Juliet's Moon

by Ann Rinaldi

War is turning Juliet Bradshaw's world upside down. Her brother, Seth, rides with William Quantrill's renegade Confederate army, but he's helpless when the Yankees arrest Juliet along with the wives and sisters of Quantrill's soldiers as spies. Imprisoned in a dilapidated old house in Kansas City, Juliet is one of a handful of survivors after the building collapses, killing most of the young girls inside. When she's reunited with her brother, Juliet finds the life she had previously known is gone. Surrounded by secrets, lies, murder, and chaos, she must determine just how far she will go to protect the people and things she holds dear.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Civil War, Historical, Middle Grade, Fiction, 19th Century

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Ann Rinaldi (b. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. She also writes for the Dear America series.

Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.

Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, I know what I'm about to say is a little irrevelent, but I gotta say the cover isn't that great. It could be forgivable if it was published many years ago, but it was published in 2008. By that time they have exponentially vamped up cover art. Well, that all aside I picked this up because I hadn't read historical fiction in a while, and I've always been a Rinaldi fan.

I love American Civil War stories, but in this one we see it through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl named Juliet Bradshaw. Her brother, Seth, is the only family she has left. He's part of William Quantrill's renegade so he has to leave Juliet in the care of Martha, his "maybe" sweetheart. One of the times when Seth is gone Martha, her sisters, and Juliet are taken prisoner by the Yankees. The Yankees also capture the famous Sue Mundy, the woman soldier. Unfortunately a tragedy happens while the girls are imprisoned and it changes Juliet and all the people who are close to her. She finds how willing she is to go to her dark side of the moon.

I hadn't known how the Lawrence, Kansas raid came about, and it's always interesting to explore how characters of the time would have reacted to something like this. Are the confederates right to attack Lawrence since the prison burned and killed many of their women? Or is it just as bad to raid a town in vengeance? One of the reasons I couldn't rate this book higher was because Juliet was annoying. She came off very spoiled and that is probably a realistic portrayal because she grew up as a southern belle. Still, it's hard for me to get behind a character like that, even though she grows it's not as much as I would have hoped.

The ending was done well though. I can see why I always wanted to have an older brother. It's because of books like this that show a strong brother sister relationship. It's easy to see how war changes people and the whole concept that people have two sides to them. Just like the moon has a light and dark side, so do we.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good plot with rich historical detail.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. My 11-year-old loves historical fiction as much as me, and picked this up from the library. She loved it so much she asked me to read it too so we could discuss it. There are some pretty intense parts, and I was surprised she read them at bedtime and slept without rough dreams. I had never heard stories like this from the Civil War era, and it was intriguing. It made me wonder who the bad guys were. Often the point is made that war blurs those kinds of lines.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as well crafted and developed as her earlier books and yet another take on the Civil War from a young southern girl's point of view. The author recently has been crafting her story around girls that are too young (10-12) to really serve as useful and interesting protagonist. Still, the book is worth the read and does give some background into the Bushwackers during the Civil War. However, for a better take, rent the movie, "Ride with the Devil".

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ann Rinaldi, but I was not thrilled with this book. The plot was underdeveloped in comparison to her other books. The characters were not as dynamic as ones she has developed before, either. I was very interested in the topic...set in the Civil War in Kansas and Missouri, it was supposed to give insight into the Bushwackers. I don't know if the research just wasn't there for this topic, but there was just not enough substance for me.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as good a young adult historical fiction novel as there is. Rinaldi has developed rich characters that allows the reader an immediate connection. The choice of topic, a little known incident during the time of the Civil War. It is a clever, enjoyable read. The main character is plucky enough to convert female readers solely interested in romance stories. Well done!

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this was one of the strongest girls in any of Rinaldi's books. Juliet is only twelve but goes through so much in her life. The book was short but jam packed with action and difficult situations. I would definitely recommend this to any historical fiction fan.

[Ashley Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

i ended up really liking this book! i’ve never been a fan of historical (fiction or fact) before WW2, this book has changed that and i’m so grateful! i don’t think anybody has the right to attempt to cover up or erase the past of America; good, bad, or worse… it’s important!

