| Number | Call Number | Branch | Status | Volume |
| 1 |
YA F Peck Richard |
CP |
In at CP (Corporate Parkway) |
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| 2 |
YA F Peck Richard |
KL |
In at KL (Kathryn Linnemann) |
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| 3 |
YA F Peck Richard |
KR |
In at KR (Kisker Road) |
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| 4 |
YA F Peck Richard |
SP |
In at SP (Spencer Road) |
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| /*Starred Review*/ Gr. 7-12. At the start of the Civil War two mysterious young women get off a boat in a small town in southern Illinois, and 15-year-old Tilly Pruitt's mother takes them in. Who are they? Is the darker-complexioned woman the other woman's slave? Tilly's twin brother, Noah, falls in love with one of them--rich, stylish, worldly Delphine, who shows Tilly a world of possibilities beyond her home. When Noah runs away to war, Tilly and Delphine go after him, find him in the horror of an army tent hospital, and bring him back; but their world is changed forever. Peck's spare writing has never been more eloquent than in this powerful mystery in which personal secrets drive the plot and reveal the history. True to Tilly's first-person narrative, each sentence is a scrappy, melancholy, wry evocation of character, time, and place, and only the character of Delphine's companion, Calinda, comes close to stereotype. A final historical note and a framing device--a grandson writing 50 years after the story takes place--make the reading even better, the revelations more astonishing. It's a riveting story that shows racism everywhere and young people facing war, not sure what side to be on or why. For companion books, see "Civil War--An Update" in the September 2003 issue of Book Links . ((Reviewed September 15, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews | | | |
| A boy's grandmother recounts the story of her teenage years, when a steamboat brought two strangers to Grand Tower, Illinois--glamorous Delphine and her companion Calinda. The townspeople think these ""Secesh gals"" may be Confederate spies but the truth is far more complicated. The harsh realities of war are honestly related in the always surprising plot. Copyright 2004 Horn Book Guide Reviews. | | | |
| In 1916, Howard Hutchings and his doctor-father travel by Model T to visit Howard's grandparents, great-aunt, and great-uncle in Grand Tower, Illinois. Looking at the peeling wallpaper in the old family home, the teenager ponders "how many layers you'd have to scrape away until you came to the time when these old people were young. If they ever were." At this point, Grandma Tilly takes over the narration, relating the events of 1861 in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi. Lincoln has just been elected and, as more states secede from the Union, Grand Tower is divided between those who support the North and those who support the South. A steamboat from New Orleans brings two strangers to town--glamorous Delphine Duval and her companion Calinda. When Delphine announces that it is too dangerous to continue their trip to St. Louis, Tilly's mother offers to let the pair stay at their home. Both young women are a mystery. Wearing beautiful clothing and speaking with a French accent, Delphine is wealthy, vain, and self-confident. Calinda is quieter, darker, and has an interest in mysticism. Mama thinks that Calinda may be Delphine's slave; the townspeople think these "Secesh gals" may be Confederate spies. The truth isn't revealed until Tilly's twin brother Noah joins the Union army and falls ill far from home, and Tilly and Delphine travel to Camp Defiance to find him. The harsh realities of war are brutally related in a complex, always surprising plot that resonates on multiple levels. When Tilly's reminiscence is complete and grandson Howard takes over the narrative for one final chapter, many readers will question whether this framing device was necessary. But there is one more twist to the tale--a revelation that both affirms the past and determines the present--bringing this powerful novel to a stunning conclusion. Copyright 2003 Horn Book Magazine Reviews | | | |
| "Imagine an age when there were still people around who'd seen U.S. Grant with their own eyes, and men who'd voted for Lincoln." Fifteen-year-old Howard Leland Hutchings visits his father's family in Grand Tower, Illinois, in 1916, and meets four old people who raised his father. The only thing he knows about them is that they lived through the Civil War. Grandma Tilly, slender as a girl but with a face "wrinkled like a walnut," tells Howard their story. Sitting up on the Devil's Backbone overlooking the Mississippi River, she "handed over the past like a parcel." It's a story of two mysterious women from New Orleans, of ghosts, soldiers, and seers, of quadroons, racism, time, and the river. Peck writes beautifully, bringing history alive through Tilly's marvelous voice and deftly handling themes of family, race, war, and history. A rich tale full of magic, mystery, and surprise. (author's note) (Fiction. 12+) Copyright Kirkus 2003 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. | | | |
| In 1916 Illinois, Howard Hutchings and his father drive to the small town of Grand Tower on the Mississippi River to visit Howard's grandparents, great-aunt, and great-uncle. Looking at the peeling wallpaper in the old family home, Howard wonders how many layers would have to be peeled to bring these old people back to their teenage years. Grandma Tilly then takes over the narration and relates events of 1861. States were seceding from the Union in protest over Abraham Lincoln's election, and Grand Tower was divided between Union and Confederate sympathizers. It is at this tense, volatile time that a steamboat from New Orleans brings two fascinating strangers to town-the glamorous Delphine Duval and her dark companion Calinda. The war makes it too dangerous for Delphine and Calinda to continue their trip to St. Louis, so Tilly's mother lets them stay at her home. The truth about these two is not revealed until Tilly's twin brother falls ill and Tilly and Delphine travel to find him. hen Grandma Tilly's reminiscence is complete, Howard takes over the narration in the final chapter and brings one more dramatic twist to this rich, complex tale that draws the story to a powerful conclusion. Peck is at his best in this richly layered family drama full of intrigue and mystery that reveals the harsh, complex realities of war. Highly Recommended. Ed Sullivan, Library Media Specialist, Hardin Valley Elementary School, Knoxville, Tennessee © 2004 Linworth Publishing, Inc. | | | |
