Product Description

Richard Peck is a master of stories about people in transition, but perhaps never before has he told a tale of such dramatic change as this one, set during the first year of the Civil War. The whole country is changing in 1861-even the folks from a muddy little Illinois settlement on the banks of the Mississippi. Here, fifteen-year-old Tilly Pruitt frets over the fact that her brother is dreaming of being a soldier and that her sister is prone to supernatural visions. A boy named Curry could possibly become a distraction.

Then a steamboat whistle splits the air. The Rob Roy from New Orleans docks at the landing, and off the boat step two remarkable figures: a vibrant, commanding young lady in a rustling hoop skirt and a darker, silent woman in a plain cloak, with a bandanna wrapped around her head. Who are these two fascinating strangers? And is the darker woman a slave, standing now on the free soil of Illinois? When Tilly's mother invites the women to board at her house, the whole world shifts for the Pruitts and for their visitors as well.

Within a page-turning tale of mystery, adventure, and the civilian Civil War experience, Richard Peck has spun a breathtaking portrait of the lifelong impact that one person can have on another. This is a novel of countless riches.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #528705 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 164 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-This historical novel set at the beginning of the Civil War actually opens in 1916, as 15-year-old Howard Leland Hutchings recounts his trip in a Model T to visit his father's childhood home in Grand Tower, IL. When he and his younger brothers meet the four elderly people who raised their father, the novel shifts to 1861, and the narrator shifts to 15-year-old Tilly Pruitt, the boys' grandmother. When a steamboat from New Orleans brings two mysterious young ladies, Mama offers them room and board, and the Pruitts' lives are forever changed. Fair and beautiful Delphine Duval, with her fancy dresses and high-society ways, fascinates the family. And what of Calinda, the darker-skinned young woman? Could she be Delphine's slave? On the eve of his 16th birthday, Tilly's twin brother, Noah, leaves to join the Union troops at Camp Defiance and Mama, distraught, sends Tilly and Delphine to bring him home. It is here that Tilly learns of Delphine's heritage. She is a quadroon, part of the colored family of a rich white man. Her mother sent her daughters away from New Orleans, hoping Delphine can pass for white. The novel ends with a return to 1916 and Howard's finding out his father's true parentage. In this thoroughly researched novel, Peck masterfully describes the female Civil War experience, the subtle and not-too-subtle ways the country was changing, and the split in loyalty that separated towns and even families. Although the book deals with some weighty themes, it is not without humor. A scene involving strapping on a corset is worthy of Grandma Dowdel herself.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. At the start of the Civil War two mysterious young women get off a boat in a small town in southern Illinois, and 15-year-old Tilly Pruitt's mother takes them in. Who are they? Is the darker-complexioned woman the other woman's slave? Tilly's twin brother, Noah, falls in love with one of them--rich, stylish, worldly Delphine, who shows Tilly a world of possibilities beyond her home. When Noah runs away to war, Tilly and Delphine go after him, find him in the horror of an army tent hospital, and bring him back; but their world is changed forever. Peck's spare writing has never been more eloquent than in this powerful mystery in which personal secrets drive the plot and reveal the history. True to Tilly's first-person narrative, each sentence is a scrappy, melancholy, wry evocation of character, time, and place, and only the character of Delphine's companion, Calinda, comes close to stereotype. A final historical note and a framing device--a grandson writing 50 years after the story takes place--make the reading even better, the revelations more astonishing. It's a riveting story that shows racism everywhere and young people facing war, not sure what side to be on or why. For companion books, see "Civil War--An Update" in the September 2003 issue of Book Links . Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
A rich tale full of magic, mystery, and surprise. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Historical fiction fans should enter this at the top of the must-read list. -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

Peck reaches new depth with this Civil War-era novel. . . -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

The harsh realities of war are brutally related in a complex, always surprising plot that resonates on multiple levels. -- The Horn Book, starred review

This unusual Civil War novel really boosts Peck's credentials as America's best living author for young adults. -- The Washington Post

Unforgettable characters and handsome prose make this book one you won't want to miss. -- Children's Literature

Customer Reviews

the river between us
I love using amazon. my child has dyslexia and we can always find what we are looking for fast

the river between us
an excellent book! well written and even if meant for tweens-teens, good for adults, too! a fascinating non-typical look into the civil war era!

