Girl in Blue
From acclaimed QUILT TRILOGY author Ann Rinaldi comes another gripping historical adventure. Here, a courageous girl disguises herself as a boy and fights in the Civil War.\ The year is 1861. When spirited teenager Sarah Louisa learns that she is to be married off to her despicable neighbor, she runs away from home. Disguising herself as a boy, Sarah boldly joins the army--and before long is a soldier in the Civil War. Sarah navigates the joys and hardships of army life, all the while...
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The year is 1861. When spirited teenager Sarah Louisa learns that she is to be married off to her despicable neighbor, she runs away from home. Disguising herself as a boy, Sarah boldly joins the army--and before long is a soldier in the Civil War. Sarah navigates the joys and hardships of army life, all the while struggling to keep her true identity a secret. But Sarah's real adventure is only just beginning. A chance encounter with a detective soon draws her into a web of mystery, intrigue, and romance--and Sarah's courage will be put to the test as never before.Publishers WeeklyRinaldi (Coffin Quilt; Wolf by the Ears) delivers another fast-paced Civil War adventure, this time about a Michigan girl who masquerades as a Union soldier and then becomes a Pinkerton spy. Readers will immediately like 16-year-old Sarah, introduced just as she is planning to shoot at the lecherous widower whom her abusive father intends for her to marry. Before long, Sarah has enlisted in the Second Michigan under the alias Neddy Compton. Rinaldi rather quickly describes Sarah's efforts to conceal her identity (she cuts her hair and avoids the latrine), and more exacting readers may also wonder how she hides menstruation and breasts. On the other hand, the rapid narrative doesn't leave the audience too much time to question Rinaldi's devices. Sarah works for a Union doctor, enters into battle and shoots her first Rebel, then carries out a dying man's poignant last request. When her secret is at last discovered, she is pressed into service as a spy and thrust undercover as a maid for a notorious Confederate socialite and spy. There Sarah craftily deduces how her Mata Hari mistress ferrets messages behind enemy lines, and there, too, Sarah falls in love with the rakish Lieutenant Sheldon, who may or may not be a traitor. The relationships between the characters do not seem as strong as the narrative claims, however; fortunately, Sarah's force of personality is enough to hold readers. Ages 9-14. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
\ Publishers Weekly\ - Publisher's Weekly\ Rinaldi (Coffin Quilt; Wolf by the Ears) delivers another fast-paced Civil War adventure, this time about a Michigan girl who masquerades as a Union soldier and then becomes a Pinkerton spy. Readers will immediately like 16-year-old Sarah, introduced just as she is planning to shoot at the lecherous widower whom her abusive father intends for her to marry. Before long, Sarah has enlisted in the Second Michigan under the alias Neddy Compton. Rinaldi rather quickly describes Sarah's efforts to conceal her identity (she cuts her hair and avoids the latrine), and more exacting readers may also wonder how she hides menstruation and breasts. On the other hand, the rapid narrative doesn't leave the audience too much time to question Rinaldi's devices. Sarah works for a Union doctor, enters into battle and shoots her first Rebel, then carries out a dying man's poignant last request. When her secret is at last discovered, she is pressed into service as a spy and thrust undercover as a maid for a notorious Confederate socialite and spy. There Sarah craftily deduces how her Mata Hari mistress ferrets messages behind enemy lines, and there, too, Sarah falls in love with the rakish Lieutenant Sheldon, who may or may not be a traitor. The relationships between the characters do not seem as strong as the narrative claims, however; fortunately, Sarah's force of personality is enough to hold readers. Ages 9-14. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ VOYASixteen-year-old Sarah Wheelock's father has betrothed her to widower neighbor Ezekiel Kunkle against her will. When she decides to run away, before leaving she demonstrates her skill with a rifle by shooting Ezekiel's hat right off his head. Disguised as a boy, she joins the Union army. When found out, her gift for mimicry earns her a job offer from the Pinkerton detective agency to work as an operative in the home of Confederate spy Rose Greenhow. Disguised as a maid, Sarah helps find Rose's diary and her method of weaving secret messages into her intricate tapestries, and also falls for Lieutenant Sheldon, one of the soldiers in charge of guarding the house. Just before Rose is finally taken to prison, Sarah falls ill and is taken away to recuperate. Although Rose was whiny and complaining, Sarah had formed a bond with her and her daughter, Little Rose. Sarah realizes, despite her agonizing, that she has done the right thing. For the last time, she returns home but in her male disguise. She realizes she is needed but the feeling is claustrophobic, and she cannot tell her unrecognizing mother the truth. Sarah is a determined, independent, gutsy teen made real by her bewilderment over her feelings toward Lieutenant Sheldon. Some readers might be disappointed that her days as a soldier are limited. More attention is given to the drudgery and discomfort of military life than to the battle scenes. Rinaldi again has succeeded in interweaving real and fictional characters into a historically accurate story tapestry. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10to 12). 2001, Scholastic, 310p, . Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Pam Carlson SOURCE: VOYA, April 2001 (Vol. 24, No.1)\ \ \ KLIATTRinaldi frequently turns out historical fiction, and her plots move quickly and are gripping and appealing. This novel is based on the life of a Michigan girl who disguised herself as a man to be a soldier in the Civil War (Sarah Emma Edmonds, who described herself as a soldier, nurse, and spy). The fictional Sarah created by Rinaldi also has a life of a soldier, nurse, and spy. The photograph on the cover shows us just how a 16-year-old girl can be a convincing young man. Sarah knows how to hunt and ride from life on a small farm with her family; she is tough because of struggles with her father, a vicious bully, who drives her from home by trying to force her to marry a man she hates. She arrives some weeks later, awestruck, at the army camps in Washington DC, drilling and waiting for the first battle—which is at Bull Run. While she waits she is loaned out to help an army doctor and she becomes a better and better actor as time goes by and she accommodates to her disguise. The action of the battle and her disgust at the killing move her to accept an offer to be a spy, once her identity is revealed. The officers who have seen her as a male soldier are convinced she has the acting ability to be a successful spy, and her dedication to the Union cause, and aversion at the idea of returning home, also help her decide to risk her life as a spy. And so the action moves ahead. YAs will enjoy the story and admire Sarah, endlessly intelligent and tough. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Scholastic, 310p, bibliog, $15.95. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 6-9-Inspired by the war fever of 1861, and tired of her father's mistreatment, 15-year-old Sarah Wheelock determines to run away and join the Union forces to fight the Confederacy. The last straw comes when her father promises her hand in marriage to a man who is twice her age and has the manners of a bear. After she cuts her hair, changes clothes, and lowers her voice, Sarah has few problems passing as a boy: years of hard farm labor have toughened her physically, and she has a natural talent for impersonation. Soon, young Private "Neddy Compton" is on the road to Washington, DC, with the 2nd Michigan Infantry. Despite being a model enlisted "man," Sarah is unmasked, and is transferred into the Secret Service, part of Allan Pinkerton's network of spies. Her acting skills are tested in a new and dangerous disguise, as a servant to notorious Rose Greenhow and other Southern sympathizers who are being held under house arrest. Here, the young woman's patriotism, loyalty, and intelligence will be tested beyond anything she experienced as a soldier. While Sarah and the other characters lack depth, Rinaldi's novel offers an exciting plot based on solid historical research.-Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsLoosely based on an actual woman who disguised herself as a soldier during the Civil War, this historical novel tells the story of Michigan farm girl Sarah Wheelock, who becomes first a solider and then a detective for the Pinkerton Agency in Washington. On the verge of being forced to marry a vicious neighbor, Sarah sneaks off from home. Her plan is to visit an aunt in Flint and then join the Union forces disguised as a man. Rinaldi sticks to Sarah's point of view, but oddly fails to mine her materials for all the suspense and thrills inherent in the gender switching. Only once do readers see her evading latrines, and never is there a discussion of how any adjustment of her shape or sensibilities is required. Suspense builds on several occasions, each time dwindling to a fizzle. Sent to spy on Rose Greenlaw, a southern sympathizer, Sarah falls head over heels for a good-looking Lieutenant even though she suspects he may be a traitor. Before readers discover whether his professed love for her is true or if he knowingly aids Rose, Sarah falls ill and the story swerves again. Finally, Sarah returns for a quick visit home dressed in her soldier disguise, and unbelievably her mother fails to recognize her, although her brother does. African-American readers may not agree with Rinaldi's decision to use speech patterns for Negro refugees from the South without concomitant speech patterns for southern drawls or other accents. Rinaldi defends her choices in an author's note at the end, citing her desire for historical accuracy. Accurate or not, this is only one of a series of missteps that will disappoint readers used to Rinaldi's talent. (Historical fiction. 10-14)\ \
