The River Between Us

MUST READ!!!

This book is one of my favorite books. I had to pick out a civil war book for a history assignment. Once I got into I realized how good it was. Who new history was so awesome?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

THIS WAS AN AMAZING BOOK!!! 3

I am in 8th grade. this book helped me realize how fortunate i am in my life. i would definitely recommend this to anyone from ages 12- 17. :-'

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The River Between Us book review by adb3301:

I¿m not a historian but The River Between Us by Richard Peck seemed like an accurate account about what life was like a hundred years ago. He tells of interesting events of 1916 with the new Ford Model T touring car. It made me think of how wonderful we have it now with the ease of transportation. He also takes you back to 1681 before the Civil War and the hardships of life. It was interesting and humbling to learn how peopled lived.
I was skeptical about reading this book because I don¿t like war books but this book was much better than I anticipated. I enjoyed the mysteries that kept you thinking and for me a few surprise twists I didn¿t see coming¿or think he would put in the book. The characters in the story I found interesting and wanted to learn more about. I felt he kept the story moving along at a good pace and I didn¿t get bored. I would definitely recommend this book. In fact I plan on giving it to my friend¿s son who is 12 and loves history and learning about the Civil War.
adb3301

The War:Then and Now

Have you ever heard of a Civil War love story? Well,here's one and more. Taking place in 1861,this is a compelling story of one girls journey to save her brother,not only from the war,but from himself. Recommended for ages 12 and up this is a story about what sacrifice really means.
When two strangers land in little muddy town on the banks of the Mississippi River the towns folk can't make anything of it. This though is where Tilly Pruitt and her twin brother Noah meet the people who will change their lives forever. Richard Peck has written over thirty novels for young adults. Some of his more well known include:A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way From Chicago.
He was the first children's author to receive the National Humanities Medal."My mother and her brother are twins. You'll meet Noah. They live together in the homeplace. My dad and mother and aunt."This is really where the story begins.
Some of the most important points in the story are when Noah leaves for war. This is a real turning point in the story. This is when Tilly realizes that the war may really take her brother from her. The second would be when Tilly's Mama makes her leave on the one condition that she not come back without her brother. This is a real problem because during the Civil War many did not come home alive. "But I couldn't go empty handed,without Noah. It wasn't me Mama wanted" This quote shows what Tilly had to do in order to go back home after the war. This story has accurately depicted the hardships that many families went through. Compared to other books of the same genre this is an amazing book. It stands up well to other books that I have read. Though with this story you might want a dictionary on hand because it is hard to understand.
In this story you can read about what sacrifice means. When two strangers come into town Tilly's mother takes them in. With two fancying each other and Noah ready to go to war anything can happen. Overall this book is great, anyone who reads it will enjoy it.

The River Between Us Book Review

Over the summer I read "The River Between Us" by Richard Peck. At first, I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THE BOOK. Some parts were confusing, and I had to go back sometimes to make sure of facts, and double-check details. However, after reaching chapter three, this book and I became inseparable. I am very glad that I chose it. "The River Between Us" is about a girl named Tilly growing up at the onset of the Civil War. Although the first and last chapters are narrated by her grandson, the novel focuses on her and adventures with two New Orleans women who come and live with her family. I think the theme of this novel is growing up when you need to, even if you're not ready. And also falling back into the past, whether you actually lived through it, or is you're just listening to your grandmother's stories. At the end of the book, one particular section stood out to me. "At first I didn't know how to listen to tales so old. But we began to edge across the years towards each other, Grandma Tilly and I. I began to see the yellow lamplight in their faces, just a flicker at first. I heard calliope music wavering over the water." This told me more than anything else how vividly a story can bring an old time back. This book does a great job of describing even the tiniest detail to make you feel connected in many ways. I would gladly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys drama, action, sorrow, or joy. It is a wonderful book.

