RIFLES FOR WATIE

This 1957 book garnered several awards and deserved them all. Sixteen-year-old Jeff Bussey joins the Union Army with his Kansas outfit and quickly learns the harsh realities of war. When he infiltrates the Confederate side, he is shocked to learn that the rebels are much like him and his Yankee companions. Tom Stechschulte brilliantly creates each character, whether Northerner, Southerner, Indian, slave, male, female, or child. The text is a roller coaster of joy, sorrow, death, and heartbreaking emotion, all perfectly translated in this masterful narration. Listeners experience the Civil War battlefields, fall in love, and survive malaria as the story unfolds. This fabulous true-to-life story humanizes war in a way that will give most teens pause for reflection. S.G.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]