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A review by abomine
Bull Run by David Frampton, Paul Fleischman
4.0
#ReadKidsLit
2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A novel set during wartime
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The concept of this book is fantastic. The history-changing Battle of Bull Run told from multiple perspectives, creating a multi-faceted portrait of a battle in all of its historical and human context. Considering that this book is barely 100+ pages long, there's a lot of depth to this story. It's gripping, it's visceral, and it's tragic (it's amazing the kind of gruesome violence that writers can get away with in a children's book that they can't get away with in a children's movie).
My only complaint is one that a lot of readers seemed to have, that there were A LOT of characters (sixteen of them), and keeping track of them got a little tough sometimes. Each chapter is headed by a woodcut illustration specific to a certain character, which helps to give a visual on which character is currently speaking. There's also a complete cast list in the back of the book. Those two things helped a bit, but not much.
There was also, in my view, a slight shortage of black characters. Again, sixteen characters, and only two were black. Considering the subject matter, this strikes me as a bit of an oversight.
Still though, this was an excellent read that delivers more depth and intrigue in its slim 100 pages than in books twice or three times the size. Maybe this won't offer anything new to a historical fiction buff, but to a layperson like me, this hit the spot.
2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A novel set during wartime
-----------------------
The concept of this book is fantastic. The history-changing Battle of Bull Run told from multiple perspectives, creating a multi-faceted portrait of a battle in all of its historical and human context. Considering that this book is barely 100+ pages long, there's a lot of depth to this story. It's gripping, it's visceral, and it's tragic (it's amazing the kind of gruesome violence that writers can get away with in a children's book that they can't get away with in a children's movie).
My only complaint is one that a lot of readers seemed to have, that there were A LOT of characters (sixteen of them), and keeping track of them got a little tough sometimes. Each chapter is headed by a woodcut illustration specific to a certain character, which helps to give a visual on which character is currently speaking. There's also a complete cast list in the back of the book. Those two things helped a bit, but not much.
There was also, in my view, a slight shortage of black characters. Again, sixteen characters, and only two were black. Considering the subject matter, this strikes me as a bit of an oversight.
Still though, this was an excellent read that delivers more depth and intrigue in its slim 100 pages than in books twice or three times the size. Maybe this won't offer anything new to a historical fiction buff, but to a layperson like me, this hit the spot.