[Kate The Great · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand that this was a young adult novel, but I have read so many beautifully crafted YA novels, that in truth, this one left me feeling as if it lacked. Exactly what it lacked, I' can't quite put my finger on it. I came across this book purely by accident. As I was waiting in line for my children to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog, we snaked through the book shelves and my eye caught the book jacket.

Was I really seeing an image of Anastasia Romanov, daughter to the last Tsar of Russia on a book cover with a burning house and confederate flag? Yes, I was most certainly was. I quickly grabbed it and glanced the plot line for any connection of the two, yet could find it nowhere. Perhaps I was making it up and the girl only looked similar. Nope, being the nerd that I am, I could look at that picture and tell you not only what picture it was, but how old the grand duchess had to be when it was taken based on facial features. Forget the fact the hair and clothing were victorian in style.

Something right then and there chaft me about this book. Could it be that the cover artist were so lazy that, not only could they not get a stock image of a girl who even remotely, in looks and fashion styling, matched to civil war era, but that they then just smacked one of the most famous girls in world history on it, hoping no one would notice? Yes, that was probably it. I mean, honestly, if you are going to be that half hearted about the cover art, what hope did I have for the book. And yet, being me, I threw it in the book bag, and checked it out.

I opened the book with an open mind and in truth toward the start, I found it a nice light read, but then it took a bizzare turn, that as I said, I can't quite put a finger on. It was as if the story yerned so hard for us to be deeply emotionally connected to this little girl, and yet, never quite was able to do anything to enable such a connection. It left me feeling like it was a shell of a story.

Was it worth the two hours it took to read? Oh sure, I suppose I could have found worse things to spend my time on, but had a been given a choice of know what it was before hand, I would have moved on rather quickly to something else.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome story of the Civil War. This one is about the female family of the men in Quantrill's Raids. The main character is Juliet Bradshaw the little sister of William Clarke Quantrill's captain Seth Bradshaw. Juliet and many of the female relations of the Raiders were kidnapped and taken to Kansas City, Kansas and imprisoned. The Union Army hoped that by doing this they could find out where Quantrill's men were. Unfortunately, the building they were being kept in collapsed and most of the women and young girls were killed. This is what led to Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas. I fell in love with Juliet and everyone in her life. I really liked the relationship she had with her brother and how they looked after each other no matter what. I also really enjoyed Sue Mundy she did such a good job helping the raiders and I love that Marcellus Jerome Clark was in lust with Juliet. I also liked how Juliet wasn't like most girls of her time. She had a lot of tough decisions to make and she may have had to sit and think about it but she always seemed to do the right thing. I was so surprised at the end when it came down to Juliet or the Yankee and she actually shot him. I mean wow, I was really proud that she did that to protect pretty much everyone she held dear. During the section with Juliet and Bill I got really nervous because I didn't want anything bad to happen to her and it was pretty obvious that Bill had lost his mind. I couldn't believe that losing his sisters would turn a man who was a sweet caring brother into somebody who is now a crazy, blood thirsty, animal. I always like reading Ann Rinaldi's books because they tend to have happy endings and I like knowing that my main character is going to go through hard times but she's going to come through stronger because of it.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this particular Ann Rinaldi book only earned 3 stars, I still liked it. Compared to her other books, it was not my favorite for several reasons: Juliet is a pretty spoiled girl, and even though she does usually act for selfless means, I had a hard time completely connecting to her, and part of what makes Rinaldi's heroines so good is the ease in which the Reader can connect to them. Juliet also was not a real figure in history, and I always tend to like Rinaldi's fictional characters less than the real ones that she brings to life with her outstanding writing. And then the story just kind of ends. This is a book that could have been longer, and been made better because of it.

However, there were things I did like. I have never heard of this particular event in history until now, and I found it to be very interesting. One thing I love so much about Ann Rinaldi's books is she picks small tragedies in history that not many people know about. And I also liked how Rinaldi managed to tell a story from the point of view of a Confederate girl. Not many writers are comfortable with telling the Civil War through the eyes of the South, but Rinaldi can do it - and she does it well. It never feels like she's saying one side was better than the other. She consistantly illustrates that both sides did bad things, and both sides did good things.

