Foster Simmons has an evil father. His brother leaves for world war II and Foster wants to help the soldiers, too. How is Foster going to help the U.S? I read this book from when I got back from school to when I went to bed. It was funny,addicting, and was suspenseful(very suspenseful).

I think that Foster's War should be five stars because there was a lot of detauls and desairption. I thought that their father lift to but every night he came home. This book was great.

Foster's War was a very well writen story. I was not alive during World War II, but this book was very realistic. From the family to coping with the war, it was realistic. I would highly recomend this to young readers.

Twelve year old Kate has never gotten over her father's death two years ago or her mother's remarriage last year. She resents her new stepfather, stepsister, Julia, stepbrother, Seth, and the new baby Mama is expecting. Since Kate's stepfather is away fighting in the Civil War, Mama decides to rent the family's canal boat, since she feels to poorly to pilot it to Georgetown on the canal. Kate decides to take the boat herself; so with her stepbrother, she sets off. Can Kate and Seth manage to make the trip on their own? And can they manage to forget their grudges and work together

It is about a who visits her grandpa in the moutains but that year they trow down it and.......?

What a fascinating book! My wife and I visited Shenandoah National Park on the 4th of July and picked up this book as we entered the park. Imagine having a tour guide with you on your journey, a tour guide who has seen and experienced the last two hundred years of the Shenandoah...

The book is divided into three parts:
I - Through the Gaps, organized as you travel from east to west.
II - Along the Drive, the largest of the three sections, describing the sights you'll encounter on Skyland Drive.
III - Beside the Trails, not a hiking guide, but background information about places and sights along the trail.

As we drove along Skyland Drive, we found several places of interest that were written about in the book. It was better than having a tour guide. This isn't just history, it's the stories, the legends of this wonderful part of the country that you won't get anywhere else. Whether you've already been to the Shenandoah, planning to go, or never plan to go, this is a fascinating book, filled with many strange and interesting photos. Somebody sure did their homework.

I liked this book a lot. I'm 14 and I really would not recconmend it for kids my age. The whole book was about Tom who was trying to win favor in his father's eye (in other words trying to make his father proud of him), and making moonshine. Tom loves to help his father make it, but he's never seen it in action. Will he change his mind? Is it really worth it? What about making his father proud? I think kids 10-12 would like this book. I think 13 year olds might read it but won't enjoy it as much as the younger kids. This is a good book for boys too. Hope this review helped.

The book is about a boy named Tom that is learning his family's trade, the art of making moonshine. All is going well until a preacher and his family move to the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains to rid the area of the "evils of drink". Tom then has to find out who is ruining his father's moonshine. The book truly gets exciteing when the preacher sends revenuers to his father.

I liked this book a lot because it wasn't very hard to get into for it was full of excitement. I didn't like the book because it could have been longer. This book is the best I have ever read. I would recomend it to any who enjoy a good adventure.

Moonshiner's Son is a great book with an excellent story line. Tom Higgings is a moonshiner's boy. His dad's name is June Higgins,which is short for Junior Higgins. Tom's mother left his father because she didn't endorse the idea of moonshining when prohibition had forbidded it. Tom wants to be a moonshiner when he grows up but when Preacher Taylor moves to the remote hills of Virginia to setup a mission, he wanted to rid the hills of the "evils of liquor." The preacher also brought his daugher, Amy. Amy has an influence on Tom, no just any influence, but one like the Sun rising in the morning, if it didn't rise most people wouldn't go to work. When Tom meets Amy spoiling the mash in his father's still he feels a slight sensation that was different than others. Tom knows that the girl had to be rich,even though she wasn't, he didn't know that. Without Amy, this book wouldn't be as exciting. Amy persuades Tom that he shouldn't be a moonshiner when he grows up, especially after seeing what happened to Widow Brown, a beloved friend to Tom and his father, after some folks in a corn shuckling burnt down the barn after they got drunk drinking his fathers apple brandy. But Tom had to stick up to his father who expected him to be next moonshiner in the Higgins family. This would be the hardest thing that Tom would ever do in his life. This is the climax, without this event there would be no point in reading this book. But Tom didn't know what he would do if he wasn't going to be a moonshiner. But he knew that his dad was excellent at making chairs. Tom wanted to start making chairs. At the still his dad told him to keep it going but Tom had a knife and a block of wood. He sticks up to his father who slapped him and abused him for a few minutes. But Tom's dad soon realizes that moonshining wouldn't be the family tradition anymoreif Tom would teach his kid. He teaches Tom how to make chairs. This is an excellent part of the book. The characters in this book make it very exciting. There are events in this book that make it even more intriguing. But when the book reaches its climax, it is very thrilling. For people who love historical fiction, this is one of the best historical fiction books that I have read. Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to read Moonshiner's Son. One, it is very exciting. It is exciting that it is history. Two, it has plenty of action. If one important event in thee book is happening, another equally important is also. Three, it has a great risk taking stand that is exciting when at the climax. I have given a brief reccommendation for this book which isn't even as great as the book itself. Moonshiner's Son is a great book for people who enjoy fiction with a touch of history. It has a great introduction and an unpredictable ending. I would like Carolyn Reeder to write a sequel to Moonshiner's Son because I would like to know how Tom and his dad make out making chairs and if the emotions felt by Tom and Amy urge them to marry. Once again, this is very,very good book.

