Drummer Boy at Bull Run by Gilbert Morris
Published in 1995 152 pages
Content: * * * * * (5.0)
Clean fiction is hard to come by these days. Have you wandered the JF (junior fiction) and YA (young adult) shelves at your local library lately?! If you noticed the publishing date of this book, you might be rolling your eyes at me; however, just because a book is older does not mean it’s guaranteed to be clean. In this case, the book is indeed clean – no language, no physical intimacy beyond a few kisses (which lack the passionate description often given in youth and romance novels these days!) This book is written at the beginning of the Civil War: there is some violence, though never gory, overly-detailed, or gratuitous. It is honest in it’s presentation of facts, but the focus is not on the battles. This is a junior fiction series after all! The characters are, for the most part, Believers. Prayer is heavily encouraged and the characters often speak of God, pray together, look to the Lord for strength and comfort, etc. Characters hear preaching of God’s word and come to salvation. My only issue with the salvation conversations here is that the idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” is mentioned, which is not tenable biblically; however, the practical theology presented in this book of trusting the Lord and going to Him in prayer is so powerful and encouraging! Some characters mention God’s will, and say God “tells” them to do something, though I don’t believe the author is pointing to an audible message from the Lord or mystical beliefs. The content gets full and hearty approval from me!
Style: * * * * (4.6)
Technically speaking, I have no issues with the style of writing in this book (or the series as a whole.) So . . . why the 4.6? Here’s the kicker: I’m reading this series aloud to a friend (you’re welcome Hezekiah!) The factor of read-aloud-ability has not crossed my mind much until now. When reading aloud, the pace can be slower than the pace we read at in our heads; this is true for me. It causes me to stop and actually see and understand the words I am reading. This means that I notice repetitive character analysis, lengthened scenery descriptions, sentence structure, etc. The most difficult thing I have found in reading aloud is knowing which character is talking. This isn’t usually a problem for me; however, when attempting to have distinct voices for each character it is important that I know at the beginning of each line who is speaking. I have sometimes found that difficult in Drummer Boy at Bull Run. I also found some character and scenery descriptions to be a little repetitive, and even downright unnecessary. For example, if Willis is only part of the story for one paragraph on a drive through town, I don’t care to know his body type and hair color/style. These are purely technical, nitty-gritty issues: for you, my dear reader, this could easily be another 5-Star novel to add to your YA or junior fiction shelves.
Overall Rating: * * * * * (5.0)
Though I have sometimes had a little difficulty reading this novel out-loud with accurate and consistent voices, this book was pure fun to read! Not only that, it was an encouragement spiritually as I encountered with Jeff and Leah the difficulties of growing up as young teens in the Civil War. True, the doctrinal quality left a few things to be desired. My primary issue was the usage of the term “ask Jesus into your heart”. Aside from this, there are many admirable qualities honored in this book, as I mentioned above, that make this a good read for junior high students and adults alike!
