Moon over Tennessee: A Boy's Civil War Journal

by Craig Crist-Evans, Bonnie Christensen (Illustrations)

In the spring of 1863, a thirteen-year-old boy leaves his home in northeastern Tennessee with his father, who has joined the Confederate army. The boy rides with him to care for the horses and help with camp duties. A moving personal narrative in the form of a journal, this powerful poem tells of one boy's journey into war - and the horrible climax at Gettysburg that would forever change his life. Illustrated with striking black-and-white woodcuts, Moon Over Tennessee is a vivid, lyrical, and intensely human document of the terrible personal cost of the Civil War.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Poetry, Historical, Middle Grade, War, Fiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 1999

About the author

"Every step forward, every word, is an act of discovery," said author Craig Crist-Evans of his approach to writing poetry. And he obviously found a winning formula, as evidenced by the International Reading Association's Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award he received for MOON OVER TENNESSEE: A BOY'S CIVIL WAR JOURNAL.

Craig Crist-Evans's mastery of poetic form is also apparent in NORTH OF EVERYTHING, a poignant novel-in-verse about a family who moves to a Vermont farm in search of a new beginning and a simpler life. Of his inspiration for this book, the author said, "NORTH OF EVERYTHING is my attempt to portray the changes one boy and his family experience--through the shifting seasons and in their own lives--that lead them to a humble acceptance of both beauty and loss in the world." This spare, lyrical novel will speak to anyone who has experienced change and loss, and who has faced the struggle--and found the spirit to carry on.


Prior to writing NORTH OF EVERYTHING, Craig Crist-Evans decided to try his hand at a new format: his first prose novel. "AMARYLLIS was an experiment," the author said. "I sat down without any idea at all of what might come. I wanted to attempt prose the same way I do poems. And so it was an act of discovery, for the story itself, and for my sense of myself as a fiction writer." The result was a haunting story of two brothers separated, yet forever connected, by the devastation of war--a partly autobiographical novel that incorporates themes from the author's younger days. "It was the fall of 1965. My family had just moved from Ohio to Florida," the author recalled. "During one of the biggest hurricanes of the century, the AMARYLLIS nosed into the east coast of Florida near West Palm Beach. For three years, its rusting hulk rose above the beach where I surfed, skipped school, and fell in love. When I started to write this story, that ship rose up again in memory and cast its shadow across those years of turmoil, fear, and change we now call the Vietnam War." Says KIRKUS REVIEWS of Craig Crist-Evans's prose "experiment" in a starred review: "With its almost painful realism, this is the finest depiction of war we've seen yet for young readers."


In addition to authoring books, poet and writer Craig Crist-Evans published poems, articles, essays, and reviews in numerous journals, and he taught English and directed the Writing Center at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Craig Crist-Evans died in 2005.

Reviews

[Sherry Guice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this verse novel when it first was published. I just finished reading it with a group of my 7th grade special education students--mostly boys. It has been given a Guided Reading Level of W...which makes this a challenging book for this group. It was a mistake...the book was too lyrical and poetic for them to "get." They generally lost the plot and characters as they read. Too bad...another lesson learned.

[Aaron Bolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I thought Crist-Evans did a fantastic job crafting compelling characters and storyline with very pithy verse. The only criticism I have is that I genuinely thought this was a real journal until I finally noticed the author's picture on the back of the book. I was hooked instantly and read this short journal in one sitting; very well done.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in verse, young boy, confederate side, American Civil War

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sad story, told in free verse, is written in the form of a journal. A boy from Tennessee accompanies his father to join the Confederate forces, and witnesses the battle of Gettysburg. The closer they get to the battlefields, the worse conditions get, and the less it seems like an adventure. Bonnie Christensen's engravings in black and white, reminiscent of those of Barry Moser, emphasize the dark nature of the journey. A note at the end of the book provides further information about the Civil War and Gettysburg. Pair this book with Patricia Lee Gauch's Thunder at Gettysburg for discussion of the Civil War, the life of soldiers, and war in general, for upper elementary students.
Recommended.

[Kelsey Borchers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of those books that is hard to stop thinking about once you are done with it. It is written in free verse and seems to get more serious as the boy and his father get closer to going into battle after they join the confederates. This book only focuses on one boy, but his experiences alone can shed light on such an important time in our nations history. Great but sad book that would be good to use in the classroom to reinforce the Civil War. This was my poetry book and the source was the textbook.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming, somewhat sad book. Parts of it still haunt me. This is a pretty good book to introduce kids to the Civil War with. It doesn't go into what and why, but shows what it was like for one boy and one family.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would work as a quick RC book when doing a poetry unit and it ties to the Civil War.

[elena ✧˖° · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 4.5. This book was quite good. In my opinion though, there wasn’t enough civil war detail. I wish there was a bit more. Otherwise, this book was really good.