The Bushwhacker: A Civil War Adventure

Description

During the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Jacob Knight returns from the cornfield one day to find bushwhackers-Confederate sympathizers in the Union state of Missouri-terrorizing his family. At the insistence of his mother, Jacob and his seven-year-old sister, Eliza, flee the house for safety. When the two young people dare to return home the following morning, their family is nowhere to be found, and their home is burnt to the ground. Not knowing what else to do, Jacob and Eliza take their one remaining horse and journey north to their aunt's home in Iowa, hoping to find their missing family members there. Jennifer Johnson Garrity brings the American Civil War era to life in this story about family, trust, and courage during a time of great uncertainty.

Jennifer Johnson Garrity has published several books for middle readers. Her interest in Missouri's difficult position during the Civil War began as a result of conducting extensive research into her family history. This research inspired The Bushwhacker. She lives in Germany. After a long career as a freelance illustrator, producing work for books and magazines, Paul Bachem now devotes his time to painting landscapes and seascapes from nature. His paintings are in numerous private collections as well as the permanent collection of the Forbes Gallery in New York City. He lives in New Jersey.

"This gripping, fast-paced story is a masterful recreation of a time of divided loyalties and conflict. . . . Jacob's struggle with his own emotions and his ultimate realization that violence begets more violence is both realistic and believable and one that readers will have no difficulty understanding."-School Library Journal