Killgore, James. The passage.KILLGORE, James. The passage. Peachtree. 248p. illus. maps. bibliog. c2006. 1-56145-384-6. $15.95. JS This is serious Civil War fiction based on Killgore's careful research about the Confederate ironclad ironclad, mid-19th-century wooden warship protected from gunfire by iron armor. The success of the ironclad when first employed by the French in the Crimean War sparked a naval armor and armaments race between France and Great Britain. ship, the CSS Arkansas The CSS Arkansas was a Confederate Ironclad warship during the American Civil War. Serving in the Western Theater, the vessel helped repulse a U.S. Navy fleet at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in a celebrated action. , and the naval battle near Vicksburg in 1862. The narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. is a schoolboy named Sam, who lives in Yazoo City Yazoo City, city (1990 pop. 12,427), seat of Yazoo co., W central Miss., on the Yazoo River; inc. 1830. It is a trade, processing, and industrial center in a cotton, cattle, and soybean area. Oil is refined, and clothing and fertilizer are manufactured. with a grandfather who is a despised pacifist. Perhaps to recover the family name for bravery, perhaps because he is a naive 15-year-old, Sam forges his grandfather's name on enlistment papers and joins the Confederate Navy, persuading his equally naive friend Albert to come too. Neither Sam nor Albert could have anticipated the horror they experience in the following months. Killgore carefully reconstructs the details of the battle, with his fictional Sam and Albert in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of the action until they are struck down. Then comes the aftermath of grief and suffering. Sam survives but his leg must be amputated. As he spends time in a hospital, he comes to respect the doctor and falls in love with the doctor's lovely daughter who is heroic in her nursing duties. When he finally returns home, he has a new respect for his grandfather, even as the old man is further humiliated hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. because he doesn't support the war effort. This is one of those novels filled with details that will interest male readers, especially as it thoughtfully examines the meaning of bravery and honor. Claire Rosser, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
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