Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith
Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith
1 Rating(s)
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Rifles for Watie

Author: Harold Keith

Narrator: Tom Stechschulte

Unabridged: 12 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/28/2014


Synopsis

A captivating and richly detailed novel about one young soldier who saw the Civil War from both sides and lived to tell the tale.

Earnest, plain-spoken sixteen-year-old Jeff Bussey has finally gotten his father’s consent to join the Union volunteers. It’s 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff is eager to fight for the North before the war is over, which he’s sure will be soon.

But weeks turn to months, the marches through fields and woods prove endless, hunger and exhaustion seem to take up permanent residence in Jeff’s bones, and he learns what it really means to fight in battle—and to lose friends. When he finds himself among enemy troops, he’ll have to put his life on the line to advance the Union cause.

Thoroughly researched and based on firsthand accounts, Rifles for Watie “should hold a place with the best Civil War fiction for young people” (The Horn Book).

A strong choice for independent reading and for sharing in a classroom and for homeschooling. As a homeschool cooperative teacher commented: "The book has launched many discussions in our class. When a person is on one side of a conflict, it is important to remember that people on the other side are also people. Jeff is a perfect model for how treating people with respect can happen even in war."

Winner of the Newbery Medal • An ALA Notable Children’s Book • Winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

Reviews

Goodreads review by Joan on January 11, 2012

Q. Why didn’t I read this in junior high? Q. Why didn’t my teachers make it mandatory? Q. Why did I ever read anything out of a text book about the civil war? Rifles for Watie taught me more about the civil war than any junior high American History book I ever endured. If I were teaching Junior High hi......more

Goodreads review by Ed on October 15, 2013

I recalled once reading Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith when I was a kid probably over my summer vacation. I believed I had enjoyed the experience, so I decided to have another go at it now and hope the historical novel written for teens still holds up. I am happy to report Rifles for Watie still t......more

Goodreads review by Luisa on November 08, 2022

Cleanliness Children's Bad Words Mild Obscenities - 50 Incidents: corn, by jack, shut up, jeepers, darn, darned, dad-gummed, cripes, shucks, stupid, shoot, dang, gosh, gallinippers, heck, h*ll (once) Name Calling - 21 Incidents: chronic croakers, Free State scum, n*ggers (three times), dom (dumb), big......more

Goodreads review by Elisabeth on May 03, 2016

There's a lot to like about this Civil War novel. The young protagonist, Jeff Bussey, is a likeable character, and there's a good portrayal of his experiences as a young Union recruit from Kansas, as he goes from impatience to get a taste of war to eventual disillusionment with the destruction cause......more

Goodreads review by Valerie on May 18, 2015

There are few reasons why I wanted to read this book. One, it was highly recommended to me by my sister. Two, is historical fiction (about the civil war). And three, it is based in the mid-west which is mostly ignored during the civil war, except when they mention "Bloody Kansas" for one paragraph i......more