The Fighting Ground

by Avi

Overview

Scott O’Dell Award for Best Historical Fiction * ALA Notable Book * ALA Best Books for YA

Newbery Medal-winning author Avi tells the “compelling story of a young boy’s first encounter with war and how it changes him.”—Publishers Weekly

Jonathan may be only thirteen years old, but with the Revolutionary War unfolding around him, he’s more certain than ever that he wants to be a part of it—to fight for independence alongside his brother and cousin to defeat the British. But Jonathan’s father, himself wounded from battle, refuses to let his son join the front lines.

When Jonathan hears the tavern bell toll, calling all soldiers to arms, he rushes to enlist without telling his dad. Gun in hand, Jonathan falls in with a militia and marches onward to the fighting ground. It feels like he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment.

But no amount of daydreaming could prepare Jonathan for what he encounters. In just twenty-four hours, his life will be forever changed—by his fellow soldiers, unsuspecting enemies, and the frightening and complicated realities of war. 

More than thirty years after its publication, award-winner The Fighting Ground continues to be an important work of historical fiction for young readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064401852
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/27/2009
Series:	Harper Trophy Books Series
Edition description:	25th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	50,076
Product dimensions:	0.00(w) x 0.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Avi is the award-winning author of more than seventy-five books for young readers, ranging from animal fantasy to gripping historical fiction, picture books to young adult novels. Crispin: The Cross of Lead won the Newbery Medal, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing But the Truth were awarded Newbery Honors. He is also the author of the popular Poppy series. Avi lives outside Denver, Colorado. You can visit him online at www.avi-writer.com.

Date of Birth:

December 23, 1937

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

University of Wisconsin; M.A. in Library Science from Columbia University, 1964

Website:

http://www.avi-writer.com

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

9:58

It was in the morning when Jonathan first heard the bell. He was standing in the warm, open field feeling hot, dirty, and bored. His father, not far off, limped as he worked along the newly turned rows of corn. As for Jonathan, he was daydreaming, daydreaming about being a soldier.

His older brother was a soldier with General Washington in Pennsylvania. His cousin had joined a county regiment. Jonathan kept waiting for his father to say that he too could join. He was, after all, thirteen. But his father only put him off.

Jonathan dreamed of one day taking up a gun himself and fighting the enemy. For he had heard his father and his father's friends talk many times about the tyrannical British; their cruel mercenary allies, the German-speaking Hessians; and the hated Tories, those American traitors who had sided with the brutal English king.

But Jonathan's father no longer spoke of war. During the past winter he had fought near Philadelphia and been wounded in the leg. It was painful for him to walk, and Jonathan was needed at home. Though Jonathan kept asking questions about the battle, his father only shook his head, while his eyes grew clouded. Still, Jonathan could dream. So it was that at the sound of the bell they both stood still and listened.

The bell, at the tavern a mile and a half away, was used to call the men to arms. This time it tolled only once. Puzzled, they stood alert, straining to hear if more would come.

Jonathan looked over at the edge of the field, where his father's flintlock musket leaned against a stump. The cartridge box and powder horn were also there. The gun wasprimed, ready to be used. Jonathan knew how. Hadn't his father taught him, drilled him, told him that everyone had to be prepared? Hadn't he said, "We must all be soldiers now"? And hadn't Jonathan talked with his friends of war, battles old and new, strategies fit for major generals? And, having fought their wars, they had always won their glory, hadn't they?

So when the bell stayed silent, Jonathan sighed with disappointment. His father turned back to work. The beating of his hoe against the earth made a soft, yielding sound, as if a clock had begun to count a familiar piece of time.

But as Jonathan resumed his tasks, his mind turned to uniforms, the new New Jersey uniforms. He pictured himself in a fancy blue jacket with red facings, white leggings, a beautiful new gun snug against his cheek....

Softly at first, but with growing sureness, the bell began to ring again. Each stoke sliced away a piece of calm.

"What do you think?" Jonathan asked.

His father pulled off his black felt hat and mopped his brow with the back of his hand. He was looking South, worry on his face. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his wounded leg.

Seeing him yet undecided, Jonathan walked to the edge of the field to get a drink of water from the clay jar by the gun. The cool water dripped down his neck, trickled over his chest, and made him shiver.

The bell tolled on. Jonathan, stealing glances at his father, touched his fingers to the glossy butt of the gun, liking its burly satin finish.

"Maybe you'd best get back to the house," his father said. "Could be someone's come on through with news. I'd need to know."

Jonathan sprang up. Too fast.

"Jonathan!" his father cried. Grabbed by his father's voice, Jonathan stood where he was.

"Don't you-by God-don't you go beyond!"

They looked at one another. Jonathan felt his stomach turn all queer, for in that moment his father's eyes became unveiled, and they revealed themselves to be full of fear.

Quickly, Jonathan turned away and began to run through the copse of trees that separated the field from their house. Behind him, the clocklike sound of his father's work resumed, an echo to the call of the bell.