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Reviewed by:
  • Red Moon at Sharpsburg
  • Elizabeth Bush
Wells, Rosemary Red Moon at Sharpsburg. Viking, 2007236p ISBN 0-670-03638-2$16.99 R Gr. 6-9

India Moody enters her teens just as the Civil War destroys the peace within her Appalachian Virginia community. Her family's connection with the wealthy Trimble family, though, will prove to be a lifeline to the young woman. Their son Emory, too asthmatic to enlist in the Army of Northern Virginia, is engaged to tutor India; she soon brushes aside the intended lessons in Scripture and household economics and pressures him into teaching her about his own interests in medical sciences, particularly in the battle against infection. She's a promising pupil, and although her parents are decidedly skeptical about the value of this eccentric education, they don't forbid it, tacitly acknowledging that their daughter simply cannot conform to the role of genteel Southern lady. Moreover, India's friend Julia, who has moved to Ohio to escape the coming battles, writes to her about women who enroll at Oberlin College and pay their tuition through work programs, which now brings India's dreams into the realm of possibility. But although the war has in some ways enabled India to imagine a life for herself (and quite possibly with Emory) outside the norm, it also puts all plans on hold as her father loses his life to camp fever, her mother is forced upon the cold charity of relatives, and the treachery of jealous neighbors threatens to bring down the Trimbles and all who come under their protection. This is no run-of-the-mill tale of a feisty, anachronistic feminist but rather an exploration of a pivotal moment in history when the unthinkable becomes the possible—understanding the connection between microorganisms and infection will push medical practice forward, and opening higher education to women will offer life options to marginalized young women like India. Historical fiction fans will therefore embrace this finely crafted coming-of-age tale.

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