Shadows Of War: Prelude to the First Memorial Day

by Janice McElhoe, Stephen Evans (Editor), Veronica Winters (Illustrator)

Overview

The reader of "Shadows of War: Prelude to the First Memorial Day" will be able to visualize the impact of the Civil War on one small village in Pennsylvania and feel the magnitude of the events that eventually led to the first observance of Memorial Day. In the story, brave classmates at the Boalsburg Academy - 15, 16, 17 years old - trade their books for guns and march off to the Civil War, while the young women in the clas are left behind. This tale is filled with loyalty and compassion for family, community, and country; qualities that continue to have implications for young people today.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940148247937
Publisher:	Janice McElhoe
Publication date:	02/05/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	110
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

The big cannon fired and the sound reverberated from nearby Tussey Mountain while the sulfurous smell of battle floated over the grassy cemetery and lingered in the early evening. Young men, 15, 16 and 17 joined older men to reenact the part played by Company G of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the American Civil War. The boom of the cannon and the haze of gray smoke that drifted across the cemetery jogged my memory of stories I had read; visions of the brave young classmates at the Boalsburg Academy, who put away their school books and marched off to war. I remembered, also, the schoolgirls left behind. I wondered how this poignant story had stayed so obscure and I wanted to share it. This was the day that I made the decision to write the story for young readers.


Boalsburg remains a quiet village situated at the foot of Tussey Mountain. As a child I walked the same paths and stood at the same places where events had changed the lives of the characters in my story. My friends lived in the same house where Emma Hunter had grown up. We made the evergreen sprays at the former home of Sophie and Daniel Keller and placed evergreen sprays in the same cemetery where Emma and Sophie first laid flowers in memory of Emma’s father and classmates who had died in the Civil War. I enjoyed the same autumn colors and picked goldenrod and asters. Our lives were in some way interwoven. However, time moves on and as a young adult I went off to college, began teaching children in other towns and places and raised three daughters. Eventually, I pursued a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the Pennsylvania State University. Upon graduation I began teaching at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Later I taught at Temple University. My favorite class to teach was Children’s Literature. I loved children’s books; the stories and the illustrations. I also loved to go home to Boalsburg. It seemed inevitable that I would want to share the story of the birth of Memorial Day.

Editorial Reviews

It focuses on the beginning of Memorial Day and Civil War-related events. “Shadows of War” is an intriguing story built around love, loyalty and compassion for family, community, and country — qualities that continue to have implications for young people today. Students of Civil War history will be intrigued as history comes alive through the retelling of actual events that took place during the American Civil War.

eNewsChannels - Tabitha Berg

Author, Janice Sweet McElhoe, Ph.D., has written a story that young readers can relate to. In the novel, brave teens and classmates at the Boalsburg Academy trade their books for guns and march off to war, while the young women in the class are left behind.

Send2Press - Carly Zander

Students of Civil War history will be intrigued as history comes alive through the retelling of actual events that took place during the American Civil War. The novel enables young readers to visualize the impact the Civil War had on the small village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. It provides them with an understanding of the magnitude of the events that eventually led to the first observance of Memorial Day.

Publishers Newswire - Liisa Sullivan