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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780374328115
ISBN number: 0374328110
Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: August 12, 2003
Publishing house: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 1016163
Studio: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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Product Description:
The Civil War in Missouri
In 1863, at fifteen, Matt Howard is old enough to join the Southern guerrillas and help protect Missouri from Union forces. But Matt would rather farm than fight – tending his beloved pa's land is the subsequent best thing to having him still alive. What’s more, to safeguard her six children, Matt’s mother insists that the family take a neutral position. In Missouri's Civil War, which pits neighbor against neighbor, armed men often bang on doors in the middle of the night, shouting 'Union or Secesh?' The wrong answer can get a civilian killed.
Matt’s mother is from the North, and when Ma decides to move them back, Matt is torn: Should he abandon his farm or his family? And what about his friend Jesse, who has no doubts about joining the guerrillas? What will Jesse say if Matt runs away? In this large, gripping examination of the Civil War in Missouri, a boy bewildered by the madness around him wrestles with questions about family ties, friendship, and loyalty.
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Rated by buyers 
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If your son or daughter ever asks, how can neighbors and friends start fearing, hating and even killing each other over politics, hand them a copy of Guerrilla Season. Not only will they find themselves totally immersed in the story of 15-year-old Matt and his friend Jesse, who are struggling in their own ways to cope with the war that is infiltrating and ripping apart their patch of "neutral" Missouri in 1863, but they will find themselves understanding just what guerrilla warfare does to a community. It *can* happen here, and already has. For a teenage boy, the idea of staying neutral in the midst of civil war is an illusion. Hughes does an amazing job of bringing her characters (and their families) to life, as well as the forces and events that compel them to take sides. This middle-aged man found Guerrilla Season thoroughly compelling, and appreciated the rich attention to detail, the careful interweaving of character and historical plot, and the absence of 21st-century value judgments.
I have to wonder what sort of books "Book Worm Mama" (below) reads beyond the Bible and fairy tales. Where is the swearing she refers to? I noticed about three very tame cuss words, hardly out of line for a book set in the middle of a war. And I had to laugh at her description of Matt as "disrespectful." She clearly just doesn't get it. This is a book about real, flesh-and-blood people in a terribly difficult situation, and the choices they have to make. The triumph of Guerrilla Season is that perceptive readers still care about them.
Rated by buyers 
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While there are some interesting elements in the book and it is a unique lookat the supposed childhood of Jesse James, I do not recommend it for children. There is a lot of swearing in it. I know most folks are exposed to swearing all the time, but I do not want that for my children. It is possible to write wonderful fiction and get the point across without having to resort to using swearing. As I read old time fiction I notice this!
Secondly I do not like Matt's attitude toward his mother. He is not respectful, he hides things from her. I do not like my chidren being exposed to things like that.
Rated by buyers -
Guerilla Warfare, by Pat Hughes, is about the choices an adolescent, Matt, has to make during the Civil War. After his father died he became the man of the house and feels responsibility for his father's possession such as farming the land. Matt lives in Missouri with his 'Ma' and five other brothers and sisters. Throughout the novel he struggles in deciding whether he should engage in Guerilla Warfare with his best friend Jesse or if he should try to remain neutral for the safety of his family. Another decision he struggles to make is whether he should move north with his family or he should stay with the land that has belonged to his father. Nearing the end of the novel Matt moves up north with his family deserting pretty much everything he knew.
Historically, this novel seems pretty accurate. This story really could have happened given the time and the setting. It showed me a part of Kansas/Missouri History that I never knew. Living in Kansas, I have learned the history of 'Bleeding Kansas' and the fighting that went on in the area. However, I never knew that Jayhawkers terrorized Missouri in order to try to scare people into making it a free state. This book is fictional, so that part might not be true, but the way Hughes writes the novel makes it seem completely logical and accurate. This is a great book I encourage you to read, especially if you enjoy action-packed novels.
Rated by buyers -
My 14 year-old son came home from school with this book, because of our family interest in the WBTS when our ancestors fought for the South. The book is nominated for the Children's Book Award in Georgia. When I saw on the back that it was written by a northerner I got suspicious. But I assure you the book is not just one more Yankeefied version of the war. If you have kids in school you know that most books about the war put Southerners in a bad light but this one is different. For one thing it shows Southerners who didn't own slaves. (Like my ancestors didn't.) Also the people in the book who do have slaves, don't beat or mistreat them.
Guerrilla Season is about a boy named Matt who lives in Missouri, where they had heavy guerrilla activity through out the war. Matt is 15 and he to decide, will he go to fight for the South with Quantrill, or will he leave his home and stay safe with his family? (Fighting for the Union, NOT an option for this proud Southron boy!) The story is about everything that happens to Matt and his family, his neighbors and his friend Jesse through that summer, 1863. North and south, both do terrible things and the author is very fair in showing it. I won't say how it ends because until the last minute you can't be sure if Matt will change his mind.
I can't say enough good things about this book. All the characters are so real, and for boys, there is alot of action. This is a great story for parents to read, along with their kids.
Rated by buyers 
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In Guerilla Season, written by Pat Hughes, I saw that family was an important part of the novel. He chose to stay with his family instead of in Missouri, the place his father died and where he felt he belonged. He had to choose between his friend and his family, and through his decisions he managed to sustain good relationships with both despite his encounters and decisions. He tried to remain neutral, but the more they pressured him, the more he became a staunch secessionist. He didn't quite realize how much he depended on his family until he was sent off to the federal work camp. He soon became aggravated and heartbroken over not seeing his family for a whole week. It was then that he decided to stay intact with the family instead of staying in Missouri to see his crop grow into a harvest. It is in this decision that Hughes us that our personal goals are not more important than family. He is conveying to us that when we look back upon our lives, family is the closest form of friendship we have. They will be the ones that listen to us, that understand us for who we are, not who we should be. Jesse tried to make Matt into a guerrilla, but Ma was persistent on Matt choosing to be neutral, which basically meant to stay alive. Matt also thought that leaving his homeland meant he would leave it forever and betray his father, who spent his whole life tilling the land. Towards the end of the book he realized that he would be betraying his father more if he stayed behind without his family. His family needs him to continue the family tradition. Family is the last institution and the only institution that has held up since the creation of man, and Hughes proves why.
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