Hear the Wind Blow - Softcover

Hahn, Mary Downing

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1328740927 ISBN 13: 9781328740922

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2017

Synopsis

“A first-rate story.” —Kirkus Reviews 

 On a cold, snowy night, thirteen-year-old Haswell Magruder makes a fateful decision. A wounded Confederate soldier appears at the family’s Virginia farm, and Haswell convinces his mother to take the man in, despite the dire repercussions if the enemy Yankees were to catch them in such an act. Unfortunately, this sets off a horrific chain of events that leaves their house burned to the ground and their farm in ruins.  With no home left, Haswell sets out in search of his older brother, a Confederate soldier. His quest is also a passage into manhood, as he experiences the last bloody days of the Civil War.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Downing Hahn, a former children’s librarian, is the award-winning author of many popular ghost stories. Her work has won more than fifty child-voted state awards.  An avid reader, traveler, and all-around arts lover, Ms. Hahn lives in Columbia, Maryland. Visit her online at www.marydowninghahnbooks.com.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Through the eyes of Haswell Colby Magruder, readers see and experience the horrors of the Civil War. Set in Shenandoah, VA, the story opens as the 13-year-old agrees to hide a wounded Confederate soldier. The Yankees' discovery of the young man on the Magruder farm and their subsequent retaliation starts a sequence of events that culminates with Haswell's escape with his seven-year-old sister, and his later solo journey in search of his older brother, who is fighting in the war. Although the main characters are from the South, Hahn succeeds in writing about the horrors of war without really taking sides. War is the villain here, and people from both sides are its victims. This is a wonderfully written story peopled by believable, three-dimensional characters who exhibit fear, courage, love, hate, compassion, prejudice, and understanding. The drama of the Civil War and the fine storytelling and characterization hook readers from the outset. As in Promises to the Dead (Clarion, 2000), Hahn deals here with the exercise of compassion in the face of danger. This selection is an excellent choice to add to other historical fiction on the Civil War such as Gary Paulsen's Soldier's Heart (Delacorte, 1998) and Ann Rinaldi's Amelia's War (Scholastic, 1999).
Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1328740927
• ISBN 13: 9781328740922
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288