Charley Skedaddle (We the people) - Softcover

Twelve-year-old Charley Quinn thinks war is going to be swell when he runs away from his home in the New York Bowery to become a drummer boy in the Civil War. He can't imagine that anything could make a coward out of a street-tough Irish lad. It's not war, in the end, but a self-imposed exile in the backwoods of Virginia that teaches Charley what courage really means in this novel, winner of the prestigious Scott O'Dell Award for historical juvenile fiction. Narrator Jeff Woodman has a repertoire of authentic accents, from lower New York to mountain hillbilly, that pull the listener into each scene of this action-packed adventure. M.C. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Grade 5-8 Twelve-year-old Charley Quinn loves the excitement and the gang fighting that are part of his life in New York City's Bowery in 1864. When his sister's fiance threatens to send him to an orphanage, Charley runs off with Union army enlistees and is taken on in Virginia as a drummer boy. Filled with the glory of war and a desire to avenge his brother's death at Gettysburg, Charley is a perfect soldier until his regiment does its first fighting at the Battle of the Wilderness. Charley shoots a Confederate soldier, then runs from the fighting in a panic, earning the nickname ``Charley Skedaddle'' from derisive soldiers. He is caught by a mountain woman, Granny Bent, and realizing his danger from both Union and Confederate soldiers, he stays on as her mute ``Boy,'' helping her with her chores. Over time Charley and Granny develop a strong friendship, and Charley learns from her, and through several events that test his mettle, that the greatest courageous acts are often done without an audience and for selfless reasons. Beatty brings history to life with thorough research, unusual characters and events, and fascinating historical detail. This book is a fine companion to her Turn Homeward, Hanna Lee (Morrow, 1984). Readers who enjoyed Keith's Rifles for Watie (Crowell, 1957) and William O. Steele's The Perilous Road (HBJ, 1954; o.p.) will appreciate Charley's quiet acceptance that there is no one ``right'' side to the war. Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.