The Perilous Road (Odyssey Classics (Odyssey Classics)) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jean Fritz (Introduction) "I made sure some Yankee soldier had pulled this spring up out of the ground and hauled it off..." (more)
Key Phrases: mule pen, Sallie Jean, Walden's Ridge, Anderson Road (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8–This recording of William O. Steele's Newbery Honor Award-winning book (Harcourt, 1958) about the Civil War chronicles the tale of Chris Brabson, a young man who lives in Tennessee's mountain country and sides with the Confederates. He hates Yankees with all his heart because they've stolen from him and his family, leaving them with little food for the winter. They stand for everything that's gone wrong with his world. Then, to Chris's dismay and embarrassment, his older brother, Jethro joins up with the Union as a soldier. When Chris spots a Yankee wagon train and reports it, he expects the consequences will be immediate and shattering. The news that Jethro has become a wagon driver is almost more than Chris can bear, and he goes frantically searching among the Yankees for his brother. Along the way, he realizes that the Yankee soldiers are very similar to him and not the evil, hateful people he imagined. The tale is told in a gentle Southern accent by Ramón de Ocampo. With the same accent coloring almost all the characters, his narration doesn't differentiate much between speakers; instead, it emphasizes the brother against brother aspect of the Civil War, and the fact that many people from the mid-South had split loyalties. However, each character is easily discerned from the context of the story. This recording should appeal to fans of historical fiction and adventure stories.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

A Tennessee mountain boy who, during the Civil War, comes to realize that war is terrible." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Odyssey Classics; 1-Simul edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152052046
• ISBN-13: 978-0152052041
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #478,904 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perilous Road by an 8th grader- Jeff, January 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Perilous Road (Paperback)

I read the book The Perilous Road by William O. Steele. If you like exciting books you should read this one. I really don't like to read but this book I really enjoyed reading. The story takes place during the Civil War. Chris Brabson hates the union troops for many reasons. He tries ro get them back for stealing their food through a variety of ways.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perilous Road Review, March 11, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Perilous Road (Paperback)

The Perilous Road by William O. Steele is a deep detailed story set in Tennessee during the Civil War. The story is about a teenage southerner who hates Yankees. One day he finds a Yankee wagon train so he tells the Confederates when and how to attack. Later on, he finds out that his brother who joined the Union army as a wagon driver could be on one of those wagons! Has he caused the death of his own brother?
The Perilous Road by William O. Steele is an action-packed suspense book that keeps you turning the pages yearning for more. The details given in this book were so deep it made me feel like I was there running through the woods with Chris and Silas. In one part of the book Chris is hanging over the side of a cliff for his life while Yankee soldiers chat overhead. If you're a reader who likes to read war novels or just likes to catch yourself worrying about the main character, this is the book for you.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boring plot, weak character development, repetitious., October 2, 2005

By	J. Henckel (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't believe this actually got a Newbery Honor. It is barely mediocre. I just read this book aloud to my two boys, age 11 and 14. They usually love good war books like "Hornblower goes to sea". When I got to the middle of this book, in what should have been the most exciting and interesting part, all three of us wanted to just throw it in the trash. In the first chapter, Chris decides he "hates" yanks because one of them steals his buck skin jacket. The whole rest of the book is a boring and repetitive temper tantrum. He says about 50 times how much he hates the Yanks, but the author fails to convince the reader that the hatred is sincere. The only suspense is whether Chris is going to kill himself before he realises how stupid he is. What kind of hero is that? And why should the reader care if he gets killed or not? The ending is anticlimactic. Chris just comes home and tells his Pa he's sorry for being so stupid, and his Pa says that's ok, and says some antiwar cliches. The several mysteries surrounding Silas are just red herrings and never resolved.