Thunder/Gettysburg

Book reportOnThunder at GettysburgByChesley HughesI read a book called Thunder at Gettysburg. This book is a historical fiction book that tells about the civil war. This book is about a young girl named Tillie. She is forced to leave home without her parents to bring buckets of water to the soldiers with her neighbor Mrs. Weikert and her two children. They have to move from one place to another to keep safe, but to move to a different place, they have to dodge bombs and bullets. When the war was over, Tillie and her neighbors got in a wagon and went home. They saw dead soldiers lying on the ground on their way home. A wagon stopped by and told Tillie that her parents were okay, and they wanted her home right away.I think Tillie is an adventurous and caring kid. She was very brave and tried hard to bring water to the soldiers even though she had to be forced away from her parents that she must loved very much. She looked after Mrs. Weikert's children. She kept them safe while dodging bombs and bullets, which also shows that she is one very responsible kid. Tillie is almost like any other girls, she doesn't like to see people that are hurting or dying. Tillie came across a number of problems in this story. One of the problems was bringing buckets of water to the soldiers. She had to bring about fifty buckets to over six hundred soldiers. Another problem Tillie had to take care of the two children while dodging bullets and bombs. Tillie also had a problem with looking at blood and other nasty things during her trip. In the book she said that bothered her.Tillie had to run and dodge the bullets and bombs with the kids in order to save all of their lives. She didn't have any other choice to bring buckets of water to the soldiers. She was forced to do almost everything. Tillie didn't mean or want to look at the nasty site. She had to pass through the battlefield to get home. I'd say she had to face her fears and problems.My opinion on the story would probably be the same as anyone's if they read the story. I think this book is very easy to understand. I like this book a lot. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read about wars and history. This book describes blood and dead soldiers. I would not recommend this book to anyone who can't handle it.

I am happy to have finally found a book for my son that covers the War Between the States for children without perpetuating the Evil South versus the Knights of the North stereotype. Well done, Ms. Gauch.... I will look for your books in the future!

Read this to your children in the car as you drive into Gettysburg. It is a great intro to the battle. I read it to 7, 9 and 10 year olds and the adults enjoyed it, too. It's about the experience of an adolescent girl who leaves her home for the day to help babysit some neighbor children and gets inadvertently caught behind battle lines in the famous battle at Gettysburg.Incidents, places and people in this short book (read it in 20 minutes) are easily found in the actual Gettysburg area - making the story come alive and giving the kids concrete concepts to "hang" the sights on: For example, the main character flees to the Weikert farm for safety - there is a Weikert tombstone in the cemetary just opposite the Visitor's Center; she meets a General Weed, and his photo is prominent on the Park Service's explanation at the auto pull-off for Big Round Top; she lives in a red house with two linden trees in the yard, and many Civil War era houses can be found in town, several with linden trees, and so on.The prose is very well constructed, exceptionally so for a children's book - and it reads almost like poetry. It looks like a simple little children's chapter book, but it really is a treasure.