Red Moon at Sharpsburg

By Rosemary Wells

Published by Penguin Group 2007

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Her school shuttered at the outbreak of the Civil War, India Moody, a 12-year-old Southerner, receives tutoring in natural sciences from progressive Emory Trimble, who encourages the smart, restless girl to aim for college. Soon enough, though, India must set aside her ambitions to shoulder the traditional burdens of women in wartime--nursing the wounded, comforting the grieving, stoically enduring even as her "heart tears down its middle seam." India's fierce hopes and restrained romance with Emory will hold readers, as will images etched by Wells' poetic, forceful writing, including unflinching scenes of the battlefield at Antietam, where bodies "blacken and bloat like sausages."

Review

Her school shuttered at the outbreak of the Civil War, India Moody, a 12-year-old Southerner, receives tutoring in natural sciences from progressive Emory Trimble, who encourages the smart, restless girl to aim for college. Soon enough, though, India must set aside her ambitions to shoulder the traditional burdens of women in wartime--nursing the wounded, comforting the grieving, stoically enduring even as her "heart tears down its middle seam." India's fierce hopes and restrained romance with Emory will hold readers, as will images etched by Wells' poetic, forceful writing, including unflinching scenes of the battlefield at Antietam, where bodies "blacken and bloat like sausages." An author's note and bibliographic note conclude, although neither address one unforgettable moment of magical realism in which green lights rise from the chests of dead soldiers: "Emerald stars . . . spill from the fallen men as far as a person can see." In a novel so clearly grounded in historical accuracy, readers will certainly wonder if this vivid scene has any factual basis. The overall impact of the novel is a potent call for peace and decency in any era, as well as a welcome representation of the Southern civilian experience for young adults.

Jennifer Mattson, Booklist

Sites of Intrest

Civil War

Women's Freedom during the Civil War