I expected better

I really like Richard Peck, but not this book as much. It did not deal much with the civil war. The issue of race was interesting and well done. I didn't like the immorality of the main character--it promotes the view that marriage is not important in a loving relationship. Since this book is geared to late elementary and junior high students, I felt it was inappropriate. Peck should have concentrated on the race issue and left the "marriage is a piece of paper" issue alone.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good but hard to understand

i love this book and reccomend it to people but i still cannot understand little sections of this book

A reviewer

This book helped my understand more of the life during the civil war. A book for the ages.

Kid's Review

The book that I am reviewing is The River Between Us. It is by Richard Peck. It has 158 pages and its genre is historical fiction. The book takes place in Grand Tower, Illinois, and is very intriguing. The River Between Us is about Tilly Pruitt and her brother Noah. The Civil War is going on, and Noah is eager to go. He is tall, skinny and handsome, and nobody wants him to go. A beautiful girl arrives on a steamboat from New Orleans and says she is headed for St. Louis. She is very fancy, and no one like that has been to Grand Tower in a long time, and people are very suspicious. Delphine, 'the girl who arrived in a steam boat' also has a black girl with her. People of Grand Tower are wondering if the black girl is a slave. Or, are they spies of the South? Tilly has grown a good relationship with Delphine. The towns people are wondering if the Pruitt¿s are traitors for taking in ¿spie¿Plus, all the drama is driving Noah nuts! All he wants to do now is go into the war, fight, and, hopefully come back. Tilly Pruitt is a headstrong girl who thinks her own opinions, but is kind of scared to express them. Noah Pruitt is a quiet and sensitive boy, but he is very, very, brave. Delphine is another headstrong girl with her own opinions 'and shows them', but definitely shows her like or dislike of others¿. My favorite part is when the showboat comes to town and everyone is dressed up nice 'the description is great'. I love when they are playing the music and Calinda is asked to dance the Calinda. The description is awesome. I recommend this for people who love historical fiction and can stay focused when reading a book. The book goes from one thing to another and is really hard to follow sometimes. All in all it is really good.

The River Between Us

The book The River Between Us by Richard Peck is a great historical fiction read. It is only 164 pages. It takes place in Grand Tower Illinois in 1861. The 4 main characters are Tilly, Delphine, Calinda, and Noah. Tilly is very caring about her family, Delphine is elegant and attracting, Calinda is Delphine¿s accompany, and Noah is Tilly¿s brother who wants to fight for the north in the civil war. The characters are all in their teens. The plot is that when the mysterious girls Delphine and Calinda appear from the south and Tilly and her family take them in, everybody in Grand tower wonders if Delphine and Calinda are spies or something from the south, the US being at war with themselves (North against South). Also, Noah goes to war and the girls then have a mission to help him. My favorite part is when Delphine and Tilly see all the soldiers coming off the ship from a battle. All of the Mothers, siblings, sweethearts and friends are crowded on the dock to see their friends, sons, and brothers, coming off the ship. Tilly and Delphine are hoping to catch sight of Noah. The crowd is pushing each other around. Then all the soldiers with blood soaked uniforms, and some without limbs finally come off the ship. I like this part because of its description and it shows how much Tilly cares about her brother Noah. I would recommend this book because it is very interesting, it has a lot of detail, and it is well written. I would give this book a 4 star rating.

The River Between Us

This is a very interesting book. I love when Delphine comes to live with the Pruitt family...thats amazing. I love the way the book gets into the war and what it was like to be poor during this time and them have someone in a higher class come along. It is interesting how the relationships between darker people, slaves, and whites were displayed. Throughout this book, it makes you realize how hard it was back then for some people.

A KID WROTE THIS

This outstanding book is great and loveabul book. I am only in 6th grade and understand every thing about this book! I really enjoyed it and i hate to read! If i enjoyed this every one most likely will!!!

