Children's Books American Civil War

[Ash]

Are there any children's books (HF or NF) that cover slavery in America? A friend has a 9 year old son who reads everything he got his hands on, and recently read a book about the Civil War and slavery that really affected him. He'd be very interested in either topic. He reads at a Jr Hi level, but he's still a little boy if you know what I mean. ( I did suggest Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, but we aren't sure if he can handle the older language)

[Ludmilla]

Irene Hunt's Across Five Aprils is pretty good (family in Illinois, some family members fight for the north, while one brother fights for the south). Does a good job of representing what the issues were for people on both sides with the focus on how people at home lived and what was on their minds while they waited to hear about their loved ones. I think it was also a Newbery book. I usually see it on the shelf for the 9-12 age group.

Another good Newbery is Rifles for Waitie. It's a rousing story of a young Kansas militiaman fighting in MO/AR/OK.

[Celia Hayes]

Oh yes - Rifles for Watie (it's about the Civil War in the trans-Mississippi west,among the Cherokee) and Across Five Aprils IIRC is also pretty good, and widely available. (or at least it was, last time I checked..)

[rockygirl]

War comes to Willy Freeman (HF)
To Be a Slave--Lester (NF)

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox is a great book on slavery, but it is set in colonial America. I'm not sure if that would interest him.

[MLE]

the Fires of Jubilee by Alison Hart. POV of a slave girl on life before and after freedom, very well handled. Factual without being overwhelming.
Jip: His Story by Katherine Patterson (Author of Bridge to Terebithia and Jacob Have I Loved). It is set in the north, but by the end of the book you realize that the child was abandoned there because his slave mother was recaptured and he was light skinned enough to pass for white.

[EC2]

Spammer alert!