A River Between Us by Richard Peck

Genre V:
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Peck, Richard. 2003. The River Between Us. New York. Listening Library. ASIN: B000E8JN42

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this mysterious historical fiction tale, we meet the Pruitt family living simply in a small town in the hills of Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi river just as the American Civil War is about to breakout. Tilly, Noah, Cass and Mama run a farm on the Illinois side of the great river. One day a beautiful, vivacious young girl arrives on a boat from New Orleans and their lives are forever changed.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
I chose this novel in audio format. It is published by Random House’s Listening Library. It is a four disc, unabridged production packaged in a hard case with each disc in a protective slip. Performed by two readers, Daniel Passer and Lina Patel, the recording is three hours and fifty four minutes long. The sound and performance quality is high and if young readers enjoy this format, they will certainly find this novel absorbing. The production is recommended for ages ten and older. This listening experience was one of the best available with appropriately placed music and background enhancements. Daniel Passer reads the first and last chapters as a young man learning about his family’s past. Lina Patel reads all other chapters and masterfully changes her voice to “match” each character. The prejudices, behaviors, dress, verbiage and dialects of the time and region are all expressed honestly and accurately. Peck has expertly spun his research of the woman’s role in the Civil War and in historical Southern Louisiana society into a gripping and courageous account. This is a truly engaging story of love and pride in who you are and where you come from.

4. REVIEW(S):

BOOKLIST: 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. 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.

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: 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. 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.

5. CONNECTIONS (This book is for older readers, grade 7 and up)
*Pair this novel with these two nonfiction books: CIVIL WAR WOMEN: AMERICAN WOMEN SHAPED BY CONFLICT IN STORIES BY ALCOTT, CHOPIN, WELTY AND OTHERS by Frank D. McSherry and BEHIND THE BLUE AND GRAY: THE SOLDIER'S LIFE IN THE CIVIL WAR (YOUNG READER'S HIST- CIVIL WAR) by Delia Ray

*Teach students how to use appropriate websites to trace their genealogy.
http://www.worldgenweb.org/~wgw4kids/