On Thursday, May 21, 1863, a mortar shell rips through the wall of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Stamford’s bedroom. Afraid their home is no longer safe, her mama, Susan, rushes Lizzie and her younger brother, Nathan, to the cave, where she plans to live until the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ends. Lizzie, however, has her own plans–to enlist in the Confederate army and help drive General Ulysses S. Grant and his Yankees into the Mississippi River. Her older brothers, Joseph and Willie, are in Virginia, fighting for their cause. Can she do any less?
Caves, Cannons, and Crinolines is the story of one girl and her family’s day-to-day struggle to survive a changing way of life during the War Between the States.
Coming this fall from Twilight Times Books.
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REVIEW:
Title: Caves, Cannons and Crinolines
Written by: Beverly Stowe McClure
Ages: 12 and up
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
ISBN: 1-60619-112-8
Published: September 2009
Paperback: 153 pages
Price: $16.95
The year 1863 finds outspoken, 14-year-old, Lizzie Stamford at a crossroads of what her parents believe to be acceptable behavior for a young lady, and secret desire to join the Confederate Army disguised as a boy. Her two brothers, Willie and Joseph willingly joined the Confederacy to defend Vicksburg from the Yankees and Lizzie longs to be part of the glory. Her blind courage brings her into the midst of a battleground at nighttime. Much to her dismay war is not what she believed it to be. The horrific acts of violence overwhelm her and she runs away as quickly as she arrived.
Her emotions and beliefs that all Yankees are evil is put to the test when an unexpected encounter with a Yankee soldier has her doubting her belief system. Will Lizzie come to terms of the ever changing world and circumstances which surround her? And what is to become of her beloved brothers and the city of Vicksburg?
McClure balances the emotions of the Confederate and Yankee characters with such in-depth feeling the reader will find themselves switching sides throughout the perilous journey of Lizzie Stamford and her family, and their quest to reclaim Vicksburg.
Donna M. McDine, author of The Golden Pathway
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ANOTHER REVIEW:
/Caves, Cannons and Crinolines/, is thought provoking young adult
historical novel. Set in the days of the Civil War where families are
torn apart, readers are given a very real picture of life in 1863. Ms.
McClure has clearly done her research and skillfully brings her
characters to life.
The main character, Elizabeth Stamford, or Lizzie as she is called by
her family, is a girl on the brink of young adulthood. Everything she
knows has been thrown into confusion and turmoil as the Yankees lay
siege to her home in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Lizzie’s two older brothers
have gone off to war, leaving Lizzie home with her younger brother, Nat,
her mother, two slaves, and her father, who is a doctor.
With shelling occurring on an almost daily basis, the family is forced
to move from their lovely home to a cave carved into the hillside behind
their house. Food is scarce, tempers are high, and living conditions
difficult. Lizzie is torn between her desire to please her family, and
her convictions that even girls should fight in the war. How does a
young girl deal with this conflict?
Lizzie has a lot of growing up to do, and in the midst of death and
despair, love comes calling in a most unlikely young man. Is Lizzie up
to the challenge? Will her family support her choice? Can love blossom
despite the stench of blood and the pounding of cannon balls?
We all know the North fought the South because President Lincoln
believed all men should be equal, despite the color of their skin. Ms.
McClure lightly deals with this subject as Lizzie struggles to determine
if her family’s slaves, Aunt Lois and Uncle Morris, are happy. Lizzie
thinks of them as family, but do they feel the same way?
Ms. McClure answers these questions and more, but you’ll have to read
/Caves, Cannons and Crinolines /to find out the answers/. /I know I
enjoyed reading this novel and felt transported to another time and
place each time I picked it up to read another chapter.
From Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz, author of Ghost for Rent
