Ghosts of the Civil War

Ghosts of the Civil War by Cheryl Harness -Canada -US

Pages: 48 pgs.
Ages: 7+
Finished: Dec. 7, 2009
First Published: 2002
Genre: children, non-fiction, history
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

The Civil War, the War Between the States, the War of the Rebellion, the Battle of the Blue and the Gray, the Brothers' War, the War for Southern Independence: Whatever it is called, this four years of awfulness touched the life of every American.

Acquired: We own this book.

Reason for Reading: Read aloud as part of our history curriculum.

Summary: A girl is at a Civil War battle reenactment with her parents, grumpy and bored when she is visited by a boy, the ghost of Willie Lincoln, who whisks her back to the past where she can watch different aspects of the war for herself, first-hand.

Comments: I hadn't even looked at this book before I got it off the shelf to prepare for reading it and imagine my surprise when I saw that it was in graphic novel format! Being Canadian, and simply wanting an overview with basic detail this book was perfect for us as we simply read through the graphic story portion of the book. Much more is included though. Starting off with a one page introduction, the book starts with the story in graphic style with speech bubbles over all the characters heads. There are also side bars down the edge of most pages which detail a timeline of history of circumstances leading up to and then the battles and events of the War, including pages devoted to special moments such as the Gettysburg Address. This is where the 'meat' of the text is found. The book then ends with a page each for the North and South and brief bios of all the famous personages, a two page spread map of the civil war and finally a military info. page. The illustration is astonishing. Each page is completely covered in gorgeous paintings; there is much to linger and talk about on each page. A fine book which contains an enjoyable story and much historical information, while also being a treat for the eyes. The back of my book mentions that there are other books in this "Ghosts of" series.