Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Gulliver Books (Harcourt, Inc.)
Pages
294
Description
When her mother dies and her best friend's family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, fourteen-year-old Emily Pigbush must go live with an uncle she suspects of being involved in stealing bodies for medical research.
Series
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1997-10
Physical description
294 p.; 7 inches
ISBN
0152021943
Similar in this library
Lexile
520L
User reviews
LibraryThing member Whisper1
Many thanks to countrylife for recently recommending this very interesting book.
I've read a number of Ann Rinaldi's books, some are good, others fall flat. This one is worth the time and effort spent reading.
Using the backdrop of Washington, DC at the turbulent time of the
end of the Civil war,
Slaves who were freed now have no where to go. Expecting President "Linkum" to find homes for them, they sadly seek shelter and food to no avail.
Widows with no source of income are pressed to take in boarders. Soldiers returning home to the North after the war suffer from disease, loss of limbs and the stress of combat fatigue.
We learn of life in Washington, DC 1865 from the point of view of fourteen year old Emily Pigbush who lost her father in the war and her mother to "the wasting disease".
Upon her death bed her mother forbid Emily to live with her Uncle Valentine, a prominent physician and teacher. Instead, Emily was slated to live at the home of her friend Annie Surrat, daughter of Mary Surrat.
Weaving a cast of characters including John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Mudd, General Custer and the Surrats, Rinaldi provides accurate historical detail regarding the assignation of President Lincoln and the effects of a city and nation in tremendous grief.
John Wilkes Booth was known to visit the home of Mary Surrat and thus she was implicated with seven others.
History shows that on the afternoon of Lincoln's assignation, Booth went to Mary Surratt's boarding house in Washington, D.C. It was discovered that guns and ammunition were stored there.
Of the eight alleged conspirators, she was the only woman. She was found guilty and hanged. She has the historical notoriety of being the first woman executed by the United States government.
While the title and cover of the book leads the reader to believe this is a ghost story, in fact, the sub plot of the book is an excellent depiction of Ann's Uncle, who for the sake of learning new medical techniques in order to help wounded and those afflicted with disease, works with a few others to rob graves or attain bodies. These are the times before legal autopsies and the moral/ethical procurement of bodies is balanced by the need for knowledge.
Recommended.
I've read a number of Ann Rinaldi's books, some are good, others fall flat. This one is worth the time and effort spent reading.
Using the backdrop of Washington, DC at the turbulent time of the
end of the Civil war,
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Rinaldi takes us through the streets of a city in turmoil as the country is reeling with the aftermath of a nation torn apart.Slaves who were freed now have no where to go. Expecting President "Linkum" to find homes for them, they sadly seek shelter and food to no avail.
Widows with no source of income are pressed to take in boarders. Soldiers returning home to the North after the war suffer from disease, loss of limbs and the stress of combat fatigue.
We learn of life in Washington, DC 1865 from the point of view of fourteen year old Emily Pigbush who lost her father in the war and her mother to "the wasting disease".
Upon her death bed her mother forbid Emily to live with her Uncle Valentine, a prominent physician and teacher. Instead, Emily was slated to live at the home of her friend Annie Surrat, daughter of Mary Surrat.
Weaving a cast of characters including John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Mudd, General Custer and the Surrats, Rinaldi provides accurate historical detail regarding the assignation of President Lincoln and the effects of a city and nation in tremendous grief.
John Wilkes Booth was known to visit the home of Mary Surrat and thus she was implicated with seven others.
History shows that on the afternoon of Lincoln's assignation, Booth went to Mary Surratt's boarding house in Washington, D.C. It was discovered that guns and ammunition were stored there.
Of the eight alleged conspirators, she was the only woman. She was found guilty and hanged. She has the historical notoriety of being the first woman executed by the United States government.
While the title and cover of the book leads the reader to believe this is a ghost story, in fact, the sub plot of the book is an excellent depiction of Ann's Uncle, who for the sake of learning new medical techniques in order to help wounded and those afflicted with disease, works with a few others to rob graves or attain bodies. These are the times before legal autopsies and the moral/ethical procurement of bodies is balanced by the need for knowledge.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member countrylife
Ann Rinaldi doing what she does so well – historical fiction for young adults. It is the spring of 1865 in Washington D.C., where 14 year old Emily Pigbush has just lost her mother. Now an orphan, her father having died in the civil war, she plans to live with her friend, Annie, and help out with
The American Civil War had made the physicians involved in it even more aware of the deficiencies of their medical education, specifically anatomy and dissection. Even as more people were training to be doctors, there were fewer bodies available for dissection. In the author's note, she details that in Vermont, between 1820 and 1840, there were more than 1600 medical students, needing 400 cadavers. “Only two bodies a year were made available legally. … State legislators had not yet made up laws to deal with supplying bodies for teaching. … Grave robbing became a lucrative activity.”
