Time for Battle

American Adventure #22

by Susan Martins Miller

History comes alive for eight-to-twelve year olds in this close-up, fun-to-read, multi-generational story of a fictional family spanning three centuries of actual historical events. God's hand is seen at work in people's lives and in the events that shaped our nation.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Christian, School

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[Carol]

This book includes some of the beginning of baseball & the outbreak of the Civil War.

In the story, Daria Fisk got hit on the head by a baseball. Not only was she hot, but she was going to have a headache. She was almost 12 years old, almost too old for pinafores. She threw the ball, when a boy told her she had lost his ball. He had hit it right where he wanted it, under the oak tree...she just happened to be sitting there. The boy introduced himself as DJ Baxter, newly arrived from South Carolina. DJ thought that Daria should help look for his ball. She found it, at first thinking it was a rock. They agreed that they'd see each other the next day. Daria wondered about the South, DJ was used to the idea of slavery, but he didn't seem rich. When she got home, Daria asked her older sister, Tina, about the sewing circle she attended. Tina had learned a new stitch. Charles, her older brother, was 17 & was crazy about railroads, while her twin brother, David, was crazy about baseball. David had finished off the cherry pie. When Daria described the boy, David thought he had met him already, but insisted that his name was not DJ, but TJ. They decided that they'd find out tomorrow after lunch.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is interesting for about as long as it takes to skim.

I was mostly reading for the "Twins like baseball" aspect (which is weird, because I still don't actually like baseball that much, yet I watch at least an episode of every baseball anime I can find). The weird part is they call batters "strikers" and pitchers "hurlers"... I guess that's accurate for that timeframe? But it's weird...

There are also two semi-related side plots about orphanage conditions (distraught women, esp., unable to care for themselves, much less a child, drop them off at an orphanage, or parents tired of the responsibility) and slavery (Lincoln is just elected) that obviously don't get wrapped up in this book (apparently #22 in a series), not bad but I'm not going out of my way to read more, I don't know.

[Daniel Gaul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tragic beginning of the Civil War (it's heartbreaking when the division reaches even the children)

[Renee' LaViness · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't the best book I ever read, but it was good enough to interest me in the books that come before and after it in the series. I like the fact they try to stay fairly truthful with their history, even though it's a fictional story.

Being a coach from years past, I couldn't help but scream "Offense! Defense! Don't you get it?" at the book a time or two. They never got it, though. lol...