Jayhawker
Interactive Historical Fiction for Young Adults
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A few years before the beginning of the Civil War, seeds of unrest are already planted in America due to disagreement over slavery. On one side are the bushwhackers – Missourians and others who believe strongly in slavery and would kill to preserve it. On the other side are the Jayhawkers – abolitionists who fight to put an end to slavery, sometimes by brutal means.
Enter Elijah Tulley, a young Kansas boy who comes of age amidst this chaos. His father is a staunch abolitionist and teaches Elijah by example to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves – sometimes endangering himself in the process. Elijah is just beginning to learn the ways of being a Jayhawker when tragedy strikes the Tulley family, and now, Elijah must make a choice: allow the evil around him to flourish, or stand up and do something about it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Not just another historical fiction about the Civil War, the late Beatty's ( Charley Skedaddle ; Be Ever Hopeful ; Hannalee ) novel follows the adventures of Lije (for Elijah) Tulley. He's a jayhawker--an abolitionist raider--from Kansas caught up in the raids and skirmishes between the jayhawkers and the pro-slavery bushwhackers of Missouri before and during the war. After his father is killed on a raid, Lije works as a spy in Missouri, passing news of bushwhacker plans to an equally daring young woman, with whom he falls in love. The author deftly brings in historical figures--John Brown, Jesse James--and weaves actual events such as the infamous bushwhacker raid on Lawrence, Kans., into her tale. Gruesome accounts of the killing and destruction in this lesser known Civil War theater deepen the impact; neither pro-North nor pro-South, this is instead a dramatic and compelling antiwar narrative. Ages 10-up.