| Without compromising his superb comedic timing and vibrant portrayals of country folk, Peck (A Long Way from Chicago; A Year Down Yonder) reaches new depth with this Civil War-era novel. Structured as a framed story, the book begins in 1916, as 15-year-old Howard Leland Hutchings travels from St. Louis with his father and young twin brothers to visit their Grandma Tilly, a lifelong resident of Grand Tower, situated on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. The narrative then shifts to the dawning of the Civil War, as Howard's grandmother recounts to him the family's history. A then-15-year-old Tilly brings images of a divided state and country to life as she tells of the arrival of a Southern belle, Delphine, traveling by ship with the woman they presume to be her slave, Calinda, in April 1861. Delphine causes a stir in town with her fancy airs and extraordinary sense of fashion. Acting more charitably than most of her neighbors, Tilly's mother opens her home to the stranded New Orleans natives. Peck crafts his characters impeccably and threads together their fates in surprising ways that not only shed light on them but also on the complicated events and conflicts in America at that time. Tilly's younger sister, Cass, often has "visions" of the past but then begins to see images from the future as well ("Boys, blown apart, blue and gray"). Her ability draws her to Calinda, who shares a similar gift. Tilly is in awe of both guests ("I didn't know what to make of that great world she come from, but she made me want more in my small one"), and her twin brother, Noah, becomes smitten with Delphine. Although Delphine initially comes across as a Blanche Dubois type, her strength amazes and inspires everyone when the war begins to take its toll. Even the twins' mother blossoms from Delphine's proximity ("She put some starch in my spine," Tilly's mother says). These relationships cement and then reverberate throughout the novel. A showboat's arrival on the Mississippi, and Tilly and Delphine's trip to the battlefront in search of Noah, occasion further revelations about Delphine and Calinda's background as well as fascinating details of the complex New Orleans society. Through Tilly's conversational narrative, the author also introduces the significance of Bull Run and the Battle of Belmont. Without graphic description, Peck does not shy away from the horrors of war, nor how it divided the families and friends of Grand Tower. Peck's finely tuned writing makes plausible the ways in which these characters come together, putting their human concerns ahead of their political interest. Readers will find themselves turning back to the beginning of the novel to uncover how seamlessly he has laid the foundation for the connections between people and across generations. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. | | | |
| Gr 7 Up-This historical novel set at the beginning of the Civil War actually opens in 1916, as 15-year-old Howard Leland Hutchings recounts his trip in a Model T to visit his father's childhood home in Grand Tower, IL. When he and his younger brothers meet the four elderly people who raised their father, the novel shifts to 1861, and the narrator shifts to 15-year-old Tilly Pruitt, the boys' grandmother. When a steamboat from New Orleans brings two mysterious young ladies, Mama offers them room and board, and the Pruitts' lives are forever changed. Fair and beautiful Delphine Duval, with her fancy dresses and high-society ways, fascinates the family. And what of Calinda, the darker-skinned young woman? Could she be Delphine's slave? On the eve of his 16th birthday, Tilly's twin brother, Noah, leaves to join the Union troops at Camp Defiance and Mama, distraught, sends Tilly and Delphine to bring him home. It is here that Tilly learns of Delphine's heritage. She is a quadroon, part of the colored family of a rich white man. Her mother sent her daughters away from New Orleans, hoping Delphine can pass for white. The novel ends with a return to 1916 and Howard's finding out his father's true parentage. In this thoroughly researched novel, Peck masterfully describes the female Civil War experience, the subtle and not-too-subtle ways the country was changing, and the split in loyalty that separated towns and even families. Although the book deals with some weighty themes, it is not without humor. A scene involving strapping on a corset is worthy of Grandma Dowdel herself.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. | | | |
| Gr 7 Up-In the opening days of the Civil War, a genteel but worldly wise young woman and her companion step off a steamboat from New Orleans onto the dock of a provincial Illinois town. This richly told and evocatively realized novel tells how the strangers are taken into the Pruitts' home (and into their hearts), changing all of the characters' lives forever. Winner of the 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. | | | |
| Fifteen-year-old Howard travels by car in 1916 with his father and young twin brothers from St. Louis to the tiny town of Grand Tower in southern Illinois to visit Howard's paternal grandparents. Through Howard's telling, readers sense that Grand Tower contains some interesting family history, possibly even a scandal. When Howard sits to reflect, the narration is passed to his grandmother, Tilly, speaking as a fifteen-year-old in 1861. The effects of the Civil War are just reaching Grand Tower, and Tilly's twin brother, Noah, aches to join the Union Army. Then two amazing and mysterious young women from New Orleans climb off a Mississippi riverboat and wind up staying with Tilly and her family. The worldliness of these two strangers opens Tilly's mind to the possibilities of what lies beyond her small town. When she is called to perform a heroic rescue mission, Tilly brings both her small-town sensibilities and her innocent sense of wonder to the adventure, offering a delightful narrative viewpoint to this story of wonderful twists and turns. Peck's expert use of colloquial English again transforms an already fascinating story into a rare literary treat, as shown in his Fair Weather (Dial, 2001/VOYA October 2001), Year Down Yonder (2000/VOYA December 2000), and A Long Way to Chicago (1998/VOYA December 1998). The endearing turns of phrase, coupled with the ingenious observations of the young narrators, create a strong sense of historical vibrancy. The reader is always treated to a bit more than the narrator is aware of revealing. As Howard observes after hearing Tilly's story, "She had a way of telling you so much, you thought you'd heard it all."-Diane Emge. 5Q 4P M J S Copyright 2003 Voya Reviews | | |
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