Horn Book

Thirteen-year-old Haswell convinces his mother and sister to take in a wounded Confederate soldier, despite the danger. Following the tragic outcome, Haswell goes in search of his older brother, serving in the Confederate army. Hahn wraps the story around a vivid and accurate portrayal of the period, never allowing the strong setting to intrude on or interfere with the trajectory of Haswell's quest.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Hahn (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Stepping on the Cracks) crafts a hard-hitting Civil War novel narrated by a 13-year-old boy in Virginia. Haswell's father has died in the Confederate Army and Haswell's 16-year-old brother has recently enlisted, leaving Haswell with his religious Mama and seven-year-old sister, Rachel. As the story opens, Haswell shelters a badly wounded Confederate soldier, despite his mother's instructions to the contrary; she fears harsh Union reprisals if the soldier is discovered in their home, and her fears are brutally realized. The soldier is discovered, and the family farm razed, amid a turbulent series of events that include Haswell's mother's death. Haswell sets off with Rachel, astride a Yankee stallion, in search of their grandmother and, later, their brother. With his bravery and his honest grapplings with complex issues, Haswell will win readers' interest and sympathy from the outset: "I wanted to believe in the glory of war, but so far all I'd seen was soldiers burning farms and stealing food from folks who needed it just as badly as they did." As arrestingly as Haswell and Rachel are portrayed, however, the adults here seem flat; they, too, make difficult choices, but they do so without the children's natural ambivalence. The broad characterizations of the supporting cast detracts from Hahn's otherwise balanced approach to a war with victims—and heroes—on all sides. Ages 10-14. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

ALA Booklist (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

Like Hahn's Stepping on the Cracks (1991), this stirring novel tells a war story through the eyes of a young person. It's the end of the Civil War in Northern Virginia, and 13-year-old Haswell Magruder suddenly finds himself the head of his family. After Haswell hides a wounded Confederate soldier, the Yankees attack Haswell's mother and destroy the farm. The boy and his younger sister escape. Haswell leaves his sister with relatives in town and rides across the war-torn countryside in search of his wounded older brother. Hahn brings readers up close to the slaughter on both sides, presenting a picture of ordinary men who are not at all sure why they are fighting. It's odd that slavery is barely mentioned despite the huge cast. The action is fast and furious, and kids will be caught up in the story of soldiers and civilians and the horror of simply following orders.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Through the eyes of Haswell Colby Magruder, readers see and experience the horrors of the Civil War. Set in Shenandoah, VA, the story opens as the 13-year-old agrees to hide a wounded Confederate soldier. The Yankees' discovery of the young man on the Magruder farm and their subsequent retaliation starts a sequence of events that culminates with Haswell's escape with his seven-year-old sister, and his later solo journey in search of his older brother, who is fighting in the war. Although the main characters are from the South, Hahn succeeds in writing about the horrors of war without really taking sides. War is the villain here, and people from both sides are its victims. This is a wonderfully written story peopled by believable, three-dimensional characters who exhibit fear, courage, love, hate, compassion, prejudice, and understanding. The drama of the Civil War and the fine storytelling and characterization hook readers from the outset. As in Promises to the Dead (Clarion, 2000), Hahn deals here with the exercise of compassion in the face of danger. This selection is an excellent choice to add to other historical fiction on the Civil War such as Gary Paulsen's Soldier's Heart (Delacorte, 1998) and Ann Rinaldi's Amelia's War (Scholastic, 1999).-Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Toward the end of the Civil War, much of northern Virginia is a wasteland, houses and farms destroyed, the smell of smoke lingering in the air. Now the war has reached 13-year-old Haswell Magruder. When a young, wounded Confederate soldier—pursued by Yankees—rides into his family's life, he sets in motion a chain of events that changes their lives forever. With their house burned to the ground and the farm in ruins, Haswell and his sister must set off on an odyssey across war-torn northern Virginia to find safe haven with relatives. Haswell is an effectively drawn character—too young to fight, but old enough to understand his place in a country at war with itself. Through his eyes, readers see the consequences of war better than any exposition of dates could provide. A memorable journey in the voice of a young boy whom readers will care about, a first-rate story, and an essential addition to Civil War collections. (map) (Historical fiction. 10-14)