The Girls of Gettysburg

The year is 1863. Three girls, each on different paths, view the Gettysburg Battle from an array of view-points. Annie Gordon has run away from home after the death of her beloved brothers and father. She decides to join the Confederate Army. As she and the other recruits journey to Gettysburg, she must stay strong to survive. Grace Bryan, a free black, lives in Gettysburg. War quickly advances upon her family but Grace’s father decides to stay. One dreadful day Grace is separated from her parents and she learns what slaves must endure on the way to freedom. Tillie Pierce, a snobby white, thinks that war and soldiers (especially hot ones) would be fantastically exciting. However, she is quickly disillusioned when she helps to care for wounded soldiers.

This is a quick, thought-provoking story about life as a soldier, an escaping slave, or a bystander. Descriptive paragraphs paint striking images, especially of the dead and wounded. The author does not go out of her way to describe casualties, but since two of the narrators are at the scene of major battles, and all of them witness death first-hand; it is unavoidable but gives this book its introspective quality.