Help me decide which read-aloud for the Civil War!

[Sparrows-Song]

We're doing our study of the Civil War and I have to decide between 2 read-alouds. (We don't have time to do both.) This is for grades 6 and 4 (both boys, and we are a Christian family.)

With Lee in Virginia by Henty.... or ....Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt.

Can you tell me which you liked better and why?
Thanks so much! I'm going nuts trying to decide!
:eek:

[Jenny in Atl]

I don't know the first but Across Five Aprils is well..... not a fav in this house. A friend of mine's daughter is a Lit major and she says the bk has to be the worst thing she has ever read. :eek: I don't know if I would go that far but we sure found it a snoozer.

[littlefamily]

I do have to say that I have two girls and not boys! :D

We were able to have some great discussions, there were so many ideas to explore...

How do you support family when they have different opinions? Responsibility - the theme comes up in so many ways throughout the book. Great examples of self-motivation....

The characters give you so much to discuss - some you agree with and others you don't agree with, but they are so well written you can't help get caught up in this book. A hands-down winner here!

[Hoggirl]

We did not read the Henty book during our Civil War studies, but ds did read Across Five Aprils, Behind Rebel Lines, and Rifles for Watie. He did not care much for Across Five Aprils, but really enjoyed the other two.
Cynthia

[Luanne]

than the ages of your boys. My daughter and I really enjoyed Across Five Aprils, but I don't think your boys would agree. I would have to go with the previous post and recommend Rifles for Watie or Behind Rebel Lines.

[Jenny in Atl]

We also really like Behind Rebel Lines. Both mine are girls, go figure. :confused:

[Dot]

I'm thinking the 4th grader may not get as much out of it, but I think it's a must read for older kids. We don't care much for Henty.

[Linda in NE]

It's a story about a young man who scouts the opposition's position from a hot air balloon, written by Edmonds, the author of Matchlock Gun.

Of the two you mention, I would choose "With Lee in Virginia." I'm a Civil War nut, and even I did not like "Across Five Aprils."

I agree with others who recommended "Rifles for Watie." It's a story about the war in the west and it is very well written.

Linda

[elegantlion]

I had purchased Across 5 Aprils to use for our 4th grade US History. I remembered enjoying it as a child. After prereading it again I realized that my ds10 wouldn't really enjoy it for now. We shelved our copy to study on our next go around with US history.

[Sparrows-Song]

Thank you all for your answers. I'm looking into "Rifles for Watie" now, and will let the dc look at the 2 other books and tell me what they think.

[Tami]

I didin't like Across Five Aprils, so we read WHo Comes WIth Cannons? and Charlie Skedaddle instead. My dd liked both of those.

[AngieW in Texas]

What about Shades of Gray? That's a fabulous book.

We didn't care for Across Five Aprils that much. Charley Skedaddle was okay.

We really liked Ghost Cadet, but I'm not sure you'd go for that one because of the ghost. It's very good though.
http://www.elainemariealphin.com/Alphin_Ghost_Cadet.html

Another good book (especially for girls, but I think boys would like it too) is The Root Cellar.
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/rootcellar.html