Shenandoah: Daughter of the Stars: A Civil War Story

by Nancy Johnson

Overview

During the turbulent years of the Civil War, three young people struggle to follow their dreams as the war devastates their homeland and their way of life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Hannah Yeager works hard on her family's farm and teaches young children in a nearby school. She and her parents remain loyal to the Union. Secretly her fourteen-year-old heart thrills to romantic literature. She dreams that someday she will find a true love. When she does, he is a handsome Confederate colonel. The strong female character of Hannah will appeal to girls who often see the Civil War as all about the boys. Hannah is empowered by "The Crazy Man" who lives in nearby caves. She learns from him that she can do what she must do. Hannah's thirteen-year-old brother, Willy, is spirited and headstrong. He rebels against his family's values and seeks adventure by joining an outlaw raider band, terrorizing the Union Army. Charlie Richison is a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute. He dreams of bringing honor to the Confederacy, to his family, and to himself. He joins other VMI cadets to fight against the Union Army in the Battle of New Market. Shenandoah, Daughter of the Stars, presents the beauty of the valley and the devastation brought by the war. It shows the effect of the Reconstruction years which follow the war. It presents real people, General George Armstrong Custer, General "Stonewall" Jackson, General John Breckinridge and shows their effect on the lives of valley residents. Shenandoah examines the perennial dilemmas presented by war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989435642
Publisher:	Efrog Press
Publication date:	05/13/2014
Pages:	146
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.31(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Maybe because I was born in Hollywood, California, I have always loved the dramatic. With no television as a child, I found drama in books, reading by flashlight under the covers when I was supposed to be asleep.

One night when I was ten, my mother wrapped herself in her grandma Mattie's shawl--the same shawl I am wearing in my picture on this page. She sat down with her memory box--black with gold hearts and flowers painted on it. From the box, she drew out a packet of letters tied up in faded ribbon. Unfolding the pages, she began to read letters written by my great, great uncles--two teenage brothers from Rochester, New York, who joined the Union Army in 1862. As she read, my father told me about the battles and the armies and the reason for the war.

After graduating from Stanford, I worked, married, and raised three children. While my husband, Bob, was in the Air Force, we traveled to Civil War sites near Northern Virginia--Fredericksburg, Appomattox, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Shenandoah Valley.

I have taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grades in Encinitas, California, where I live, and worked for Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii as a language consultant.

Now that I am retired, I enjoy spending time with my four grandchildren. And writing.

Editorial Reviews

2014-12-07
In this book for young readers, three children grow up in a hurry as the U.S. Civil War rages.Hannah, 13, lives on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. She, her younger brother, Willy, and their friend Charlie, who is sweet on Hannah, have always spent their time helping on their farms and playing cards with Crazy, a hermit who lives in a nearby cave. But it's the middle of the Civil War, the effects of which everyone is feeling. Charlie's older brother died at Gettysburg, his father is an invalid thanks to war wounds, and Charlie is a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, yearning to get into the fight. Now, the Yankee Army is moving through Virginia, burning farms as they go, and though Hannah's family is against slavery, they know the federal troops will not spare their farm. Hannah finds herself left behind with her parents as Willy joins Mosby's raiders and Charlie and his fellow cadets are conscripted into the Confederate army under Gen. John Breckinridge. Hannah's formerly idyllic country childhood is shattered, and now her courage and ability to survive are tested as the ravages of war arrive on her doorstep. In this, her third book for young people about the Civil War, author Johnson shows war from an adolescent's point of view. The emotional development comes through for engaging and believable characters as they experience not just war, but also the normal changes that children experience during their teenage years. The writing flows well, with enough detail to be informative without seeming didactic. There's one minor bump, however, when Willy runs off, with no mention of whether his parents were worried, which seems odd. But overall, the story is a convincing one, presenting the realities of a war zone well, though with a light touch appropriate for a young audience.A well-told story of coming of age in war-torn Virginia.

Kirkus Reviews