Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J FICTION PHI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | J FICTION PHI | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A dramatic, witty Civil War tale from bestselling author Rodman Philbrick
Master storyteller Rodman Philbrick takes readers on a colorful journey as young Homer Figg sets off to follow his brother into the thick of the Civil War. Through a series of fascinating events, Homer's older brother has been illegally sold to the Union Army. It is up to Homer to find him and save him. Along the way, he encounters strange but real people of that era: two tricksters who steal his money, a snake-oil salesman, a hot-air balloonist, and finally, the Maine regiment who saved Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg and won the war for the Union. (copy continues)
Author Notes
Rodman Philbrick is the author of six award-winning novels for young readers. His first novel, Freak the Mighty, won the California Young Reader Medal. It was received with great acclaim and has sold more than a million copies. The sequel, Max the Mighty, received starred reviews, and his novel The Fire Pony was named a 1996 Capital Choice. His more recent books for the Blue Sky Press are REM World; The Last Book in the Universe, which was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and The Young Man and the Sea, which received a starred review from School Library Journal. He and his wife live in Maine and the Florida Keys.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Philbrick (Freak the Mighty) offers rip-roaring adventure in this Civil War-era novel featuring a mistreated orphan who doesn't let truth stand in the way of spinning a good yarn. When his guardian, Uncle Squinton--"the meanest man in the entire state of Maine"--sells off Homer P. Figg's older brother, Harold, to take a rich man's son's place in the Union army, Homer can't just stand around doing nothing. Determined to alert the authorities (and his brother) that Harold is too young to be a soldier, the plucky narrator traces the path of the regiment. He faces many dangers, including "an abduction or two, and being robbed and thrown in with the pigs, and joining the Caravan of Miracles" before landing smack in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg, where he reunites with his brother and more or less drives the Confederates away. The book wouldn't be nearly as much fun without Homer's tall tales, but there are serious moments, too, and the horror of war and injustice of slavery ring clearly above the din of playful exaggerations. Ages 9-12. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) In Pine Swamp, Maine, in the 1860s, young Homer P. Figg is a prodigious liar -- this gets him into trouble as often as it gets him out of it, but serves him well as an entertaining storyteller. While his voice is laced with humor, his situation isn't. Homer and his older brother Harold's guardian is Squinton Leach -- just about the meanest man in Maine (though "there was a meaner man in Bangor once, that poisoned cats for fun"). When Squint enlists Harold, seventeen but still underage, to stand in for him in the Union Army against his will, Homer decides to set off after Harold and stop this crime of conscription. Whip-smart, Homer knows how to deal with all manner of humanity he encounters on his quest: fugitive slave hunters, a beautiful grifter, and a Confederate spy. But he doesn't know how to deal with Harold when he finds him at Gettysburg on the eve of that bloody battle, except to join him in the fighting. Homer's facile narration, and a little laying waste of the truth here and there, moves the plot quickly and creates a captivating read. Still, Homer never obscures the misfortunes of war and those who fought it. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
After his older brother Harold is forced to join the Union Army, Homer runs away from their wicked uncle's farm to save him. His southward journey divides easily into episodic adventures: outwitting two slave-hunting scoundrels with the help of a wealthy abolitionist; traveling south with an easily duped young clergyman; joining a medicine show led by a mysterious man; fleeing in a hot-air balloon with a disastrous flaw; and arriving at Gettysburg in time for the battle. If these adventures seem a little too colorful to be quite believable, first-person narrator Homer begins his tale by saying, the truth don't come easy to me. The narrator's humor and folksy charm bubbles to the surface from time to time, despite a streak of cruelty that runs straight through the story, from the farm to the battlefield. Notes on the period and a glossary are appended. This eventful, episodic novel is accessible to a younger audience than many others set during the Civil War.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-The comic misadventures of a self-proclaimed liar become steadily more somber as young Homer's search for his conscripted brother leads him straight into the middle of a Gettysburg battlefield. Encounters with abolitionists, spies, con men, and journalists, related in Homer's lively narrative voice, make this an especially fresh and thought-provoking historical novel. Audio version available from Listening Library. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Shortly after this lively comic yarn opens, Homer, a half-starved orphan boy who lives in rural Maine with his mean-spirited uncle and 17-year-old brother Harold, helplessly watches as Harold is sworn into the Union Army. After finding out that their avaricious uncle sold his underage nephew to substitute for a richer neighbor in the Civil War, 12-year-old Homer takes off on a rescue mission. On the way, Homer is kidnapped by some nefarious slave-catchers, joins a traveling medicine show and holds up the Union colors during the Battle of Gettysburg. Bursting with vividly voiced characters and descriptions so crisp they practically crunch, the story is trenchantly narrated in the first person by Homer, a resourceful, sharp-witted child who is never without a lie in his pocket. Despite the overall comic tone, Philbrick makes serious points about the evil of slavery, the horrors of war, inexplicable bravery, ethical decision-making and the need to move forward in one's life. (Historical fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