"Juliet's Moon" is certainly not my favorite Ann Rinaldi book, but it is still good and worth reading.

[Karen Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the Civil War, Juliet Bradshaw's older brother Seth rides with Quantrill's Raiders in Missouri. This was a group infamous for its revenge tactics -- when the Yankees would burn farms and shoot Confederates, the Raiders would find Yankees for similar treatment. Riding with Quantrill is Sue Mundy, who was the most famous double agent of her time. Juliet doesn't like Sue, as she sees her as a rival for Seth's affections for his sweetheart Martha, but Sue comes to the rescue for Juliet more than once and earns her respect. Juliet, Martha, and the other sisters, wives and girlfriends of the Raiders are arrested by the Yankees and held as spies in an old house that ends up collapsing and injuring all of them and killing some. This was the real event that caught Ann Rinaldi's attention and brought her to creating Juliet's story. Juliet is a tough chick inside a Southern belle, and there are a lot of sides to war shown here that don't get attention often. 7th grade and up, good for the 8th grade Civil War unit, obviously.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of Ann Rinaldi's excellent series of historical novels. This one takes place post-Gettysburg but before the end of the Civil War. Juliet is 12 and the sister of Seth, who is one of the members of Quantrill's Raiders.

The Union forces in the areas have been burning farms, and it's only a matter of time before they arrest Juliet and the others at her home for being relatives of men in the Raiders. They lock her and a number of girls and women up in a jail, but there's a terrible accident and some of them are killed.

The story is about how her brother, Seth, cares for Juliet and wants to keep her safe but, at the same time, he is part of the Southern anti-Union forces. There's also another interesting character, Sun Mundy who is not exactly what she appears to be.

This is a very well done book, the characters interesting, especially with the influence of the war being felt in virtually everything that is done.

[Karma Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was really interesting to me. I had heard of the Quantrill Raiders and knew that Jesse James began his criminal career in that arena. I had not heard about the wives and sisters of the Quantrill Raiders being taken prisoner and most dying in the collapse of the prison they were in. I was intrigued but unfortunately the book did not live up. I believe the author was trying to stay historically correct and based her character interactions on journals from the time period. The result was a bunch of very flat, unrelatable characters. Just because they expressed themselves differently than we do today does not mean they didn't feel things as much as we do now. It was a grand idea with a dissapointing outcome. I would very much like to read a well written book on this same subject!!!!!

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet is a forthright, somewhat headstrong daughter of the South.
And a sister to Seth Bradshaw, who happens to ride with Quantrill’s Raiders.

When Pa dies at the point of a Yankee bullet, Seth becomes Juliet’s only family. And she becomes embroiled, not only with the fate of the Raiders, but with those who wish to destroy them, the horrors of the Grand Avenue Prison, and the escapades of Sue Mundy.

Who might—or might not—be the only woman to ride and shoot alongside Quantrill’s band.

What an adventure! With one larger-than-life character after the next and enough historical drama to shame many a purely fictitious story, Ann Rinaldi has again developed a heroine with enough spunk to bring the past alive.

[Erin Forson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet's Moon
by Ann Rinaldi
If you like the Civil War and learning more facts about the history of this period, then this book is for you! Juliet's brother, Seth, is a member of the Quantrill Raiders...a little-known group of guerilla soldiers who were sympathetic to the Confederate cause. When Juliet is captured by Yankees and accused of treason because her brother is a member, she endures numerous hardships while she awaits her rescue or the payment of her ransom. Famous members of the Quantrill Raiders included Jesse James and Sue Mundy. Even though the story is told through the eyes of a girl and the cover is terrible, the novel is a fantastic read! The chapters are short, there's tons of action, and the reader will learn a great deal they didn't know about the Civil War.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet's Moon by Ann Rinaldi takes place throughout the Civil War where Juliet Bradshaw's family are strong southern plantation owners of the Cottonocracy. This book has a strong historical content with an intense dialog. The setting and plot seem realistic as do the characters and their personalities. Being set in the south the language is also authentic but can be crude in some ways. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good read because it's a really fun book! As the main character and her family go through struggles and challenges you feel as if you are as well. This book is a definite read for young adult literature lovers.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating perspective of the Civil War seen through the eyes of a young girl, Juliet Bradshaw, who was part of the group of girls that was captured by the Yankees and held captive in a jail in Kansas City. Her brother was part of the Quantrill Raiders, a group of Confederates who raided and looted the Yankees in retribution for their losses. Juliet discovers that we all have our own dark side of the moon, and she must decide how far she is willing to go in her quest to return to the life she once knew.

