Before the Creeks Ran Red

Before the small bays Ran Red by Carolyn Reeder HarperCollins Publishers, 2003 370 pp $1699 Civil War Youths ISBN: 0-06-623-615-0

Author Carolyn Reeder tenders three tightly-focused snapshots of teen male childs trying to understand the final causes of the impending Civil War, and their be in possession of individual beliefs about the Union and the Confederacy. The first story, plant at Fort Moultrie and then Sumter SC features orphan Timothy Donovan, a bugler who matures end dangerous situations and both positive and negative treatment from adult soldiers.

The next to the first account moves the reader to Baltimore and not aways Joseph Schwartz, a poor scholar on scholarship in an academy with striplings from wealthy families. Joseph must approach to terms with his loyalties from one side fights and mob scenes between the unionists and the rebels. Gregory Howard in the third story, unlike the other sum of two units previous boys, is of a privileged Virginia family. Still, he also grapples with local facts and conflicts leading up to the war.

In a mode of speech bound to be appealing to middle schooler Reeder creates her youthful characters in turmoil in ways that will mirror the lives of today's youth, while accurately portraying a brief historical period not frequently addressed in depth in Civil War literature. The author's unusual arrangement of this novel and her use of dialogue, interior monologue, sparse description, and authentic dialects will assuredly engage young readers.

Marjorie M Kaise

Louisville, KY

Copyright Assembly upon Literature for Adolescents -- National Council of Teachers of English Fall 2003

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