How I Found the Strong

Margaret McMullan packs a remarkable amount of incident and information into her brief, powerful, and sometimes graphic children’s novel about the American Civil War. As the book opens, Frank “Shanks” Russell’s fourteen-year-old brother, Henry, and their father, Jack, are preparing to leave the Russell farm to fight alongside the other Confederate soldiers of Smith County, Mississippi. In the days that lead up to their departure, they sit on the porch, cleaning their rifles and discussing strategy. Mr. Lincoln has just declared war, and the understanding of the county’s men is that this war isn’t about slavery so much as the Yankees’ desire to destroy the South’s way of life, take over its ports, and rob the people of show more the region of their honour and independence.

Frank laments the fact that at ten, he’s two years too young to be even an army drummer. He’s also fair haired and skinny, taking after his mother’s people, and he feels Pa doesn’t respect or love him because of this. Left behind, Frank and the family’s young slave, Buck, who is around Henry’s age, take on the heavy labour of the farm. They run errands, including one to a makeshift field hospital in a schoolhouse to deliver bandages. This is a gruesome outing in which the boys witness the horrible injuries of war—soldiers with viscera exposed, their wounds seething with maggots; many handless, armless, and legless. The stench is overpowering.

The seasons pass; the family becomes more destitute. The land is laid to waste. Livestock are stolen, and there’s drought. Women, children, and the slaves who remain work together to scratch what they can from the land. Not much. Hunger is a constant companion. Frank’s relationship with Buck strengthens. He finds himself wondering increasingly about the young slave’s life and thoughts. Bucks’s mother drowned in a storm on the Mississippi when the two were being transported by boat from Mobile, Alabama, and it’s evident that he’s been permanently altered by the trauma. For a time, Frank bothers his grandfather with questions about slavery and the war. Not quite a pacifist, Grandpa has been clear from the beginning that he’s not one for fighting, and this war in particular is not his war. Soon enough, the old man leaves for Texas, attracted by rumours of a freer life there. His wife, Frank’s cranky, corncob-pipe-smoking grandmother dies soon after.

Before the war’s end, Frank’s father returns without Henry. Now white-haired and missing an arm, he limps onto the farm, a broken man. It is clear that the Union is winning. Mississippi is mostly under federal control. When the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves, the vast majority of those in Smith County fled north to Chicago. With Mississippi now mostly under federal control, enraged local men scapegoat the few coloured folks who remain. Buck is targeted. This is when Frank faces the ultimate test in moral courage. He and his father accompany Buck through dangerous territory, where there are still active skirmishes, to the Strong River. Pa gives Buck his freedom papers and instructions about travelling north.

In an afterward, the author explains that Frank Russell was a real person, her grandmother’s great uncle. Before he died, someone interviewed him and recorded his memories. The real Frank had been notably silent about his experiences on the family farm during the war. McMullan has capably filled them in, creating a credible protagonist and a convincing depiction of the devastation of war and the moral quandaries of a boy becoming a man. She ends her novel on a hopeful note, having Frank observe: “Our country fell apart, and for a time, so did we. But some of us are still left, and we are strong enough to put ourselves and our world back together.” show less

This book is part of assigned reading for my Creative Nonfiction class. It was a quick read and very enjoyable. Engaging writing from first-person perspective.

I enjoy collecting books for children and young adults set during the American Civil War. How I Found the Strong is a wonderful addition to my collection. The story begins at the start of the Civil War and follows ten-year-old Frank "Shanks" Russell and his family as they face the realities of the war in Smith County, Mississippi. This quick read will appeal to young readers and would be a great book as part of a literature circle project paired with other Civil War literature. As an Indiana author, Margaret McMullan's books are popular with my teacher librarians in Indiana. If you like Civil War literature, check out my wikispaces project at http://civilwarlit.wikispaces.com/.

This was a good book. Many places in the story got me emotionally involved and even got me misty eyed a time or two. A good historical account of the time period and events.

Although 10 year old Frank (Shanks) is too young to be in the Conferate army, the war robs him of a simpler way of life.