Charley Skedaddle /

Gr. 5-8. After joining the Union Army during the Civil War, twelve-year-old Charley runs away in terror from his first battle.

Fighting is important to Charley Quinn, 12, a street-tough New York Bowery Boy who runs away from his Irish-Catholic home to join the Union forces in Virginia. But war proves much more horrible than he'd thoughtso terrible, in fact, that he deserts, giving himself the disparaging name ``Skedaddle.'' Afterward, Charley takes refuge in the mountains with Granny Bent, a midwife with her own secret loyalties. This well-crafted, somewhat episodic novel makes the point that fighting brings honor, and cowardice, shame. The settingsfrom the Bowery, to the battlefield, to Granny's cabinare quite powerful. These, along with Charley's disillusionment and change, give this novel depth and make it one of Beatty's best. Ages 10-14. (October) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 5-8 Twelve-year-old Charley Quinn loves the excitement and the gang fighting that are part of his life in New York City's Bowery in 1864. When his sister's fiance threatens to send him to an orphanage, Charley runs off with Union army enlistees and is taken on in Virginia as a drummer boy. Filled with the glory of war and a desire to avenge his brother's death at Gettysburg, Charley is a perfect soldier until his regiment does its first fighting at the Battle of the Wilderness. Charley shoots a Confederate soldier, then runs from the fighting in a panic, earning the nickname ``Charley Skedaddle'' from derisive soldiers. He is caught by a mountain woman, Granny Bent, and realizing his danger from both Union and Confederate soldiers, he stays on as her mute ``Boy,'' helping her with her chores. Over time Charley and Granny develop a strong friendship, and Charley learns from her, and through several events that test his mettle, that the greatest courageous acts are often done without an audience and for selfless reasons. Beatty brings history to life with thorough research, unusual characters and events, and fascinating historical detail. This book is a fine companion to her Turn Homeward, Hanna Lee (Morrow, 1984). Readers who enjoyed Keith's Rifles for Watie (Crowell, 1957) and William O. Steele's The Perilous Road (HBJ, 1954; o.p.) will appreciate Charley's quiet acceptance that there is no one ``right'' side to the war. Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In a great sweep through the history of the 1860's, Charley Quinn begins as one of the youngest and toughest Bowery Boys in New York, becomes a drummer boy for the Union Army, and then, after deserting, is the servant of a mountain woman in the hills of Virginia. Finally, he heads west, full of resolution to come back to the mountains some day and settle down. The author appends a chapter containing sources and cases to show that this is not a preposterous odyssey. But she need not have: she has made it believable. Charley comes alive as a scrappy, independent young man, and altogether human. When he deserts the battlefield, he goes through the agonies one would expect; but when he is taken in by Granny Bent, he resents her harping on his ""skedaddle"" from the field. He proves his manhood by killing a mountain lion and rescuing Granny Bent; his mountain friend Sarie calls him a ""knight in shining armor,"" and he heads off well equipped, even at 13, to make his way in the world. What gives this book its shimmer and forward thrust is the rich detail of each aspect of Charley's journey: the bustle of New York, the life aboard a troop ship, the ridiculous expectations that Charley has of war and the reality of the Battle of the Wilderness, the details of being a drummer boy and the contrasting life in the mountains with a ""yarbwoman"" who delivers babies. Especially fine is Charley's comparison of his Catholic church in New York with a mountain foot-washing ceremony. Younger readers will not absorb all the historical and sociological details, but they will love the rousing epic. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.