Gettysburg

April 15, 2013
Wagonloads of detail weigh down this overstuffed account of the Civil War's most significant battle and its aftermath. Martin builds his narrative around numerous eyewitness accounts, despite the implication of the subtitle. He covers events from the rival armies' preliminary jockeying for position to Lee's retreat, the heroic efforts to care for the thousands of wounded soldiers left behind, as well as the establishment some months later of the cemetery that was the occasion for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The battle itself, though, quickly becomes a dizzying tally of this regiment going here, that brigade charging there, the movements insufficiently supported by the small, hard-to-read battle maps. Overheated lines like "As the armies met in battle, the ground...soaked up the blood of Americans flowing into the soil" have a melodramatic effect. Moreover, as nearly everyone mentioned even once gets one or more period portraits, the illustrations become a tedious gallery of look-alike shots of scowling men with heavy facial hair. Still, the author does offer a cogent, carefully researched view of the battle and its significance in both the short and long terms. Thorough to a fault, and for young readers at least, no replacement for Jim Murphy's oldie but goodie The Long Road to Gettysburg (1992). (glossary, index, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12-15)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-To enhance his account of this momentous battle, Martin draws on the memoirs of Tillie Pierce and Daniel Skelly, teen witnesses, as well of those of soldiers and officers who fought in it. He opens with Pierce's account of the Confederate advance on Gettysburg in the days preceding the fighting and then describes General Lee's strategy for a Confederate invasion of Union territory, the convergence of the armies around Gettysburg, the details of the three-day battle, and the devastation and carnage it left behind. He closes with analysis of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the importance of the battle and battlefield in American memory and identity. A postscript tells about the post-Civil War fates of major civilian and military characters. Martin writes well, integrating details with an accounting of human costs to combatants, townspeople, and the nation. He is objective about the conflicting war aims of the opposing sides and admiring of the bravery and sacrifices of the soldiers in both armies. Period photos and highly detailed maps supplement the text. Although this book includes Pierce's and Skelly's experiences, it is much more focused on the fighting than Tanya Anderson's Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg (21st Century, 2013), which concentrates more on how townspeople and Pierce reacted to and survived the battle. Although superficially similar, the two books' perspectives are very1 different.-Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 Just in time for the 150th anniversary of the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg, this book looks back on events as they unfolded and reflects on their significance. Although two young people who lived in the town, Tillie Pierce and Daniel Skelly, are prominent in the subtitle, their place in the book is more modest. Accounts of their experiences, along with quotes from their first-person narratives, provide interesting sidelights on history. Primarily, though, the book delivers a balanced, detailed chronicle of the two armies' paths to Gettysburg; the battle itself; and its aftermath, including vivid quotes from a number of leaders and participants on both sides. Despite Martin's extensive use of quotes and the inclusion of a bibliography, there are unfortunately no source notes. The book's many illustrations include period photos of participants and sites, dramatic battlefield paintings by Don Troiani, and maps showing troop positions and movements. In the final version (not seen), illustrations are to be reproduced in color.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)