UHHH

I was also assigned to read this book. It was a literature circle book me and two of my best friends chose to read and all of us agreed that it made absolutley no sense and is very confusing. It goes from one person writing to another. But I sort of enjoyed it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The River Between Us

Will racial tesoins fly between the towns people? During the mid 1800's in Illinois the people don't know what to think of this slave and her owner who just arrived on a steamboat. Of cousre in Illinois the people aren't used to seeing an inslaved person. Eventually, the Pruitts are given trouble by the towns people during the Civil War. Noah goes off to war to fight for freedom. Will he be able to survive? He is the most improtant person in the family since Pa has gone away. There is a hint of love between the characters and somewhat of a surprise. This is from a females point of veiw and historical-fiction. Richard Peck writes using vivdly descriptive words to describe so may scenes in the book. It includes so many details of everyday life in it. I suggest a female between the ages of 11 and 16 to read this book. If you like this book I suggest reading some of Richard Peck's other books. Enjoy!

A historical fiction Mystery Book

The River between us is an amazing book that takes place in 1916, and goes back and fotward in time. The book takes place during the Civil War when this intriguing French girl comes on a steamboat, trying to get to St.Louis. The character is filled with mystery and has a secret that will keep you reading all night. It was a bit confusing because at first I didn't realize there was a flash back in the book, but was still very good. My favorite part of the book was the end of the flash back. It came as a huge surprise and my heart nearly jumped out as I was reading it. This is an awesome book and I enjoyed it soooo much!

about The River BEtween us!!*

The River Between Us was a historical fiction book filled of friendship, family, courage, enchantment, mystery, and war. The book took place in 1916, during the Civil war.The story is a flashback of the young man's grandmother, Tilly Pruitt, who lived in Grand Tower,IL. in a small Mississippi River town along with her brother Noah, her little sister Cass, and their mother. Most characters had there own unique ways. Tilly is a normal girl from the mid 1800's who is hard working and very kind. For example, when she visits the hospital that Noah is in, she helps all of the people there feel better and gives them rest. While she is there, she works for the men to help save as many as she can from the bottom of her heart. Cass, Tilly's sister had the supernatural visions of where she could see people suffering and that's where it all started. One day, Cass ran home crying that she had seen a horrible vision of Union and Confederate soldiers dying. Then, Noah soon took matters into his own hands and joined the union army. After that, a steam boat with two mysterious young ladies,had arrived from New Orleans. So, Mama offered them into there home, and after that, the Pruitts' lives were changed forever. Delphine Duval, with her fancy dresses and hooped skirts, fascinates the family. Whereas, Calinda is a darker skinned women and is known to be the slave for Delphine when really, she is her sister, in which Delphine is part of an African American family owning to a rich white man. Throughout the book some significant things started to happen. Tilly's twin brother, Noah, started falling in love with Delphine, who shows Tilly a world of possibilities beyond her home. When Noah runs away to war, Tilly and Delphine go after him, find him in the horror of an army tent hospital, and bring him back but their world is changed forever. Peck's mysterious ways drive the plot and reveal the history. A final note is a grandson writing 50 years after the story takes place--make the reading even better. It's an excellent story that shows racism everywhere and young people facing war, not sure what side to be on or why. The river between us had great historical fiction added to it about the Civil wars, etc. For example,like the rest of the hospitals during the Civil war, they were un sanitized and dirty, just like the one occurring in the book. There were many people just like Noah that had a leg or an arm cut off due to their injuries. And many African Americans fleed to the North just like Delphine and Calinda to escape the Confederacy. This historical fiction was one of a kind.

Hmm...

I was assigned to read this, and I didn't like it that much. It was very confusing, and my classmates agreed with me.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Story!

I am a huge historical fiction reader, and this book is everything that I love about this genre. It has a very realistic young man and women has the young protagonists. IT really will appeal to a lot of people. It is my first read of Mr. Peck's but I am lokking forward to picking up many more of his books.

Intriging

I zoomed right through this story. It was very interesting. I never thought that I would ever read a Civil War story. Apparently only Peck's stories. This book is highly reccomended.

BEST BOOK EVER!

This is a really good book about a sixteen year old girl Tilly, whose brother goes to fight in the Civil War with tragic consequensese, including the lose of a loved one.