School Reveiw
The simple life in Grand Tower is going to get a lot more complicated. The Pruit family has to worry about keeping Noah at home and out of the war, and now they have two strange visitors from New Orleans to deal with. One night in 1861, Delphine and Calinda stepped off a boat coming from New Orleans. Rather than stay at the town's hotel, Mrs. Pruit invited them to stay at her house with her and her children, Tilly, Cassy, and Noah. With different food and strange customs, Delphine and Calinda brought new excitement to Grand Tower. Delphine quickly captured the hearts of the local men, including Noah. Even though Grand Tower was full of people he loved, Noah, against his family's wishes, soon left in the middle of the night to go fight in the Civil War. This devastated Mrs. Pruit to the point that she almost when insane. When she could not stand it any longer, she sent Tilly and Delphine to go find Noah and bring him home. They packed up some clothes, food, and all the medicines they could think of, and left. With some help from the Grand Tower doctor, they were able to find Noah. He was very sick and his living conditions were horrible. So Tilly and Delphine helped nurse him and the others back to health and improved the camp's living conditions. When Noah was strong enough, they sent him off to battle. Tilly and Delphine waited, still helping with the camp, until he returned. By this time he had lost an arm, but he was well enough to be taken home. When they get back, they find out that Mrs. Pruit had committed suicide because she thought Noah was dead. Noah made a life for himself in Grand Tower with Delphine by his side and close to family. And now Tilly tells this story to her grandkids, so that what their family went through during the war will never be forgotten. Overall, this is a pretty boring book. It had some interesting characters, but parts were confusing and it wasn't all that interesting.

One of the reasons that I didn't like this book is because parts of it were a little hard to understand. For example, the story was written how the people actually talked. Since their speech wasn't that good, some of the sentences didn't make much sense. Like when Tilly was talking about what they had for dinner, she said "we's never et so good." Even though I got what it said, that type of sentence got annoying after awhile. Another confusing thing was when the narrator thought she remembered wrong. This book is a story that she is telling to her grandkids. So as the story went on, sometimes the narrator would stop and say "no, wait, that's not what happened." They she would say that the event happened differently. Sometimes that got confusing when she was second-guessing herself. Another thing that mad the book hard to understand was when Delphine spoke French. Whenever she was telling a story she would throw in some French words. They people in the story knew what she was saying, but I didn't.

One of the very few good things about this book is that it has some interesting characters. I thought Tilly was interesting because she seemed like a kind person. She was protective of her younger sister and was willing to go and try to find her brother. She knew that they might not find him and how upset her mom would be if she came home without him, but she did it anyway. Another interesting character was Cassy. At the beginning of the story Cassy is sitting looking out at the river. That's when you find out that she can see all the people that have died there in the past, and that she sees more people that will die in the future. That seemed pretty cool to me. Delphine was also an interesting character. Without her the book would have been pretty boring. She told some good stories and she made life exciting for the simple Pruit family.

One of the main reasons that I didn't like the book is because it was kind of boring. In about one hundred and sixty pages, nothing much happens. Mainly its just Delphine comes, Noah leaves, they go get him, and they come home. A lot of the stuff they wrote had nothing to do with the story line. It was just some background on Delphine and what Calinda cooked. Most of that was just there to make the story longer, but it only made the book boring. If they got rid of some of the stuff about how all they men fell in love with Delphine or some of the many conversations that they had about New Orleans, it might have made the book better.

I didn't find this book to be very interesting and it was hard to stay focused on it long enough to finish it. I would on recommend it to younger kids; older kids would think it's really boring. I don't think it's worth reading.

C. Chapman