Many students are not aware that the Declaration of Independence was not marking the end of the American Revolution. Those long ago dates and documents have become a jumble to them. Who can blame them really? We don’t mark Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown on October 19th, nor do we stop on September 3rd (so often Labor Day) and think about the Treaty of Paris. But July 4, 1776 is a date that leaps out from that mess of names and numbers and demands attention. Hughes reminds readers clearly and forcefully that 1776 was indeed a long way from the end of the war.
The book opens a year after the famous declaration as not-quite-15 year old Jake Mallery and his friends celebrate their Patriotism. They talk at length about their local hero, Benedict Arnold. (This will surely catch the attention of those who only remember Arnold’s treason). The war is far enough from them that they are full of patriotic songs and bravado. Each new chapter in the book vaults us a full year into the future. As the time passes, the war draws closer until it is upon them. The result is a book that not only follows the progress of the revolution and the attitudes of the colonists, but a coming of age novel. At 14 Jake is brash, argumentative and proud. At 19 he is a changed man. Hughes manages to share how deeply war affects him, while not making all of his personality changes due to the war. Moreover, she made me like a character that I started out actively disliking.
It was a bit slow to start, but I found myself heavily involved in the book. There are parts of great tension and of great sadness. The jumping forward a year is not nearly as jarring as I anticipated, as Hughes fills in back story through reminiscing.
Due to the content and very difficult vocabulary I would recommend this for teen readers.
Sample tough vocabulary: portent, firmament, chattel, malfeasance, harangue, officious, pomposity, Gasconading, vehemently, capitulate, impudence (one of my favorite words), ascertain, insinuations, pabulum, popish and some ship specific vocabulary: brigantine, snow, trysail, abaft, mainmast, boom, luff, rigging, lee, taffrail, quarterdeck,
What’s with the Indians? For some inexplicable reason Hughes likes Indian analogies, explaining that a family sits “silent as Indians” or that people are “still as Indians.” No idea why she randomly indulged in this stereotyping/racism, it doesn’t happen often, but it is jarring when it does.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Tim “has his eye on” Sarah, the prettiest girl in town. Asa is going to call on a girl. Jake sexually harasses a servant by questioning her about which friend she is going to spend the night with. He then sings her a lewd song about a woman who has lain with a man repeatedly and gotten pregnant. A general is more interested in whoring than fighting. A girl says a boy “took liberties”. There is some kissing. Pre-marital sex occurs between teens, we are given very few details about it. When a boy is ill a girl removes his clothing to tend to him. There is a birth out of wedlock. There are marriages and wedding bans published. Jake makes a joke about which end a pole goes in. There’s a song about a girl who lets her lover in. Boys gaze at girls bosoms. A boy says he’ll die if he doesn’t kiss a girl. A boy pulls a girl down to lie with him.
Profanity – “damn/ed”, “blast the man”, “jackass,” “hell,” “God damn,” “middle finger,” “shitehole,” “whoreson” “bastard,”
Death, Violence and Gore – As the book takes place during the Revolutionary War, there are numerous deaths. A brother returned from war witnessed horrors he wouldn’t even speak of. Sometimes retellings are full of excitement, as they are when boys haven’t been to war. They speak glowingly of how Arnold’s horse was shot nine times and fell upon him and how when Arnold was threatened by a bayonet he pulled his pistol and killed the Tory. King George is burned in effigy. One boy worries that the Tories will force them from their homes to the frontier where they will be slaughtered by Indians. Service is required at 16 but boys may join younger with permission. A soldier nearly loses a leg. A man is beaten by his father with a gun causing a bleeding head wound. A woman lost several children soon after their birth. There are threats of fist fights. A man is tarred and feathered. The parent of a major character dies. Girls are worried about being killed with bayonets. A young soldier’s head is blown off and his body crumples. A battle is described in some detail; there are blood covered bodies, men writhe; their cries are unheeded. Wounded men are abandoned. A man receives a musket ball to the brain. Blood from a killed soldier splatters on those who killed him. Characters we like are wounded and killed. There are various hits/punches/hits to the head. There are references to hanging. A man’s hand is nearly severed by a cutlass. A cutlass slices a man’s face revealing bone. We witness the death scene of a character we are close to. Prisoners who attempt escape are shot or drown. Prisoners must bury their own dead. The decaying body parts of previously buried men poke through the sand. Prisoners dies frequently and suffer from smallpox, broken heads, pestilence, poison, yellow fever, ships fever, infected cuts, scarlet fever and die in their own bloody excrement, Weapons and ammunition mentioned include: cannons, blunderbusses, grenades, powder flasks, stink pots, cutlasses, muskets…
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Two boys joke about “the rum incident” but we have no further details. A captain indicates that his crew is ashore, drinking. Boys get drunk on rum punch. Someone stole rum once. Boys drink beer and ale. Rum rations are given on the prison ship.
Frightening or Intense Things – People are forced to flee their homes as soldiers invade. Prisoners are paraded publicly. Jake and his father often disagree. His father orders him to serve. A father abandoned his family (or died, it is uncertain). A servant must take his master’s place in the army. The British march on a town, burning homes. Basically, it outlines just how close to home (or in the actual homes) the war reached. The section that takes place on the prison ship is incredibly sad and explains that the prisoners were so thin they looked like skeletons.
