"Telling the truth don't come easy to me"

I finally decided that The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick was a good book, even though it wasn't what I expected.  Homer and his brother Harold are orphans being raised by their nasty uncle, Squinton Leach.  After Squinton illegally sells Harold to the Union Army, Homer runs away from home to save Harold from having to fight in the Civil War.  He encounters slave hunters, the Underground Railroad, scoundrels, a traveling medicine show, and more as his adventures take him closer and closer to his brother and the enemy lines. Homer's outrageous lies often add a touch of humor to the story, but his bravery, cleverness, and determination are impressive, too.  The author provides an authentic sense of the times, including the unfairness of slavery and the realities of war.  An excellent read for fans of historical fiction.

Interesting, yet sad

Have you ever read a book and thought you should be liking it better or getting something more out of it? That's what happened with me when I read Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells. The book received excellent reviews, but I had a hard time getting through it. You might love it, though! India Moody is twelve years old and lives in Virginia, the Confederate side of the Civil War. She balances the grief at watching her father go off to war and the horror at what she witnesses (war injuries and illnesses are never pleasant - even less so in the 1860s) with tutoring she receives from Emory Trimble in biology and chemistry, topics not deemed appropriate for young ladies of her day but for which she has a real love and talent. India grows and matures, assumes more and more responsibility for her family, and has difficult decisions to make when encountering some dead and wounded Yankee soldiers. Much research went into crafting this book, a very authentic telling of experiences during the War Between the States.