Clara Barton: Healing the Wounds

by Cathy East Dubowski

A biography of the nurse who served on the battlefields of the Civil War and later founded the American Red Cross.

122 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Cathy East Dubowski is a narrator, editor, and illustrator. She specializes in novelizations of movies and literary classics for children and young adult readers. Dubowski has written more than 100 books for children, including adaptations of The Aristocats, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess, and Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clara Barton: Healing the Wounds is part of a series about important Civil War figures. It is categorized as juvenile literature, making it appropriate for middle school students. This does make it a bit harder for me to review, as an adult. Overall, I found the book to be well written, fair and balanced. I wish there was more than one chapter devoted to her post-Civil War work locating missing soldiers, as that is where my interests in Clara Barton lie. And it is for that reason I picked this biography up—to get a better sense of her life, especially what led up to her doing this work for the government. I appreciate that the author doesn't try to sugar coat Barton's story or turn her into an angel (despite her nickname). Rather, Dubowski is honest in her characterization of Barton as a woman who was ambitious, self-promotional, insecure and autocratic, while also doing amazing things as a wartime nurse and founder of the American Red Cross. It's refreshing to see a biographical sketch, especially one written for a younger audience, being forthright and honest about the complexities of our heroes.