Jim Murphy

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Published by: Turtleback Books
Release Date: March 22, 1993
Pages: 110
ISBN13: 978-0780722224

 
Overview

Some Union and Confederate soldiers were as young as twelve-years-old when they went off to fight in the Civil War and it is thought that as many as ten to twenty percent of all Civil War soldiers may have been under sixteen years of age. Jim Murphy skillfully weaves together firsthand accounts and personal letters of these countless young men with historical context to paint their portrait — young soldiers who, either seeking escape from the drudgery of farm work or embracing fantasies of glory, participated in America’s most brutal and bloody war. The Boy’s War follows these young soldiers through the rigors of camp life and drilling, right into the chaos of the battlefield.

Handsomely produced with numerous period photographs and drawings, the book does not shrink from presenting the stark but moving images of youngsters killed in battle. The first book to explore the role of boys who fought in the Civil War, The Boy’s War is a contemporary classic. No reader’s picture of the Civil War will be the same after reading this book.

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Praise and Awards

Golden Kite Award
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Booklist Editor’s Choice
Horn Book Fanfare

“It is startling to learn of the large number of very young soldiers whose lives were given to the war. This well-researched and readable account provides fresh insight into the human cost of a pivotal event in United States history.”
—Hornbook (starred)

“Even Nintendo-addicted preteens will find themselves immediately caught up in this dramatic and at times tragic book. From first chapter to last, this wrenching look at our nation’s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of its youthful participants serves up history both heartbreaking and enlightening.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The accounts of boys who served in the Union and Confederate armies bring to life, as no other versions can, the Civil War and all of its glories and horrors. An informative and moving work.”
—School Library Journal (starred)