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sophfortz's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't really concerned myself in reading mediums about the Civil War. I dived into this book with 0 knowledge about the war. But as the historical addict that I am, I bought it. I didn't regret it one bit. I also love reading memoirs and epistolary novels. And the angst poetically describe in the entries are *chef's kiss. And I adore the the educational section in the last part of the book where it gave you facts and photographs back then about the war. This was a fast yet compelling read. I would pick this up again.
courtcupcake21's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
yes_smam's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
var1229's review
3.0
A good look into life for a child during the Civil War, but some scenes, even though they show the truth of the situation, may be a little too gruesome for a children's book.
tsilverman's review
1.0
This was like the junior version of Gone With the Wind. Also, the writing style was annoying with constant sentences inserted into sentences unnecessarily.
breeoxd's review
1.0
Absolutely nothing redeeming about this book. Maybe it's just the current social climate, but I find the whitewashing and outright racism in this book unpalatable- particularly given the target audience. Let's just refer to black people as mentally retarded for all the good this book does(word choice here is purposeful and does not reflect the views of the reader.)
And let's not chime in from the peanut gallery about how we can't hold books set in past times to today's social norms. If that were they case, the author would have at least attempted some historical accuracy. Instead we get little black scholars being taught to read by their benevolent mistress who only punishes them with cause :eye roll: and everyone and their brother making pies in the midst of a blockage. Hell, even Gone with the Wind TRIED.
I WOULD NEVER want my girl to read this book and think it's ok to view others in this way. There is no resolution or redeeming moment to make up for this travesty.
Oh, and aside from that, nothing happens in this book. The main character does nothing at all- and not in an interesting way. The only character I found myself wanting to know about was Cousin Rachel, who appears to be a "raging feminist" who was jilted by some unnamed man in some unaddressed way, but even that is mansplained away in the fake epilogue as her being mentally ill and maybe killing herself (or being murdered?) in an asylum. I can only hope the author was trying to force some dialog about how feminists were considered mentally ill, rather than feminists are all crazy and will be punished for their crimes.
Yeah, hard pass on this crappy book. Do not give this to your daughter as an "alternate viewpoint" of the civil war- unless you really mean more of an alt right viewpoint. This book is clear written by a super religious white guy.Pick up an American Girl book instead- at least they had life lessons along with sugar-coated history.
And let's not chime in from the peanut gallery about how we can't hold books set in past times to today's social norms. If that were they case, the author would have at least attempted some historical accuracy. Instead we get little black scholars being taught to read by their benevolent mistress who only punishes them with cause :eye roll: and everyone and their brother making pies in the midst of a blockage. Hell, even Gone with the Wind TRIED.
I WOULD NEVER want my girl to read this book and think it's ok to view others in this way. There is no resolution or redeeming moment to make up for this travesty.
Oh, and aside from that, nothing happens in this book. The main character does nothing at all- and not in an interesting way. The only character I found myself wanting to know about was Cousin Rachel, who appears to be a "raging feminist" who was jilted by some unnamed man in some unaddressed way, but even that is mansplained away in the fake epilogue as her being mentally ill and maybe killing herself (or being murdered?) in an asylum. I can only hope the author was trying to force some dialog about how feminists were considered mentally ill, rather than feminists are all crazy and will be punished for their crimes.
Yeah, hard pass on this crappy book. Do not give this to your daughter as an "alternate viewpoint" of the civil war- unless you really mean more of an alt right viewpoint. This book is clear written by a super religious white guy.Pick up an American Girl book instead- at least they had life lessons along with sugar-coated history.
theresidentbookworm's review
4.0
I'm a huge fan of the Dear America series, and this was probably one of my favorites. I enjoyed the Southern perspective that's really rare. Emma was a great narrator. Definitely recommended!
soulwinds's review
1.0
1 star for When Will This Cruel World Be Over?
Thoughts and Plot
Emma Simpson is a 14 year old, wealthy, white girl from Virginia whose father is off fighting in the civil war for the south (as they are slave plantation owners).
