Looking for read-alouds for the Civil War...

[home4school]

I have "Across Five Aprils" and "Shades of Gray". Opinions on these? I haven't read them myself. Any others we shouldn't miss?

 

Thanks,

Kim

 

BTW, these would be for boys, 12 & 14.

[Suzannah]

DS is planning to read With Lee in Virginia by Henty either over the summer or next year when we cover the Civil War.

:lurk5:

[Donna T.]

I just finished reading Across Five Aprils this week. It is very good. I was sad when it was over. I will be reading it outloud next year with my then 6th grader. I just did a preview of Turn Homeward, Hannalee. It is listed in Sonlight as a Read Aloud for grade 3 - Adult and a reader for grade 4 - Adult. I skimmed it pretty well. It looks like a really good one, too.

[hsbeth]

Another vote for Across Five Aprils, it was great.

[HollyDay]

I really liked Across 5 Aprils. We also have Rifles for Waite, Go Free or Die, and Walking the Freedom Road.

 

I used the Wartime Papers of Robert E Lee as a nice reference.

 

Traveller a fiction book about Robert E Lee's horse is interesting. Liberty Letters has 2 interesting fiction books about the underground railroad. Petticoat Spies was also quite interesting.

[home4school]

Glad to hear you liked Across Five Aprils. I just had a friend tell me they just couldn't get through it, it was so bad. :confused:

 

Off to check my library for the other suggestions.

 

Thanks!

Kim

[danybug]

My ds and I enjoyed "Red Moon at Sharpsburg" by Rosemary Wells.

[Pippen]

Both of my boys did Shades of Gray in public school, and both were just ho-hum about it.

 

My daughter is reading Rifles for Watie right now and really liking it.

[hsmom]

Turn Homeward, Hannalee, I have this one also. I did a quick preview it looks pretty good.

 

Now you have options like the Red badge of courage, I am not sure if you are wanting something that advanced or not.

 

I a few books, but most are for the younger kids. Also we will be reading about people from that era who had a great impact on things. Like Clara Barton and such. If you would be interested in things like that I could dig through our book and let you know.

[Cleopatra]

"Across Five Aprils" was one of our absolute favorites!!!! We also liked "Behind Rebel Lines" by Seymour Reit. It was based on a true story.

[Matryoshka]

I have "Across Five Aprils" and "Shades of Gray". Opinions on these? I haven't read them myself. Any others we shouldn't miss?

 

We listened to both of these as audio books. Across Five Aprils was okay, but for me it seemed like a lot of "and here is the history and troop movments of this battle", and the story was cobbled around that. I know a lot of people love it - but I'm glad we listened to it rather than having them read it or having me read it out loud!

 

I think Shades of Gray was my favorite book we read on the Civil War. It takes place just after the war, but I thought it did a great job wrestling with some of the issues around it.

 

But I have three girls, and I'm a girl, and stories of battles and troop movements don't do all that much for me. :tongue_smilie:

[Kareni]

I liked Shades of Gray, too. You might also take a look at Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen. The latter is anti-war.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[motherdear]

Christian Liberty Press publishes it.

[mcconnellboys]

Don't miss Rifles for Watie!

[TechWife]

We liked Across Five Aprils, but we really loved Shades of Gray - so much talked about in that book that is not in other books - like how there really were shades of gray to the entire war (something us southerners are raised knowing but end up teaching to many a transplant).

 

If you decide to read Across Five Aprils, Civil War Battles and Leaders is a great book to go with it. For every battle mentioned in Across Five Aprils, you can find the corresponding information about the battle in Civil War Battles and Leaders, including maps. They are very easy to line up with one another. My husband grew up in the area where Across Five Aprils is set, so it was very interesting to us!

[home4school]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was able to find all but one or two of these at my library.

 

Now to figure out notebooking pages to get all the Civil War info taken down! I really don't want to do another lapbook. I'm so tired of cutting and pasting. I just need to figure out the most important things and go from there I guess.

 

Thanks!

Kim

[hsmom]

Try these! They are the best and you can get them for almost any era you need. Just print and go. Also they are on sale at Currclick!!!http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=2063&it=1

[Laboroflove]

My daughter was just okay with Across Five Aprils. She enjoyed Shades of Gray, The Perilous Road, Turn Homeward Hannalee, and Behind Rebel Lines.

The last 3 were her favorites.

[MUJLBE]

We just read Iron Thunder by Avi and it was very exciting for my ds 9. I enjoyed it too and actually learned a lot. It was also a good starting off point for a discussion about what to do when a bad person traps you- a confederate spy tries to entice the lead character, a young boy, into breaking promises that he made.

 

Susan

[Murmer]

I remember really enjoying rifles for waite in school and really enjoying it so much it was my first thought when I saw this thread. I did enjoy across five aprils.