The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)

by Carol Matas (Author), Joseph Daniel Fiedler (Illustrator) "The war changed me everything..." (more)
Key Phrases: Captain Mazer, Miss Hannah, General Grant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Prior to December, 1862, 13-year-old Hannah Green lived the life of a proper Southern daughter of an important Jewish merchant in Holly Springs, MS. That month, General Grant issues General Order #11, which requires all Jews to evacuate the territory under his command, and Hannah's world is turned upside down. During the same week, her home is destroyed by Confederate soldiers who opt to blow up supplies rather than have them fall into the hands of the enemy. As Hannah and her family travel north with the Union troops, she confronts the amazing changes in her life. Through her diary entries, readers learn of the girl's changing views concerning slavery, her hatred of all things Union, and what it means to be Jewish. This story brings to light a little-known bit of Civil War history and creates a realistic young girl discovering herself in the midst of turmoil and war. A brief afterword provides more information, including the text of General Order #11.

Crystal Faris, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Through a series of diary entries, Hannah Green relates her experience as a Jewish Southerner during the Civil War. Devoted to the Confederate cause, her family runs the general store in Holly Springs, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and her father and two older brothers are serving the Confederacy. Older sister Joanna has fallen in love with a captain in the Union army. Hannah is incensed by General Grant's order that all Jews must leave the area, but when the Confederates retake Holly Springs, they demolish her home. Forced to make their way north, the Greens face hardships; Hannah must confront contradictions within herself, as she compares prejudice toward Jews with her feelings of superiority to blacks in general and her own slaves in particular. Matas takes on a number of complex issues and creates a series of interesting conflicts, perhaps too many for such a short book. Still, readers will find themselves swept along by the riptide of action and the appealing cast of strong, vivid characters. The civilian's point of view and the Jewish experience give a decidedly different slant to this Civil War novel. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 151 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689829353
• ISBN-13: 978-0689829352
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,066,708 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offers a unique perspective on the Civil War., April 11, 2001

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Thirteen-year-old Hannah Green and her family are Jews living in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1863. The Civil War is raging, and the Green family are Southern supporters. Hannah's father has always gone along with the Southern way of life, including owning slaves, because he was so relieved to be accepted in Holly Springs, unlike back in Germany. For many years, the Greens have peacefully run their store, but now the war is changing everything. General Grant passes Order #11, which expels all Jews from the territory under his control. On the long march, bitter with anger over the loss of her home, Hannah blames the Yankees for everything. It takes the actions of one good man, a Northern soldier who helps save the lives of Hannah and her family, for her to realize her narrow-mindedness, and to realize her own family's practice of owning slaves is as wrong as the order that forced the Green family and other Southern Jews from their homes. This was a unique historical novel offering a different perspective on the Civil War.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story of a Jewish family caught up in the U.S. Civil War, March 29, 2006

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War (Paperback)

"The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War," by Carol Matas, is narrated in the first person by the book's main character, Hannah Green. Hannah is a 13-year old Jewish girl who lives with her slave-owning family in Mississippi during the time of the U.S. Civil War. In the course of the war Ulysses S. Grant orders the expulsion of all Jews from the territory he controls. The novel explores the impact of the war in general, and Grant's expulsion order in particular, on Hannah and the other characters.

Matas has created a complex and compelling human tapestry. It's not a simple "good guys" versus "bad guys" equation. Hannah's world is filled with a diverse group of characters--Jew and gentile, slave and free, Confederate and Union, soldier and civilian, abolitionist and pro-slavery, male and female. Ironically, some characters suffer the impact of anti-Semitism even while they perpetuate racism against African-Americans. As the story unfolds, Matas' characters debate vital issues, such as abolitionism, the role of religion in war, and Jewish solidarity across the Confederate/Union divide.

Hannah's opening lines declare, "The war has changed everything. And it has changed me." A key theme in the book is the complexity of Hannah's multiple overlapping identities as a Confederate, a Jew, a "white" person, a "Southern lady," etc. These identities basically get deconstructed in the turbulence of war. Matas deals frankly with the violence and destruction of war. She creates some powerful conflict and biting dialogue. Matas also supplements the main text with information about the history behind the story, and with insight into the research that went into the writing of the book. Hannah--flawed but admirable--is a powerfully rendered character, and her story is a well-written and thought-provoking narrative about a fascinating aspect of the Civil War.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new perspective on the Civil War, March 27, 2002

By	hiphopgirl_1000 - See all my reviews

Carol Matas' novel "The War Within" tells of a situation during the Civil War we don't know much about. In Holly Springs, Mississippi 1802, Hannah Green keeps a journal on the accounts of 2 weeks during the Civil War. Her family owns a general store in the small Southern town who is for slavery, but the war has ruined her beloved town and family. Her father and two older brothers have already gone to fight the war for the south and when the Union army occupies her belove town Hannah is furious. Plus her sister Joanna has also fallen in love with Captain Mazer of the Union---the same Union that has split her family. When General Grant issues General Order #11, which commands all Jew to evacute the his territory the Greens are forced to leave their beloved home. It is on this journey that Hannah learns her views on slavery might not be exactly right with the help of Captain Mazer. For the first time she realizes the discrimination her family receives because they are Jew is very similar to the treatment of slaves. As she battles her own war "within" Hannah begins to realize the true meaning of the War.