An ALA Notable Book: I disagree completely!

"I don't want to go!" Screams William.
William's whole family died in the Civil War and he is now
being shipped off by his friend, Doc Martin to his Uncle Jed
and Aunt Ella's in Piedmont, Virginia. Some sympathy at first
but then William reveals his ungrateful self. The sympathy
wears off.
William is ashamed that his Uncle Jed didn't fight for
the Confederates in the War. As the book lingers on, William starts to loosen up to his gracious relatives' hospitality. He becomes friendly with his cousin, Meg, who our author neglected for the first three chapters. He fished for Bluegills by the lighthouse with her. He also read Charles Dickens to Beth and Eleanor, who suddenly appear towards the end.
Then William gets a letter from his friend, Doc Martin, asking him if he wanted to come back home, the next three to five chapters are dedicated to William trying to decide where to go, when just a few pages back, he was furious about coming to see his Uncle and Aunt in the first place! Confusing.
In conclusion, the idea for the story was all right, but
Reeder didn't present it well. This history topic isn't something most children would be interested in.

6th Grade Student from OHES

Death, sickness, anger, and war are really causing Will Page to go mad in Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder. The story revolves around Will Page taking place in Shenandoah Valley in the 1800's. Will is being ached by the death of his family during the Confederate War. Will has now moved to his Uncle Jed and Aunt Ella's house along with his cousin Meg. Will has now found out that his Uncle Jed did not serve in the war along with his father which is really bothering Will. Will William Page be able to get along with his new family and Uncle Jed?
My opinion is Shades of Gray is a good book because of the information the author gives to the reader and its enough to explain to the reader what's going on in the book. The author shows letters, a lot of dialogue and also when the characters say things to themselves which the author makes descriptive thoughts by the characters. You should get this book because it's a book with morale to it. The author shows the main goal for the character which is the character is trying get over the fact that his family died and he's struggling and trying to get use to a new family and a new lease on life. I recommend this book a great book to read and enjoy.

Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder is fiction.Nevertheless, it shows the untold hardship that war can inflict on innocent people. The civil war between the Yankees and the Confederates has ended. But it has created a vacuum in the life of Will Page, a 12-year-old boy. He has lost his entire family in the war. his father and brother have been killed by the Yankees, his two sisters have died of typhoid, and his mother of heartbreak and grief. A sad picture indeed!!Without any hope of support, Will finds himself in a state of quandary. His animosity is directed not only to the Yankees but also to his uncle Jed for refusing to fight in the war. He has lost the very thing he adored most in life- his family. In accordance with his mother's death wish, he is to be sent to Uncle Jed, a man he despises for his 'cowardly' action to join the Confiderates. However, he has no choice. The battle for survival transcends certain boundaries and contingencies. Therefore, he condescends to live with Uncle Jed and his family, always struggling to adjust from the urban civilization he's lived with to his uncle's rural way of life.Acceptance of the generosity of his new family has its own toll on Will. He must learn the skills of rural life to eke out a living and justify the board of hospitality offered by this lovely but poor family. He learns really fast and bears himself upright. With time the civil war becomes 'ancient history' to Will. His attitude to Uncle Jed changes gradually; he is right for not fighting in the war. His family has suffered for staying out of the war as much as Will's family for fighting. Although the book is fiction, the message is quite vivid. People should fight for what they believe and not be led by the nose.Will's decision to live a rural, rather than an urban life later on, demonstrates his acceptance of this truth. He's been exposed to the stark realities of life. Uncle Jed is not the coward or traitor he once thought him to be.He rather admires Jed for his wisdom, courage, and conviction. The conflicts of this book are really challenging.Every young person who reads it has a lot to learn about the ups and downs of life. This text refers to the paperback edition of this title.

Hi we are the Fenn School. and we read this in class to learn about the Civil War. we didn't like the Book it was really boring we realy wanted to give the book 0 stars. We want to wise are theacher Ms. Mott a hppy baby (she's hav a bab in case you couldn't get that)

Across the Lines provides children with a realistic view of what two young boys went through during the time period of the Civil War.