1. Amelia’s War by Ann Rinaldi
ISBN: 0-590-11744-0
New York: Scholastic Press, 1999. 265 pages. $15.95
2. Historical Novel / Coming of Age
Grades 7-10
3. The main characters are Amelia Grafton, her
mother and father and two brothers Wes and Sky. Amelia, the eventual heroine, calls
herself a Southerner--not a Rebel--for the Union but not for the Yankees. She is an
adolescent trying to make sense out of a confusing world. Josh Dechart is the
editor’s son, a friend of Amelia and Wes. He declares he has no interest in the war;
he’s only interested in writing truthfully about it at first. Jinny Pearl Beal
is Wesley’s girlfriend, a friend also of Amelia’s, who disguises herself as a
boy and joins in fighting on the battlefield. Aunt Lou is the freed slave, friend
and helper of the Grafton family.
4. Plot
This is the story of the Graftons, a shopkeeper and his family who
live in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1861. The novel opens at a tea honoring Dewitt Rench, the
youthful heartthrob of Williamsport’s girls. Dewitt, regally arrayed in his
Confederate uniform, is mercilessly shot down in view of his guests, providing a tragic
portent of the coming war.
Amelia Grafton, a witness to the killing, reports the tragedy to Mr.
Dechart, the local newspaper editor. Dechart is imprisoned for writing about the Dewitt
Rench incident; his offices and presses are wrecked by a local mob. Soon the war begins.
As the Civil War progresses, Amelia’s family encounter
hardship, change and tragedy as well as adventure. Because of what had happened to Mr.
Dechart (Amelia feels partially responsible), Amelia vows to keep her nose out of the
terrible war and to just wait for it to be over. Eventually she finds that she cannot
remain uninvolved.
The war disrupts the Grafton’s relationships, loyalties,
friendships as soldiers are in and out of town, as boys (and one girl) are running away to
join the Armies while fathers are absent from home, as animals are stolen, as farms are
ransacked, as caravans, wagons, ambulances crowd the streets and roads, as conflicting
reports spread about the carnage of the battlefields, as the war drags endlessly on until
finally the town is under siege. Gen. McCausland arrives.
General McCausland, Josh’s uncle, sends a message to Hagerstown
officials that he wants $200,000 in cash plus other supplies or he is going to burn the
town of Hagerstown. Since Amelia knows that the town doesn’t have this much money in
its treasury, she cleverly changes the General’s order by eliminating one of the
zeros (by using white paint) before the document is sent to the town officials; the note
is delivered by Josh who is thereby forced to join his uncle’s command. As the piece
de resistence the Grafton’s heirloom tea service is added to the cash payment for
McCausland. The town is saved by Amelia’s and Josh’s courageous actions.
Fortunately, no one ever finds out who changed the amount of money on that order!
Later Josh loses his life on the battlefield, the price he pays for
being the courier for the general’s order. Wes returns home safely from the war and
Jinny Pearl does too. The childhood romance ends between Wes and Jinny Pearl. Jinny Pearl
leaves Hagerstown.
The townspeople complain about the McCausland debt on their taxes,
but the nightmare of the war ends. Amelia has grown up. She misses her dear friend Josh.
5. There are few touchy areas but many
excellent topics for writing and discussion.
