Diary of a Drummer Boy

by Marlene Targ Brill, Michael Garland (Illustrator)

Overview

He was only a drummer boy, but Orion Howe's courage under fire helped General Sherman break the Rebel hold on Vicksburg.

It is April, 1861, and there is talk of war in the Howes' Illinois home. When President Lincoln asks for more soldiers, Orion's father and brother enlist. Hating to be left behind, twelve-year-old Orion soon joins them to be a drummer boy in the Union Army.

As the war wears on, Orion bravely endures hunger, sickness, and fatigue, facing battles with nothing but his drum and sticks. But the biggest test of his courage is yet to come.

On May 19, 1863, Orion's company is pinned down outside Vicksburg under heavy fire. Colonel Malmborg sends him to request more ammunition. Suddenly Orion is struck in the leg by enemy fire. Can he still get to the rear wagons? When he runs into General Sherman, will he remember the message he has been sent to deliver?

Diary of a Drummer Boy is a fictionalized diary based on the true story of Orion Howe, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. A beautifully illustrated introduction to the Civil War for students too young for more graphic depictions.

From reviews of a previous edition:

School Library Journal: "This imagined journal...has the tone of nonfiction. Garland's full-page illustrations are simply stunning...This picture book is perfect for students too young for more graphic depictions of the Civil War..."

Booklist: "[This] book will serve as a lively, vivid introduction to the Civil War, particularly as a short book to read aloud or have students read aloud in classrooms."

A National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)/Children's Book Council (CBC) Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781732027640
Publisher:	Golden Alley Press
Publication date:	08/17/2018
Pages:	50
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.14(d)
Lexile:	790L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Marlene Targ Brill is the author of over 70 award-winning books. She most enjoys writing about children and their accomplishments. Marlene has a bachelor's degree in special education, a master's degree in early childhood education, and has worked in the education field as a teacher, consultant, and curriculum specialist. In addition to researching and writing, Marlene also loves sharing information about what it's like to be an author with classrooms and groups. When she isn't writing, Marlene enjoys painting. Marlene and her husband reside near Chicago in Wilmette, Illinois.

Best-selling author and illustrator Michael Garland's greatest success has been in writing and illustrating children's picture books. He is author and illustrator of thirty-nine children's picture books and illustrator for more than forty books by other authors. Garland has illustrated for celebrity authors like James Patterson and Gloria Estefan on best-selling picture books. His illustrations for Patterson's SantaKid were the inspiration for Sak's Fifth's Avenue's Christmas holiday window display in New York City. Garland's Christmas Magic has become a season classic and is currently in development as an animated Christmas special. Michael Garland's work has won many honors and is frequently included in the Society of Illustrators and the Original Art of Children's Books shows, as well as annuals from Print, Graphis and Communications Arts magazines. He was included on the list of the top one hundred Irish Americans by Irish American Magazine. Michael Garland is frequently asked to speak at schools, literary conferences and festivals across the country.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal: "This imagined journal...has the tone of nonfiction. Garland's full-page illustrations are simply stunning...This picture book is perfect for students too young for more graphic depictions of the Civil War..."

Booklist: "[This] book will serve as a lively, vivid introduction to the Civil War, particularly as a short book to read aloud or have students read aloud in classrooms."

From the Publisher

Gr 2-5This imagined journal of Orion Howe, a real boy who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War, has the tone of nonfiction. The entries sound like letters a young boy of this time period would write to a friend. Before the war starts, Orion lives on an Illinois farm with his family. The Howes are imbued with faith in President Lincoln as well as a hatred of slavery. Orion and his brother are both drummers and often play them with their father at church picnics. Then, in April of 1861, the boys begin drumming at war meetings. In his journal Orion writes, "It seemed to me that the music is what pushed the men to sign up to fight." In November of that year, he enlists, and the rest of the entries are about his experiences in the war. This book is written from an unabashedly Union perspective. Orion admits that "soldiering in the South is not fun," but his words and actions march forward with a stoic sense of duty. Garland's full-page illustrations are simply stunning. They beautifully enhance the straightforward yet descriptive text. This picture book is perfect for students too young for more graphic depictions of the Civil War such as Jim Murphy's The Boys' War (Clarion, 1990).Jackie Hechtkopf, Talent House School, Fairfax, VA

School Library Journal

A picture book for older readers, based on fact and done in diary form, tells the story of Orion Howe, a 12-year-old Civil War drummer boy who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and who was the subject of an ode in the Atlantic Monthly, reprinted at the back. Following his father and younger brother, Lyston, into service, Orion marches around the country, endures hardship and privation, sees action several times, and experiences the horrors of war. At Vicksburg he is wounded while getting ammunition, but completes his task before going to the field hospital. He is sent home, but returns and re-enlists when he heals. A rather flat, carefully colorless narration allows the power of the story to come through without distraction. Orion's diary entries reveal aspects of the war without wallowing in gore; in addition to the battles, he effectively conveys the tedium, mud, disease, hunger, and fear that accompany the soldiers. Abetted by Garland's startling paintings, which depict the faces in a photo-realistic fashion but allow other details in the scenes to remain as sketchy as memory, Brill's book succeeds as fiction, and will have many uses in the history classroom. (bibliography, further reading) (Nonfiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews