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Anna Sunday
Disguised as a boy and equipped with Samson, a cranky horse who only obeys commands in the form of Bible verses, Anna Sunday embarks on a perilous journey, from Pennsylvania to Virginia, during the Civil War to rescue her wounded Pa.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published May 27, 2002
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Sally M. Keehn
10 books10 followersSally M. Keehn is an author of children's and historical fiction books. She was born in London, but grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. At the age of 19, she left Annapolis to attend Hood College.
After college, her thirst for learning led her to Korea, where she spent a year working for the American Red Cross and traveling through Far-East Asia. She then proceeded to Drexel University for her M.S. in Library Science, and she has worked as a librarian in both Maryland and Pennsylvania.
After college, her thirst for learning led her to Korea, where she spent a year working for the American Red Cross and traveling through Far-East Asia. She then proceeded to Drexel University for her M.S. in Library Science, and she has worked as a librarian in both Maryland and Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 26, 2019
In this children's adventure story set during the Civil War, Anna and her younger brother Jed receive word that their father has been shot. Unwilling to believe the worst, Anna chops off her braid and becomes Adam and decides to set out together on a quest to find him, traveling from Pennsylvania to Virginia on horseback.
For all of the adventure that is contained in this book's pages, I never found it all that interesting. Yes, the characters were off on daring escapades, but I never got caught up in the excitement that the back cover had promised.
Possibly, this could be due to the fact that this book is not very believable. Everything is always very neat and tidy, and whatever dangers Anna and Jed find themselves in, they always manage to escape cleanly and breezily. The idea of two young children traveling approximately 80 miles unaccompanied, in the midst of a war, could raise skepticism, and yet, stranger things have happened when a country is at war. But from there, the tale grows more and more unbelievable. A silly thing was that their means of transportation, an elderly farm-horse named Samuel, only obeys commands given in Bible verses. This seemed ridiculous to me and simply impossible. During their travels, the siblings are set upon by thieves, and Anna, a small 12 year old girl, takes on multiple grown men in a fight - and wins. And if that's not eyebrow-raising enough, she does so again later in the book, except the unfortunate men now caught in her path are now guards rather than thieves.
Of course, her and her brother's hunch that their father was not actually dead ends up being correct, and once they reach Virginia, they manage to locate him with suspicious ease. It turns out, their father has been nursed back to health by a kindly woman who has allowed him to live at her own home, despite the fact that she is Confederate and he is a wounded Union soldier.
I felt that everything was wrapped up far too neatly, and that the book overall had shown nothing unexpected, believable, or unpredictable.
For all of the adventure that is contained in this book's pages, I never found it all that interesting. Yes, the characters were off on daring escapades, but I never got caught up in the excitement that the back cover had promised.
Possibly, this could be due to the fact that this book is not very believable. Everything is always very neat and tidy, and whatever dangers Anna and Jed find themselves in, they always manage to escape cleanly and breezily. The idea of two young children traveling approximately 80 miles unaccompanied, in the midst of a war, could raise skepticism, and yet, stranger things have happened when a country is at war. But from there, the tale grows more and more unbelievable. A silly thing was that their means of transportation, an elderly farm-horse named Samuel, only obeys commands given in Bible verses. This seemed ridiculous to me and simply impossible. During their travels, the siblings are set upon by thieves, and Anna, a small 12 year old girl, takes on multiple grown men in a fight - and wins. And if that's not eyebrow-raising enough, she does so again later in the book, except the unfortunate men now caught in her path are now guards rather than thieves.
Of course, her and her brother's hunch that their father was not actually dead ends up being correct, and once they reach Virginia, they manage to locate him with suspicious ease. It turns out, their father has been nursed back to health by a kindly woman who has allowed him to live at her own home, despite the fact that she is Confederate and he is a wounded Union soldier.
I felt that everything was wrapped up far too neatly, and that the book overall had shown nothing unexpected, believable, or unpredictable.
May 25, 2020
I liked this story about a girl who goes on a journey and discovers things about herself on the way. I think there were too many exclamation marks though, and the story was way too unrealistic, as it is nearly impossible for two children to travel across a country DURING A WAR and survive with everything they wanted and zero injuries.
May 21, 2013
gr 5-8 259pgs
1863 Rebel territory. 12 year old Anna Sunday and her brother leave their farm near Gettysburg, PA to find their father, a Union soldier, who has been injured. Anna decides that to make the dangerous journey it would be safer to be "Adam" so she cuts her hair and puts on boy clothes. When they find their father, they discover he is being cared for by a Rebel supporter! As she gets to know the family caring for her father, Anna begins to question what she thought she knew about her "enemies."
Great story. I especially liked Samson, the Sunday's horse, who needed to hear certain bible verses to go forward, left, right etc.
1863 Rebel territory. 12 year old Anna Sunday and her brother leave their farm near Gettysburg, PA to find their father, a Union soldier, who has been injured. Anna decides that to make the dangerous journey it would be safer to be "Adam" so she cuts her hair and puts on boy clothes. When they find their father, they discover he is being cared for by a Rebel supporter! As she gets to know the family caring for her father, Anna begins to question what she thought she knew about her "enemies."
Great story. I especially liked Samson, the Sunday's horse, who needed to hear certain bible verses to go forward, left, right etc.
March 23, 2009
the story part is good, but the it was a little below my reading level
February 2, 2013
One of my all time favorites! I'm quite the civil war buff, and this book definitely delivered.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews