Juliet's Moon

Rinaldi, Ann.  Juliet's Moon.  2008.  Harcourt, Inc, New York, NY, USA.

Hardcover: $17.00.  ISBN:978-0-15-206170-8.

Book Talk:

Juliet is living in Missouri.  Around her the Civil War rages on.  Barely escaping the clutches of the Yankee Army when they come to her house, she watches in horror from her secret place while her father is murdered and their home is burned to the ground.

Juliet's brother, Seth, finds her later that day and takes her to the house of his intended.  Here, he feels she will be safe and sound, and protected from the uncertainties of life that surround everyone in the days at the close of the Civil War.

But wait!  Seth is a member of Quantrill's Riders, a notorious group of guerilla warriors who roam the countryside at will and harass the Union Army wherever they may go.  While their tactics are effective, anyone who is associated with the Riders is in danger because the Union Army will stop at nothing in their attempt to stop Quantrill's Riders. 

When the fateful day arrives and everyone - Juliet, the family she is staying with, her friends from surrounding farms - everyone who might possibly be affiliated with the Riders is arrested.  They are taken to town and tossed into a prison on the second floor of a house.

When that prison collapses with all of the prisoners inside, Juliet faces a quick lesson in growing up. When she discovers that most of the people who were prisoners with her were either killed or will be maimed for the rest of their lives, she experiences what is only the beginning of her new reality.

All of us experience a dark moon inside of our soul.  Juliet is about to discover hers.  How far will she go in order to save all that is precious to her?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.annrinaldi.net/

A Note from Bettina:
I was not expecting to be this swept away by this book!  I have read it all in one sitting, breaking only for lunch.  Holy cow!

I wanted to point out that this book is based on true facts.  I had never heard of this particular tale before.  All of the girl relatives of the Quantrill Raiders were in fact, herded up and sent to prison in a dilapidated jail - The Grand Avenue Prison- in Kansas City.  The jail did indeed collapse,  and most of the girls were killed.  The author created a beloved family of characters that were a part of this collapse.  The tale of survival, of love, and determination in the face of adversity is an enchanting tale that needs to be heard again and again.