Quick Book Report - Rifles for Watie
Aug 27th, 2008 by learningumbrella
Rifles for Watie, by Harold Keith
My sister is going to be studying the civil war this Fall, so I read this book to see if it would be good for her unit study. The book is very good, and seems to be historically accurate. It is a very nice balance for younger readers, with bits that show the unfairness and horror of war, but no really disturbing events. The young hero spends extended time behind enemy lines as a scout, actually fighting for the Confederates and learning that they are also good people, also fighting for something they believe in. The events unfold in the Western front (Kansas and Oklahoma), so the fight isn’t as much about slavery as it is about land rights and issues with the Native Americans. Watie, of the title, is a Cherokee chief fighting for the rebel cause, while others in the Cherokee nation were fighting for the Union.
The book is longer and denser than many YA novels are now adays, but it shoud still be doable for kids 13 and older. This will be a good addition to our Civil War unit study, and it brings to light a less examined front in the war.
[…] Original post by learningumbrella […]
This is one of my 11yo son’s favorite books. It is rather dense, but he has read it several times. We need to get our own copy, because we’ve checked it out at the library so often!!