Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy's Civil War Journal

A moving personal narrative in the form of a journal, this powerful poem tells the story of one boy’s journey into war—and the horrible climax at Gettysburg.
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"Exquisite, somber black-and-white woodcut illustrations accompany the poems; the images are often as lyrical as the text." Kirkus Reviews with Pointers

In free verse diary entries, Crist-Evans captures a 13-year-old boy's vision of the Civil War. The lyrical collage of men and war invites comparison with Gary Paulsen's Soldier's Heart (Booklist's Top of the List choice for 1998), and it holds its own. It is less graphic but equally moody and reflective. Because the narrator works in camp and away from the front lines, the violence is seen only at a distance: "Down by the creek the wounded lie in rows / like pine logs at the mill in Silver Bluff".... An evocative book, written with language so vibrant it begs to be read aloud.

May 15, 1999 Booklist, ALA