Fallen in Fredericksburg

Ghosts of War #4

by Steve Watkins

After three ghosts, it looks like things might be going back to normal for Anderson and his friends Greg and Julie. It's been a while since any ghosts have shown up, and the most annoying things lately are the loud barking dogs at the Dogs and Suds pet-grooming shop next door to the Kitchen Sink. They've been barking nonstop for days, and it's making band practice impossible. But maybe the dogs know something the friends don't . . .

Because suddenly a ghost does appear! From what Anderson can tell, it looks like the ghost is a teenage Union soldier from the Civil War, and he looks terrifying. But this ghost is different from the He's demanding to know what happened to his brother, who was also enlisted in the Union army. It's a mystery that's over a hundred and fifty years old, and there are very few clues. What will happen to Anderson, Greg, and Julie if they can't solve this one in time?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Childrens, War

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2016

About the author

Steve Watkins is the author of the young adult novels Stolen by Night, On Blood Road, Juvie, What Comes After, and Great Falls, as well as the middle-grade novels Down Sand Mountain, Sink or Swim, and the Ghosts of War series, including The Secret of Midway, Lost at Khe Sanh, AWOL in North Africa, and Fallen in Fredericksburg.

A former professor of journalism, creative writing, and Vietnam War literature, Steve is the cofounder and editor of Pie & Chai, a monthly magazine that you can find and read online at pieandchaimagazine.com.

Reviews

[Coleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat of a Civil War buff, I was surprised that I did not know more about Fredericksburg's involvement. Having been raised not far from there in Northern Virginia, and having visited there,
this historic piece of a major battle interested me greatly.

As always, these children's stories are written to delight kid readers by adding ghosts of those who engaged in the historical activities. This plus some personal current day activity of the kids who interact with the ghosts and their families and friends makes for a good tale.

I read this book because my granddaughter had chosen it as a selection from her schools Scholastic Readers program.

[Cheyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great civil war book. It makes you feel as if you were there. It kinda makes me a little sad that we had this war. In one of the scenes it talks about detail of the battle of Federickburg and it describes in detail what happened how the ghost Sally felt about the battle. It also liked the fact that they made the ghost a girl.

[Seb · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like ghost books then read this 4 book series called Ghosts Of War and the author of this series is Steve Watkins who made great books like on blood road,what comes after after,down sand mountain and many more books but i was just listed off some of the books he has written and a little fun fact about Steve Watkins is ¨Steven Charles Watkins Jr. is an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he was defeated for reelection in an August 4, 2020 primary by Jake LaTurner¨(https://ballotpedia.org/Steve_Watkins) sorry got a little off track but let me tell you about Ghost of War Fallen in Fredericksburg well here some background info about it there are the kids 2 males and a female then you have the ghost sally and uncle dax now uncle dax runs his own store, the ghost was a girl in the irish brigade and fought for the union (the north) and then the kids are trying to find the brother of the dead soldier but a problem they have is she can't really remember anything because well ghost don't have brains I think so like when they first ask the ghost she ask is ¨where is my brother¨ and like the kids i would be scared also because seeing a ghost who also can talk would give you some shivers down your spine and what's cool is when the ghost shows up the two dogs the neighbor has goes really quite like they are scared and when they first meet the ghost they don't know what to say and did i say the names of the kids if they the names are Anderson,Greg and Julie and i know cool names plus ghost of war is a mysteries,fiction and ghost story because well ghost are not real I think and the object is simple find the brother of the dead irish girl and don't know if I said it yet but she was just a teenage girl joining the war and died a teenage girl but that's what people did back in these times I mean the youngest age to join was 18 but people under would try their hardest to look like 18 when they are actually 13-16 year old teenagers and it's really sad to know that.

[Hayden Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you really want to read the first book before this book but assuming that you already. It's about a kid who practices band in his uncles sink and so one day and so they find a box of old military junk. And in the box there was a coat and so the main character Anderson. He brings home the coat and finds a letter in it. But he also brought home something else something that he was least expecting. You have to read the book to find out what it is. I think that the theme for this book is to help others that you don't know. I think that it is that because there are these ghosts and they don't have to help them but they did anyway. They also found out how they died and what there brother's and sister's are. I also think that this book is also about friendship because they helped each other out and they all gathered information. They also all go out and play band practice. And towards the end of the book they actually become friends with little bellman. I think I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 because it was really fun to read. And there was a lot of detail not just in the people that they're trying to help but it also tells a lot about the war that they were in. Like how I didn't know that girls were faking to be boys. They did that because they wanted to be in the war. They thought that men shouldn't just be in war and they really wanted to be in it.

[Dylan LeMay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost of War Fallen in Fredericksburg is about three kids Anderson, Greg, and Julie. Andersons uncle owned a antique store where the three of them practiced for their band. There band is called Ghosts of War. While practicing one day a ghost appears. Anderson describes the ghost as a union soldier from the civil war and the ghost looks terrifying. The kids could tell this ghost was different then any of the others they have seen. This ghost is looking for his brother who also enlisted in the army. This ghost appeared because the anniversary of the battle of Fredericksburg was near. The kids are trying to solve this problem but have very few clues because it happened one hundred and fifty years ago.

I recommend this book to people who are into history and ghost stories. This book has quite a bit of historical facts and it is interesting.

The bad part about this book is it is a very slow book with very little action and it's historical which isn't really my thing.

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the introduction of a new member into the Ghosts of War gang, but I did not like the structure to the interactions with this ghost where day by day in present times they learned about the events of of the battle that happened that day in 1863. Also, the sections about slavery made me slightly uncomfortable. I feel like the kids should have been far more outraged that the Union soldiers referred to helping escaped slaves as confiscating rebel property. :( Like the previous book in the series, this one is decent, but not as great as the first two.

[Maximilian Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is rated 2.45999999.9999999999 NOT just 2. I kind of liked this book because well, it wasn't that interesting and it was a little to........................................um, just not my thing (like as in not the kind of book I just "enjoy"). My kind of book is adventure and FICTION. I also kind of liked this book because it was a historical fiction book and I don't really like historical fiction books.

[Mitchell S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book it is about the war in Fredericksburg. There are 3 friends that helps a ghost from the war to figure out what happen to her and her friend. They learned that they are talking to sally from the war in fredericksburg and she is looking for where here friend went an to see what happen in the war.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading the series with my oldest son and we absolutely love this series! It makes learning about history fun!

[Joyce]

Read to Kai

[Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

good