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Guerrilla Season
The Civil War in Missouri
In 1863, at fifteen, Matt Howard is old enough to join the Southern guerrillas and help protect Missouri from Union forces. But Matt would rather farm than fight – tending his beloved pa's land is the next best thing to having him still alive. What’s more, to safeguard her six children, Matt’s mother insists that the family take a neutral position. In Missouri's Civil War, which pits neighbor against neighbor, armed men often bang on doors in the middle of the night, shouting "Union or Secesh?" The wrong answer can get a civilian killed.
Matt’s mother is from the North, and when Ma decides to move them back, Matt is torn: Should he abandon his farm or his family? And what about his friend Jesse, who has no doubts about joining the guerrillas? What will Jesse say if Matt runs away? In this large, gripping examination of the Civil War in Missouri, a boy bewildered by the madness around him wrestles with questions about family ties, friendship, and loyalty.
Guerrilla Season is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
In 1863, at fifteen, Matt Howard is old enough to join the Southern guerrillas and help protect Missouri from Union forces. But Matt would rather farm than fight – tending his beloved pa's land is the next best thing to having him still alive. What’s more, to safeguard her six children, Matt’s mother insists that the family take a neutral position. In Missouri's Civil War, which pits neighbor against neighbor, armed men often bang on doors in the middle of the night, shouting "Union or Secesh?" The wrong answer can get a civilian killed.
Matt’s mother is from the North, and when Ma decides to move them back, Matt is torn: Should he abandon his farm or his family? And what about his friend Jesse, who has no doubts about joining the guerrillas? What will Jesse say if Matt runs away? In this large, gripping examination of the Civil War in Missouri, a boy bewildered by the madness around him wrestles with questions about family ties, friendship, and loyalty.
Guerrilla Season is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published August 12, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 20, 2020
A nice try at historical fiction for older kids but it did not completely work for me. This book violated one of my rules for entertaining stories: it was too long. A book of less than 330 pages should not take most of the first hundred to get the story going. This one does that to its detriment. Even worse, I did not find Matt Howard, the 15-year-old protagonist, to be terribly compelling. The book attempts to create a parallel between the rebellion of the Confederacy and Matt's against his mother. For the most part, he does not rebel, thus making him lacking in interest. Even worse was the depiction of Matt's best friend, Jesse James. The future inventor of the train robbery comes off here as more of an innocent than any biography of him would suggest. Still, the book gets a lot of the Civil War era in a border state (Missouri in this case) right. It needed a stronger protagonist and a bit of pruning to really work. Three and a half stars.
April 10, 2011
No review to be on the blog.
I had to read this class for American History, and I completely loathed it. I hurried to finish it and rid myself of this book. I have to do three different projects over this darned book and I can't stand it. The book didn't pull me in at all. I don't like historical fiction, but that's not the reason I hated this. I loved 'The Book Thief' and that was historical fiction. I just wish that the characters were better developed, the plot had a better arc, and the story wasn't so flat.
I had to read this class for American History, and I completely loathed it. I hurried to finish it and rid myself of this book. I have to do three different projects over this darned book and I can't stand it. The book didn't pull me in at all. I don't like historical fiction, but that's not the reason I hated this. I loved 'The Book Thief' and that was historical fiction. I just wish that the characters were better developed, the plot had a better arc, and the story wasn't so flat.
October 12, 2011
I thought it was a good book. I liked but in some parts of the book I didn't reall'y like it. It could be very anoying sometimes like when they were in the house and they were just talking during dinner for like 6 pages long it was horrible. This book was about the wars but it wasnt real. The book was also a love story about Mat and Susie but when she was about the kiss him in the tree she shouved him out of the tree. And he fell and got hurt really bad she started to cry but Matt said its ok. But he didn't know that she was going to kiss him and then a rampage started lots of men started to get killed. And they would get hung or shot it was horrible. So thats what i didn't like. I liked the part when they were in boot camp and how they had to take apart a bomb. I liked that part alot becouse Matt and his freind were screeming at each other becouse they had to hurry and dismantle the bomb.They were worried they were going to get blown up. They did dismantle it.So thats the story on gurrilla season.
July 13, 2010
ARC received through the First Reads giveaway program.
I love that Hughes chose to set this novel in the border state of Missouri. Most Civil War fiction (and history) focuses on the states where the "real action" took place. That is a true disservice--the conflict in states like Missouri and Kansas is a HUGE part of the war's story.
Hughes has done a fantastic job of telling the story of a boy torn between the North and South. The choice to use a real historic figure as a character is a very nice touch. Jesse makes an already compelling narrative feel even more real.
On the subject of realism, Hughes does not shy away from portraying the horrors of guerrilla warfare and occupation without getting overly graphic. There are a couple of scenes that might be frightening to readers on the younger end of the spectrum, but older ones should be able to handle it just fine.
This is a very good novel--no qualifiers needed.
I love that Hughes chose to set this novel in the border state of Missouri. Most Civil War fiction (and history) focuses on the states where the "real action" took place. That is a true disservice--the conflict in states like Missouri and Kansas is a HUGE part of the war's story.
Hughes has done a fantastic job of telling the story of a boy torn between the North and South. The choice to use a real historic figure as a character is a very nice touch. Jesse makes an already compelling narrative feel even more real.
On the subject of realism, Hughes does not shy away from portraying the horrors of guerrilla warfare and occupation without getting overly graphic. There are a couple of scenes that might be frightening to readers on the younger end of the spectrum, but older ones should be able to handle it just fine.
This is a very good novel--no qualifiers needed.
October 8, 2011
I found the story gripping. The tension between the families who used to be neighbors who cared for and supported each other was well described and believable. The author made me feel sympathy for both sides.
For me, this story illuminated the brother-against-brother aspect of the war. It caused me to question the simplistic, one-sided version of the civil war that I was taught in school.
It's been over a month since I completed the book, and those thoughts have stayed with me: how the "northern" view seems to this day to be the accepted/"right" view of the rift between north and south. I'm grateful to Hughes for opening my eyes to an alternate viewpoint.
For me, this story illuminated the brother-against-brother aspect of the war. It caused me to question the simplistic, one-sided version of the civil war that I was taught in school.
It's been over a month since I completed the book, and those thoughts have stayed with me: how the "northern" view seems to this day to be the accepted/"right" view of the rift between north and south. I'm grateful to Hughes for opening my eyes to an alternate viewpoint.
October 23, 2012
Focusing on the American Civil War in Missouri, this historical fiction novel for young people follows Matt and his family as they try to maintain a neutral position when everyone around them has sided with the North or the South. The Author's Note at the end of the book reveals an interesting real-world connection to one of the characters. Don't miss it!
November 9, 2014
I loved the historical information packed into this book but I had to be on alert, while reading, to look out for cuss words as there were many. Since I was reading it out loud to my children I had to say alternative things but the story line was great. It was a little bit above my children's heads but I expected that so that they would want to ask questions.
January 23, 2011
Slow start but awesome once going, but then I love historical fiction.
“I don’t fight. I farm” Matt to take sides in this war. He’s not a bushwhacker or a jayhawker. But both sides suspect him as an enemy. Matt may be forced to choose sides or leave the land he loves.
“I don’t fight. I farm” Matt to take sides in this war. He’s not a bushwhacker or a jayhawker. But both sides suspect him as an enemy. Matt may be forced to choose sides or leave the land he loves.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews