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WHO COMES WITH CANNONS?

Name: WHO COMES WITH CANNONS?
Author: Patricia Beatty
ISBN: 0-688-11028-2

by Patricia Beatty ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 1992

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In a fine Civil War story from a dependable and prolific historical novelist, Truth—only 16, and a girl—rescues her Quaker cousin from a Union prison. After her mother's death, Truth has moved from Indiana to North Carolina, where she is involved in her relatives' work with the Underground Railroad. After her cousins are forced into the Confederate Army, Todd is wounded, brought home, and hidden in a cave, while Robert is captured and sent to Elmira, New York; because of her northern accent, Truth goes with Uncle Matthew to try to free him. Uncle Matthew is attacked by a New York City mob; former slave Squire (whom they helped earlier) helps them get the assistance of Frederick Douglass and Mary Todd Lincoln, who secures a note from the President ordering Robert's release. The late Beatty— dramatizing the Quakers' courage in opposing slavery, staying out of the war, and enduring harassment while their men and property were conscripted by armies on both—gives a new perspective on what it meant to be an active, dissenting minority amid the strong feelings on both sides of this bitter conflict. Explanatory note. (Fiction. 10+)

Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1992

ISBN: 0-688-11028-2

Page Count: 186

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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REFUGEE

by Alan Gratz ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.

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New York Times Bestseller

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In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.

Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)