Books

Book Summaries __ Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Civil War __ __ By: Catherine Clinton __ This is a non-fiction book about the Civil War. The book is very informational with a lot of pictures and labeling. The page layout is similar to a textbook. It is broken up into six chapters. The first chapter is “Before the War”, it discusses the issues that divided the nation and caused the Civil War such as slavery and state’s rights. The second chapter is called “1861”, this chapter discusses all of the major events that took place that year including inaugurations and the beginning of the war. Chapter three, “1862”, discusses the second year of the war, its expansion westward, the battles and victories fought in that year for both sides, as well as what was happening for the families back at home. The fourth chapter, “1863” is about the Emancipation Proclamation, Battle of Gettysburg, and the rest of events for both sides during the year. Chapter five titled “1864”is about the fourth year of the war and the state of both sides during the year, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and also includes information about Lincoln’s reelection. The final chapter “1865 and After” which tells the reader about the end of the war and the effects of the war on the North and the South. I think this book is wonderful and thorough and would give students complete information about the topic. It would be good used in a center or individual way by the student. It was also be good read to the students as a whole group as long as it is broken up into sections depending on what the students were learning that day. It could also be used for its biographies of various crucial people in the war.

__ Civil War __ __ By: John Stanchack __ This is a non-fiction book from a series called “Eyewitness Books”. It provides information about many topics in regard to the Civil War, but not very much depth. Each page is dedicated to a different topic with about a paragraph of information and many pictures and captions to fit. There is a lot of information about the tools and materials used in the war by the troops. The book is filled with real pictures from the war of the troops, weapons, and other things from the time period. It is very informational, not much plot, and a suitable book for research or to give the reader an overview of the war. The books in the series are written with the idea that the reader will “See…Learn…Discover”. I think this is a good book to be used in a learning center or as a reference for a research assignment. It doesn’t have much plot or too much information on any one topic; however it does discuss more topics than most. It purpose is to serve as a guide on the Civil war.

__ Voices of the Civil War: Stories from the Battlefields __ __ By: Jason D. Nemeth __ This is a non-fiction book that is broken into sections of mini-biographies of the some of the soldiers and others involved in the War. It also has vocabulary words that are highlighted and defined in captions on the page they are found. It starts by telling how the war began and then the soldiers’ stories are on the following pages. The book shares the stories of a confederate soldier, a union marine, a confederate doctor, a union colonel, a confederate ranger, and a freed slave. The book is wrapped up with a section about the end of the war. I love this book and would like to get more of them on the other topics available. It could be used for a variety of activities. I like the book because it has a great design. It gives the reader someone to learn about and make a personal connection with instead of telling them general stories and facts.

__ Tales from the Underground Railroad __ __ By: Kate Connell __ This is a non-fiction chapter book that is about slavery and the Underground Railroad. It was the goal of the author to teach about slavery, not through telling about its negative aspects and how awful it was but through freedom. They wanted to teach children how bad slavery is by focusing on how much African-Americans wanted freedom and how much they risked getting it. It is written as a narrative with a plot and characters. The story is about slaves and their journey to get freedom through the Underground Railroad. Some of their journeys are successful and some aren’t but it gives the reader an inside look of what their lives were like at the time and what they went through. I like this book as a class reading assignment. It is too long to be read in class whole group unless the teacher read it a chapter at a time to the class. The other option would be to get a class set and the students could read it independently. This would be a good content reading book to act as a cross between social studies and reading because of the way it is written as a narrative with a strong story line. It gives information in a more subtle way.

__ The Story of Sherman’s March to the Sea __ __ By: Zachary Kent __ This is a non-fiction book that serves as a biography of William Sherman and the March to the Sea he led. Sherman was a union officer that served under Ulysses S. Grant. He led a “march” through Georgia to Savannah where the goal was to burn and destroy Georgia along the way. Sherman used Georgia’s resources to support his troops. They were successful and made it to Savannah leaving nothing but damage in their way. Savannah surrendered close to Christmas that year and Sherman sent a message to the President presenting it as a Christmas gift. This is a good story to use if the goal is to focus on a certain event in the war. It is different in the way that the other stories, for the most part, give an overview of the entire war. It is short enough to be read to the whole class and also simple enough for students to read in learning centers or small groups.

__ The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale __ __ By: Trinka Hakes Noble __ This is a fictional book that is based on the family history of the author. It is a picture book about young boys and their role in the war. It tells the story of several young brothers that went to fight in the Civil War. Young boys that age (between 10 and 14), were to be drummers and buglers, others were old enough to fight. It tells the story of these boys in the war and how only one came home alive. I chose this book because it will allow the students to make text-to-self connections because the boys in the story are close to the students in age. It also pays respect to the young boys that lost their lives that aren’t discussed in many other texts. The writing is done well and the pictures are beautiful.