GIRL IN BLUE
Ann Rinaldi
Scholastic Press
Young Adult
ISBN: 0439676460
310 pages

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Louisa Wheelock is determined that she will live her own life and that no man will ever control her. However, her father has other ideas. He has promised Ezekiel Kunkle, whose wife has recently died, that Sarah will marry him. Sarah knows that she then can look forward to caring for Ezekiel's children and slaving from morning to night trying to keep up with the work of a farm and home; her life will be no better than it is with her abusive father.

Before her father can carry out his plan, Sarah takes matters into her own hands. Disguising herself as a boy and calling herself Neddy Compton, Sarah joins the Union Army to fight against the Confederates. Living in such close proximity to male soldiers, Sarah has a hard time hiding that she is a girl; and it is a woman who ultimately betrays her. After she is found out and can no longer continue as a male nurse, Sarah's life takes an entirely new direction.

Once again, Ann Rinaldi has written an exciting and adventure-filled novel about a young girl living in historical times. The book is full of well-researched facts and believable fictional characters. In addition, she has included in her Author's Note the source of her characters as well as women's roles in the American Revolution and the American Civil War.

   --- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson

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