[Sisters Mary-of-the-Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juliet's Moon is a fictional account of the Civil War as told by a Confederate young girl, Juliet Bradshaw. This young person's novel tells the story of the murder of Juliet's father by Union soldiers, the burning of her home, her imprisonment in a Union prison, her eventual freedom and life on her brother's small plantation in Missouri before the end of the war. This book also tells the story of Quantrill's Raiders and "female" Confederate soldier Sue Mundy, aka, Marcellus Jerome Clark.

[AlixJamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure where Ann Rinaldi is heading in her writing career, but I hope she isn't losing her historical touch. This is the first "historical" book I've read by her that hasn't REALLY given a bit of history on a platter. She focused more on her made up characters, which is fine; just not like her. Though definitely darker than her usual style, I thought it was a very thought provoking book, and I truly enjoyed it.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juliet is a young girls whose life is torn apart by the war, often during the book it feels like Juliet is both extremely unlucky ( being taken prisoner by the Union troops) and very lucky ( being one of the few girls who manages to sat alive in the building collapse). I am always intrigued by the unique bits of history, the unknown stories that Ann Rinaldi uses in her books. Her research is excellent and I am always confident that any events in her books are historically accurate.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to love Ann Rinaldi's novels but her last few have been short and depressing. This one is no exception. It is about the women related to Quantrill's (Rebel) Raiders during the Civil War. It's bloody, violent and sad. Juliet was too young and innocent to be an appealing heroine. She very passively allows things to happen to her and doesn't take much control over her own life as the war gets longer and bloodier.

[Kristen Fort · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have much in the knowledge of what went on out west during the Civil War, so I really enjoyed this novel about it, learned something new but also horrifying (the collapse of the prison), and it seemed to give a real picture (i.e., not a romanticized version) of what the life would be like - the soldiers, the bartering, the notion that Juliet was still a little girl but had to face all sorts of things that sped up her growing-up process.

[Desi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read and fun for the whole family. We have been into reading historial fiction as a family and it's a fun way to bring up historical topics. This book draws you into the lives of the main characters and you want to find out what happens. Another thing I really liked is that at the end of the book it tells you what happened to all the "real" characters in the book.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite of Rinaldi's is The Last Silk Dress. I read that over and over again as a teen and when I saw this I thought I would love it too. It was a good story but it could have been better so I have to say it didn't pull its weight like I was hoping. A longer plot with more character development would be needed.

[Posie · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. GOSH. I just finished this book, and it was utterly unbelievable. Ann Rinaldi is a genius. In school right now we are studying the Civil War, so this fit in nicely. At some parts, I just wanted to start crying, but the characters are some of my favorites of all time! I want to marry Seth Bradshaw. :-) Anyway, I highly recommend this book!

[Sandra]

I thought the book was very well written. I did like how Juliet is always wanting her brother it shows how family is really important,and how we should love on another. I didn't like how they made Sue Mundy a man and girl at the same time. I didn't like how Seth proposed to Martha when she was in the hospital.

[Carol Hahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting account of the Grand Avenue building collapse where several women and girls related to Quantrill's Raiders were being kept and events after the building collapse. Books like this help readers appreciate that the Civil War was fought on so many different fronts with some groups acting independently.

[Judy Desetti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Rinaldi and was looking forward to a great historical fiction. I was disappointed. This one did not draw me in. the main character Juliet was a shallow character who I did not have much empathy for.

[Laura Craner · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the time I read it I remember thinking that this was an interesting book, but now (less than a year later) I can't even remember what it was about. That either a sign that my mommy brain has gotten more sieve-like or that this really wasn't that great a book.