The Last Full Measure - Hardcover

Rinaldi, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0547389809 ISBN 13: 9780547389806

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2010

Synopsis

As Confederate and Union soldiers take over their town, the local residents can do little more than hunker down in their homes while cannon and gunfire explode around them. But the battles are not only fought between soldiers. At home, fourteen-year-old Tacy and her disabled brother lock horns as David struggles with his desire to go to war. He has strong principles, and it tortures him to allow others to fight while he does nothing.

In the aftermath of this great and terrible battle, in which so many soldiers sacrifice their lives for their beliefs, David gives his last full measure…and leaves Tacy struggling to make sense out of it all.

About this title

About the Author

ANN RINALDI is an award-winning author best known for bringing history vividly to life. A self-made writer and newspaper columnist for twenty-one years, Ms. Rinaldi attributes her interest in history to her son, who enlisted her to take part in historical reenactments up and down the East Coast. She lives with her husband in central New Jersey. 

Reviews

Gr 6-8–In the summer of 1863, Tacy Stryker and the other residents of Gettysburg prepare for the Confederate Army's offensive. While her two oldest brothers and her father are serving in the Union Army, the 14-year-old and her mother have been left in the care of her 21-year-old brother. David resents the leg injury that caused the militia to reject him and takes out much of his bitterness on his younger sister. As the Rebels begin to occupy Gettysburg, Tacy's friend Marvelous, daughter of free Negroes, whose family is one of at least 400 “darkies” living there, comes to stay with the Strykers. When a Confederate soldier threatens to sell Marvelous into slavery, only the kindness of the commanding officer prevents her from being taken. Pa comes home from the front soon after with news of the terrible battle and the bodies waiting to be buried. When he is too ill to return to the field hospital, David and Tacy go in his place to help with the identification and burial. What seemed to be a safe way of assisting turns deadly when the brother of one of the buried turns up to claim him and David will not allow the man to illegally dig up the corpse. Unlike Lisa Klein's Two Girls of Gettysburg (Bloomsbury, 2008), which focuses more on the months leading up to the event, the attention here is on the battle and its aftermath. Despite stilted dialogue, Rinaldi's extensive research brings a piece of history to life, and her fans will not be disappointed.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0547389809
• ISBN 13: 9780547389806
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224