Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg
5.0
5
5
1
Paperback
USD
8.95
$8.95
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781572494084 |
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| Publisher: | White Mane Publishing Company, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2012 |
| Pages: | 202 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.40(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.50(d) |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg
5 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
5 reviews.
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This delightful and insightful historic fiction tells of thirteen year old Anna Green and the trials she and her family faced during the Civil War when Vicksburg was under siege. The book is written from Anna’s viewpoint and gives insight into how a young girl might have perceived what was happening during this time of conflict.
Though a fiction, the writer has been true to the historical accounts of what the citizens of Vicksburg had to endure when the city was being barraged with artillery fire. Caves were dug out and became home to many as their houses were no longer safe to indwell. The basic provisions of food and clean water were scarce, and the story relates the lengths to which the people of Vicksburg had to go to simply survive. Anna and her family had to endure an especially difficult tragedy in the midst of what was already a very difficult situation.
In the end, Anna proves to be a girl who has grown in confidence and courage and finds inner strength that heretofore she had not realized she possessed.
I highly recommend this book to middle school aged readers as an excellent means of learning about our country’s history during this tragic period of the Civil War while enjoying a story full of suspense as well as incredible heroism. (reviewed by J.La Tour)
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Great historical fiction! Recommend for all ages!
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Finding My Place, by Margo Dill is a book that is sure to resonate with a youth audience. The story of Anne Green, a girl living in Vicksburg during the Civil War, is the poignant tale of a thirteen year old who is teetering between youth and womanhood. When tragedy strikes, she must find a way to cast aside her insecurities and fears in order to keep her family together in the midst of the devastation of war.
Dill has created a stirring work of historically based fiction that is as educational as it is alluring. Anne Green is a character readers will connect with from the onset as she struggles with casting aside her youthful ways while striving to become the responsible young woman her mother has always encouraged her to be.
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Reviewed by Michelle Robertson for Readers' Favorite
"Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg" is written by Margo L. Dill. This book was uniquely researched and written as an American Civil War Adventure Story. The genre of the book is historical fiction. Though designed as an adventure story, it is an educational story for all ages as well. The intriguing story line will not allow you to stop turning the pages as you yearn to find out what happens next. The story tells of a young teenage girl and her family's experiences and hardships, both emotional and physical, during a time when the American Civil War entered the town of Vicksburg, Tennessee.
"Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg" is a great story for parents and teachers to give to young readers not only to read but to learn and enjoy. At the end of the story an explanation is supplied of what are actual facts. I loved that aspect of the book. If the reader is not an avid fan of historical fiction or historical books, they may not know the difference between facts and fiction. The author even supplies a list of questions for a discussion session or testing. The education section at the back of the book impressed me. I love discussion sections at the end of educational historical fiction books which help the readers to better understood what they have read. I myself went down through the questions after reading this book. Having the questions at the end of the book also generates further interest in an area or topic. The author also has a section where she lists books of similar subject matter and genre for the sake of readers whho want to read further in that area. Margo L Dill has done a fantastic job conveying a young girl's life and experience during this time period. I would recommend this book to parents who want a new book for their personal collection, and to public and school libraries to add to their historical fiction section.
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Finding My Place, One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg, by Margo L. Dill, is a tough book. Not because it’s not well-written or is hard to read. It’s tough because it’s a realistic story about a very difficult time in our nation’s history. This is a fictionalized story about General Grant’s six week siege of Vicksburg, as seen through the eyes of thirteen year old, Anna Green. It’s a down-to-earth Civil War story made compelling and personal by the main character.
In the beginning, Anna is living in a cave with her Ma, her brother James, and her sister Sara. Anna’s Pa and her older brother Michael are away, fighting for the South. We see Anna as a normal teen, one who loves to write in her journal, play and fight with her siblings, and who doesn’t relish learning to cook and sew. It’s the family life of a typical teen in 1863 -- except for the shells and bombs from the “Blue Belly Yankees” going off all around them.
As in most war stories, personal tragedy befalls them, and then Anna, Sara, and James have to live with other families. Anna struggles with grief and despairs about her family being separated. Eventually she finds the strength and maturity to bring her family back together. Anna is a survivor. We trust she will be able to deal successfully with almost anything life sends her way.
Margo Dill has interwoven powerful themes in this story: dealing with grief, deprivation, and political issues -- such as slavery -- in war time; coming-of-age in devastating circumstances; the consequences of everyday choices and pivotal life decisions; and the impact of our faith in facing life’s challenges.
The cover illustration, by Doug Knutson, shows how Anna lived during the six week siege. She’s running from the bombs and shells to the sanctuary of a cave where families lived during the shelling. This book vividly tells the story of the Civil War more realistically than most students and children have seen before. They can relate personally to Anna’s pain, hardship, and struggles. Telling someone that war is devastating doesn’t compare with showing them as Margo Dill has done in Finding My Place, One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg.
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