This book is not an apt representation of how it was in the south before or during the war. The author has Emma saying things like how her and her mother hold a weekly lesson for the slave children, where they read them stories from the bible and teach them how to read and write. This makes no sense because very few slaves were taught to read and write. Most were severely beaten for trying to learn to read because plantation owners didn’t want them to be able to send and receive information that wasn’t in accordance to what their owner’s wanted them to know. I’m pretty sure there was even a law about that in Virginia.
I know the author was probably trying to play down how terrible things were for slaves in the south, but as a non-fiction author, you would think they’d stick to the facts and not completely go off from history in such a way. Another example is trying to portray his narrator and her family as kindly shepherds to the poor black slaves isn’t realistic. But Emma repeatedly says, they only ‘discipline’ when it is in dire need and that her father is a kindly but firm owner. That all the slaves love them. Please. Maybe she didn’t know, but as a 14 year old girl, I think she would know where or not someone was disciplined in the fields for whatever perceived offense they committed. Therefore I think it’s safe to assume that the author was once again trying to make it look like slavery wasn’t as terrible as it actually was.
Moving on from that…Emma was a terribly boring young lady of 14. Her diary is short, dry, dull and the only time she has any long entries is to complain about her cousin, whine about the war being so hard on HER, pine after a boy she only talked to for one evening at a dance, and once and awhile talk about letters she got from said boy or her father…who only writes 3-4 times in the whole book! Oh and she does like to go on about her views on marriage in contrast to her cousin’s views. Tiresome.
People are supposed to be starving to death, but you rarely hear about it. Emma only makes passing comments like “I can’t remember the last time we had beef!” or “funny how things you used to take for granted are now so precious, like baking soda, sugar-“ blah blah blah. But it seems like she somehow rarely goes hungry. I know if I kept a journal and I was hungry, you’d hear about it every entry! Emma does mention not being able to get new clothes, not dressing up anymore, etc but you never hear her say there was no food to eat or medicine to have! All these supplies were cut off that far into the war, so where is it all coming from???
The only half decently interesting person was “Cousin Rachel” who is the only Rachel in the book, so I’m not sure why she’s always “Cousin Rachel.” Who else would she be talking about when she constantly complains no one visits??? Anyhow, “Cousin Rachel” was originally obsessed with marriage (If I remember correctly) then suddenly turns against it. Since her and Emma arguing over marriage take up so much of the book you bring to wonder if maybe Rachel was rejected at some point and that’s what turned her opinion of marriage so sour. I secretly hoped that something interesting from her past would be revealed and you spend the whole book hoping only to get to the Epilogue and discover nope, that’s not it at all. She’s just nuts and that’s why she has some valid concerns about marriage and a full rage on against it. Boring and disappointing.
There other thing I disliked was how many one sentence entries there were. What a waste of paper! Most of them could have been excluded to save trees! Of course you would then have to call the book a short story because it was short enough as it was.
I copied down some examples so you could get a feel for how terrible it was:
Wednesday, January 13, 1864 - I never realized how happy I was until this war besieged our land.
Tuesday, February 16, 1864 - There are many reports of smallpox in the area.
Tuesday, February 23, 1864 - Mother remained in bed all day.
Wednesday, March 23, 1864 - Mother is still feeling poorly.
Monday, April 18, 1864 - Mother died today.
Tuesday, May 10, 1864 - We received word of the death of Lieutenant Walker.
Tuesday, May 24, 1864 - Cousin Rachel and I talked in my room again this evening.
Saturday, July 9, 1864 - My watch is broken.
Sunday, July 24, 1864 - The weather is quite warm today.
Saturday, December 3, 1864 - We wait in breathless anticipation for news.
Sunday, December 11, 1864 - How long O Lord, how long?
Thursday, December 22, 1864 - I am growing thin and feeling weak. I can no longer even weep.
In Conclusion
This Dear America was sadly lacking. For such an interesting time period it was boring and extremely unrealistic. Wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Age range: anyone who’s old enough to stick with how boring it is
Content: Main character uses the word Negros a lot, some mention of war wounds but none go into great detail.
Thoughts and Plot
Emma Simpson is a 14 year old, wealthy, white girl from Virginia whose father is off fighting in the civil war for the south (as they are slave plantation owners).
