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Reviewed by:
  • The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis
  • Elizabeth Bush
Landis, Matthew The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody. Dial, 2018 [304p]
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-7352-2798-9 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-7352-2800-9 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7

[Erratum]

It’s the seventh-grade school assignment Kevin has been waiting for—Mr. Carrow’s project on the Civil War. Kevin has this one aced, since he’s a reenactor with compendious knowledge of battles and generals. But wait. It’s a partner project. And the topic is chosen at random. And for the final blow, Mr. Carrow teams Kevin with Ella, an unkempt classmate who hides behind a tangle of long hair and a mask of indifference. This is the plot fuel that stokes plenty of school stories, but Landis quickly steers his kids in a fresh direction. Nerdy Kevin hits it off pretty quickly with Ella, whose curated persona is merely intended to rile her neglectful parents. She’s actually open-minded and creative, and under the threat of failing another class and repeating seventh grade, she gets her act together and commits the team to producing a documentary on the man Kevin regards as a total loser—a local soldier named Raymond Stone who died of dysentery and never fought a battle. As Kevin and Ella charge into primary source investigation, readers observe the mystery that unfolds around Stone’s enlistment and its ties to present day members of the community and also consider the nature of honor in military service. The pedagogical and philosophical themes that underpin that discussion are organically integrated into a well spun plot with quick-fire dialogue. Civil War buffs might learn a thing or two from the notes, and school-story fans will be thoroughly entertained. [End Page 296]

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