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BULL RUN

Name: BULL RUN
Author: Paul Fleischman
ISBN: 0-06-021446-5

by Paul Fleischman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 1993

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Using a montage of characters in the manner of Spoon River Anthology, a fine novelist and poet offers 60 vignettes from 16 contrasting individuals who describe experiences from Fort Sumter to Bull Run. Coming from both North and South in equal numbers, the narrators include a colonel and a general (the only historical figure here); a Mississippi slave who hopes the state of Virginia will offer a chance for her to escape her master and for a free black man who passes as white to join an Ohio regiment; a southern matriarch who prays for the survival of her daughters' husbands and a Minnesota Irish lass who, in the end, mourns the death of a brother who ran away to war to escape their abusive father; a fifer boy and a rough Arkansan who's in the cavalry because his passion is horses; a photojournalist; and an ironical coachman, who drives congressmen and their wives out from Washington to sip champagne and view the battle. Bringing a poet's skill to crafting a unique and believable voice for each, Fleischman selects telling incidents to reveal character and to evoke the early course of the war and its impact on ordinary people—some beginning with dreams of glory, all forced to endure the grim reality. He also suggests the possibility of staging the work or performing it as "readers' theater"—a demanding endeavor that could be well worth the effort. An unusual, compelling look at the meaning of war, the Civil War in particular. Maps and illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 10+)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1993

ISBN: 0-06-021446-5

Page Count: 112

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CLASS WITH WINGS
by Paul Fleischman ; illustrated by Hannah Salyer

- BOOK REVIEW
ALPHAMANIACS
by Paul Fleischman ; illustrated by Melissa Sweet

- BOOK REVIEW
NO MAP, GREAT TRIP
by Paul Fleischman

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THE SCHOOL FOR THIEVES

From the School for Thieves series , Vol. 1

by Peter Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2025

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.

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An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.

In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.

A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)