This book is not an apt representation of how it was in the south before or during the war. The author has Emma saying things like how her and her mother hold a weekly lesson for the slave children, where they read them stories from the bible and teach them how to read and write. This makes no sense because very few slaves were taught to read and write. Most were severely beaten for trying to learn to read because plantation owners didn’t want them to be able to send and receive information that wasn’t in accordance to what their owner’s wanted them to know. I’m pretty sure there was even a law about that in Virginia.
I know the author was probably trying to play down how terrible things were for slaves in the south, but as a non-fiction author, you would think they’d stick to the facts and not completely go off from history in such a way. Another example is trying to portray his narrator and her family as kindly shepherds to the poor black slaves isn’t realistic. But Emma repeatedly says, they only ‘discipline’ when it is in dire need and that her father is a kindly but firm owner. That all the slaves love them. Please. Maybe she didn’t know, but as a 14 year old girl, I think she would know where or not someone was disciplined in the fields for whatever perceived offense they committed. Therefore I think it’s safe to assume that the author was once again trying to make it look like slavery wasn’t as terrible as it actually was.
Moving on from that…Emma was a terribly boring young lady of 14. Her diary is short, dry, dull and the only time she has any long entries is to complain about her cousin, whine about the war being so hard on HER, pine after a boy she only talked to for one evening at a dance, and once and awhile talk about letters she got from said boy or her father…who only writes 3-4 times in the whole book! Oh and she does like to go on about her views on marriage in contrast to her cousin’s views. Tiresome.
People are supposed to be starving to death, but you rarely hear about it. Emma only makes passing comments like “I can’t remember the last time we had beef!” or “funny how things you used to take for granted are now so precious, like baking soda, sugar-“ blah blah blah. But it seems like she somehow rarely goes hungry. I know if I kept a journal and I was hungry, you’d hear about it every entry! Emma does mention not being able to get new clothes, not dressing up anymore, etc but you never hear her say there was no food to eat or medicine to have! All these supplies were cut off that far into the war, so where is it all coming from???
The only half decently interesting person was “Cousin Rachel” who is the only Rachel in the book, so I’m not sure why she’s always “Cousin Rachel.” Who else would she be talking about when she constantly complains no one visits??? Anyhow, “Cousin Rachel” was originally obsessed with marriage (If I remember correctly) then suddenly turns against it. Since her and Emma arguing over marriage take up so much of the book you bring to wonder if maybe Rachel was rejected at some point and that’s what turned her opinion of marriage so sour. I secretly hoped that something interesting from her past would be revealed and you spend the whole book hoping only to get to the Epilogue and discover nope, that’s not it at all. She’s just nuts and that’s why she has some valid concerns about marriage and a full rage on against it. Boring and disappointing.
There other thing I disliked was how many one sentence entries there were. What a waste of paper! Most of them could have been excluded to save trees! Of course you would then have to call the book a short story because it was short enough as it was.
I copied down some examples so you could get a feel for how terrible it was:
Wednesday, January 13, 1864 - I never realized how happy I was until this war besieged our land.
Tuesday, February 16, 1864 - There are many reports of smallpox in the area.
Tuesday, February 23, 1864 - Mother remained in bed all day.
Wednesday, March 23, 1864 - Mother is still feeling poorly.
Monday, April 18, 1864 - Mother died today.
Tuesday, May 10, 1864 - We received word of the death of Lieutenant Walker.
Tuesday, May 24, 1864 - Cousin Rachel and I talked in my room again this evening.
Saturday, July 9, 1864 - My watch is broken.
Sunday, July 24, 1864 - The weather is quite warm today.
Saturday, December 3, 1864 - We wait in breathless anticipation for news.
Sunday, December 11, 1864 - How long O Lord, how long?
Thursday, December 22, 1864 - I am growing thin and feeling weak. I can no longer even weep.
In Conclusion
This Dear America was sadly lacking. For such an interesting time period it was boring and extremely unrealistic. Wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Age range: anyone who’s old enough to stick with how boring it is
Content: Main character uses the word Negros a lot, some mention of war wounds but none go into great detail.
saturndoo's review
3.0
I did enjoy this book but I found that some things that were taking place in the story didn't ring true. The author's writing style was a bit awkward but interesting enough to keep me reading. Overall it was alright but definitely not a favorite in this series.