Upon joining the Federalist forces as a drummer boy, Jeremy befriends Charlie, a young Secesh (Confederate) soldier and Dulcie, a contraband (escaped) slave. The three resemble the dynamic of Mark Twain's memorable trio - Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Jim. Schwabach divides the book's focus in order to give the reader a taste of the time period from different viewpoints. Jeremy, an innocent, now has seen the elephant (witnessed the death of others during battle). Charlie, a poor Southerner, is questioning the basis of fighting so that rich plantation owners can retain their labor force. Dulcie, a newly-freed slave, is discovering the world of possibilities open to her as a paid medic for the Union forces. The shifting worldviews of such a pivotal time in American history are shown in the thoughts and actions of Federalist, Confederate and former slave. The educational value for young readers is immeasurable.

They are all heading toward the burning of Atlanta so memorably portrayed in "Gone With the Wind." The South is falling, but not without a fight. As Jeremy sets the pace for the marching soldiers, the last remnants of a collapsing society are on display. The uniforms of the Confederacy are taken from the bodies of the Union's dead. Their hospital tents lack the crucial supplies of morphine and anesthesia. Their cooking fires are without the basics of coffee and hardtack. Charlie realizes the devastating odds stacked against his comrades. His decision to protect Jeremy and Dulcie from his fellow rebel soldiers shows just how much he doubts the rationalizations behind the South's cause.

Schwabach peppers the narrative with twists and turns. It is discovered that one of the soldiers in Jeremy's regiment is a woman. Another character admits that there is black blood running through his veins. A nod is even given to the historic election of Barack Obama when Jeremy's fellow soldiers ponder the possibility of there one day being an African American president. But above all, the true picture of war shatters "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" image that lured Jeremy into the fight. Death is not the pretty picture immortalized in the song. It is full of blood and infection, agonized screams and sawed-off limbs. Muddy fields, torrential rain, scorching sun and worm-infested food make up the interim. Jeremy comes to this hard won understanding by the novel's end. The renown of his legacy will not be passed down through generations, and he doesn't mind. His only wish is to survive and experience a long life in a world that is changing before his very eyes.

Overall, this young Civil War soldier beats a different tune to "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh."