Book Review: The Perilous Road by William O. Steele

TITLE: The Perilous Road

AUTHOR: William O. Steele 

PUBLISHER: Sandpiper
PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2004 (first published 1958)

FORMAT: Paperback, 176 pages
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780152052041

The heartbreaking, bitter view of the Civil War as experienced by Chris Brabson, whose brother is fighting for the "wrong" side.

MY REVIEW:

I read this historical fiction novel aloud to my children, which won the 1959 Newbery Honor Award.

The story takes place in the 1860s  in Chattanooga, Tennessee during the time of the American Civil War. Chris Brabson is ten years old, and he is horrified when his older brother, Jethro, decides to join the Union Army. Chris hates the Yankees for taking their food supplies and livestock and he rebels a bit himself by setting the mules and horses free to try to make it harder for the Yanks. Some of the neighbours show their hatred for the Yankees and take their anger out on the Brabson family because they feel betrayed by Jethro, and they set fire to the Brabson’s barn.

My children and I really enjoyed this story. It gave us a feel for what it was like for folks in this turbulent time period, when the country's own people turned against one another. There is bit of a lesson to be learned here as well for Chris, and he finds out in the end that the Yankees are just like everybody else: They hurt, they bleed, and they aren’t all bad.

MY RATING:

4 stars!! It was really good, and you should add it to your TBR list!

This book qualifies as: 
#20 for my 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#20 for my 2013 Read-a-Latte Challenge
#9 for my 2013 Let Me Count The Ways Reading Challenge: Book Version
#9 for my 2013 Where Are You Reading? Challenge
#9 for my 50 States Challenge 2013    
#9 for my 2013 Quick Fix Challenge   

#12 for my New Authors Challenge 2013
#12 for my 2013 Reading Challenge: First-Reads   
#9 for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2013
#9 for my 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
#10 for my Embarrassment of Riches Reading Challenge 2013
#8 for my 2013 Dusty Bookshelf Challenge
#3 for my 2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 
#6 for my 2013 Award Winning Books Reading Challenge  
#2 for my 2013 Pre-1960 Classic Children's Books Reading Challenge  

#17 for my Monthly Mix-up Mania: 2013 to 2015 Edition     
Letter P for my 2013 A to Z Reading Challenge  
#6 for my What An Animal Reading Challenge VI  
#7 for my The Classics Club Five-Year Reading Challenge  
#35 for my Newbery Project     
#2 for my Take Control of Your TBR Pile: March 2013

View all my reviews