Morgan, Robert. Brave enemies; a novel of the American Revolution.

Algonquin Books, Workman. 309p. map. c2003. 1-56512-356-5. $24.95. SA*

The publishers may not have intended this book specifically for a YA audience, but the reality is that it is an excellent novel for YAs, and one that teachers will want to consider as a curriculum choice. The main character, Josie, is a 16-year-old girl living in the Carolinas during the chaos of the Revolutionary War. Her story is one of nonstop action, told in spare, utterly captivating prose. Josie is raped by her brutal stepfather (a Loyalist sympathizer); she murders him, disguises herself as a boy by cutting her hair and wearing the stepfather's clothes, and runs away in a panic. Hungry and guilt-ridden, she takes refuge in a country church, introducing herself as "Joseph," and the young preacher offers her shelter. The preacher, John, starts his own narrative account of their relationship and what befalls them, alternating with Josie's narrative. For weeks the two are companions, as John says. "like Paul and Silas." until the day he discovers his companion is actually a girl. A complicated marriage follows.

While they are visiting the little country churches of John's ministry, the couple see firsthand the violence all around them: neighbor betraying neighbor--Loyalists attacking Patriots, Patriots attacking Loyalists--lynching, rape, torture, suspicion everywhere. John carefully tries to keep neutral as long as he possibly can. but eventually he is arrested by the Loyalists, accused of spying. In her boy disguise, Josie joins a group of Carolina militiamen. Ultimately, John and Josie end up in opposing camps at the Battle of Cowpens. Morgan uses all his descriptive skills to make that horrific battle real (and historically accurate) for modern-day readers.

There are many violent scenes, disturbing scenes. There is the rape, and there are scenes of loving, sexual bliss between John and Josie. There are numerous earthy references to bodily functions. Yet, amazingly, perhaps because of Morgan's unique descriptions, concrete words often used poetically (Morgan is a poet as well as a novelist), what we have here as far as YAs are concerned is more of a PG-13 rating than an R, and the result is an outstanding novel, ideal for older YAs. Here are some of the moral questions Josie and John agonize over: the meaning of patriotism and the use of violence; an individual's search for his or her own answers about right and wrong; judgment and forgiveness, including forgiving and accepting oneself.