Billy Boy: The Sunday Soldier of the 17th Maine - Softcover

Flahive, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1934031135 ISBN 13: 9781934031131

Publisher: Islandport Press, 2007

Synopsis

When twenty-year-old Billy Laird of Berwick excitedly enlists in the Union Army with his hometown pals, he has no idea what lies ahead for him. Mentally challenged, he is ill prepared for the training and fighting, but he gets by with the help of his friends. Soon, however, he is sent to a different unit without them. Lonely and unsure of what to do without his friends, Billy runs off and meets up with a runaway slave, Elijah. Together, and with the help of the Underground Railroad, the two make their way north to their fates. This young adult novel-inspired by a real person, Billy Laird, and an actual event-is a tale of friendship, loyalty, and compassion and will enthrall readers of all ages. It was painstakingly researched by Flahive and provides a wealth of information about the role that Mainers played in the Civil War.

About this title

About the Author:

Jean Mary Flahive, who has had a lifelong interest in the Civil War, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System. She has taught college courses and has worked as a grant writer, fundraiser, and project developer. She has won numerous awards for her work and community service. Billy Boy is her first novel.

Review:

Flahive's directive skill of rendering conversation throughout her book is remarkable. We are there in the space with Elijah and Billy, with Harry, with the troops under fire in the reality of what it now means, their mustering up for a dangerous rarified cause. . . . Flahive is surely one to be studied for her craftsmanship, her extraordinary interweaving of researched history and imaginitive realism. We see war and its sinister turnings, and the moments of unexpected enlightenment through an inner connection. --Maine Sunday Telegram

Billy Boy is a powerfully emotional story based on a true event involving a Berwick, Maine soldier in 1862-1863. Flahive has done her research well, creating a historically accurate portrayal of young men drawn to war by glory, patriotism and comradeship, only to discover fear, misery and death.

Billy Laird is a 20-year-old farm boy from Berwick. He is a good lad, hardworking, kind, and cheerful, but he is also simpleminded and slow, he cannot read, write or count, and is fearful of just about everything.

When his best friends enlist in the Union Army, Billy can't stand the thought of being alone, so he enlists, too. Sadly, he has no idea what he is doing.

As long as Billy has his friends to take care of him he does fine as a soldier, but when he is transferred alone to a different unit, he comes unglued and deserts, wanting only to go home. On the run as a fugitive deserter, Billy meets up with Elijah, an escaped slave, and together they head north on a perilous journey from Virginia to Maine and safety

These two young men develop a close friendship, each providing strength and companionship for the other as they evade the slave catchers and military provosts pursuing them. Aided by compassionate and courageous Quakers and the Underground Railroad, Billy and Elijah make it to Maine, but not the sanctuary they sought. Betrayal awaits one, a solemn promise awaits the other.

This is a fabulous story well told. --Bill Bushnell, Kennebec Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Islandport Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1934031135
• ISBN 13: 9781934031131
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291