Emily and her uncle are fictional characters in this story, which also includes appearances by Elizabeth Keckley, John Wilkes Booth, Annie and Johnny Surratt, Dr. Samuel Mudd, General George Armstrong Custer and other people of historical significance. Ms. Rinaldi did a fine job of making her characters believable. The setting was adequately pictured. The story was engaging for a young adult history lesson. She covered the assassination, the city in mourning, and the trials well enough for a YA novel. I thought she gravitated too much to the eery side of the procurement of cadavers, and not enough to the medical advantages once procured. As that seemed to be the point of the book, I thought the story short-changed itself there.
Otherwise, a very good book. (3.2 stars)
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the Surratt family's boardinghouse. When President Lincoln is assassinated and her friend's family comes under suspicion, her only other alternative is to live with her Uncle Valentine, against her mother's expressed wishes. For she had known something shady was going on there. The American Civil War had made the physicians involved in it even more aware of the deficiencies of their medical education, specifically anatomy and dissection. Even as more people were training to be doctors, there were fewer bodies available for dissection. In the author's note, she details that in Vermont, between 1820 and 1840, there were more than 1600 medical students, needing 400 cadavers. “Only two bodies a year were made available legally. … State legislators had not yet made up laws to deal with supplying bodies for teaching. … Grave robbing became a lucrative activity.”
Emily and her uncle are fictional characters in this story, which also includes appearances by Elizabeth Keckley, John Wilkes Booth, Annie and Johnny Surratt, Dr. Samuel Mudd, General George Armstrong Custer and other people of historical significance. Ms. Rinaldi did a fine job of making her characters believable. The setting was adequately pictured. The story was engaging for a young adult history lesson. She covered the assassination, the city in mourning, and the trials well enough for a YA novel. I thought she gravitated too much to the eery side of the procurement of cadavers, and not enough to the medical advantages once procured. As that seemed to be the point of the book, I thought the story short-changed itself there.
Otherwise, a very good book. (3.2 stars)
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LibraryThing member afyfe
Good, quick read. This book is a combination of actual events and a fictional story. The interesting part of it is that some of the historical facts are little known (for example, some of John WIlkes Booth's friends and their families) so you come out of the book actually learning something new
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about US history. I'd recommend this book to any high schooler (maybe middle schooler) who is currently studying US hisory Civil War era as well as anyone else who wants a quick, clever, historical fiction book. Show Less
LibraryThing member chicaslarson
I LOVED this book!!! It is the kind of book that will capture you from the very
beginning! It is set in the time that President Abraham Lincoln was shot.
I would recommend this book to ALL my freinds.
beginning! It is set in the time that President Abraham Lincoln was shot.
I would recommend this book to ALL my freinds.
LibraryThing member EmScape
Rinaldi incorporates an incredible amount of historical fact into her novel of a young girl living in Washington D.C. at the time of President Lincoln's assassination. Emily, our protagonist, claims Annie Surratt, daughter of the first woman ever hanged by the United States Government, as her best
Rinaldi has also managed to include a secondary plotline that is just as entertaining and informative. Emily's uncle, whom she lives with is a physician struggling to advance his field. In order to do this, he may or may not be engaging in illegal methods to procure cadavers for his medical school.
Emily is a very realistic protagonist, who is definitely a product of her upbringing and her era. There is quite a bit of the 'southern belle' in her character, but also a delightful amount of spunk. I wavered back and forth while reading this book about whether or not I liked her. I still am not sure, but I certainly got to know and understand her, as well as watch her learn and grow. Which is what a coming of age tale is all about.
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friend. Because of this, Emily is witness to some extremely important events in our nation's history, and Rinaldi employs this strategy to make these events come alive for a young reader. Never once does Emily's involvement in the action feel forced, as some historical novels tend to, and her presence at Mary Surratt's hanging seems neither inappropriate or extraneous. Rinaldi has also managed to include a secondary plotline that is just as entertaining and informative. Emily's uncle, whom she lives with is a physician struggling to advance his field. In order to do this, he may or may not be engaging in illegal methods to procure cadavers for his medical school.
Emily is a very realistic protagonist, who is definitely a product of her upbringing and her era. There is quite a bit of the 'southern belle' in her character, but also a delightful amount of spunk. I wavered back and forth while reading this book about whether or not I liked her. I still am not sure, but I certainly got to know and understand her, as well as watch her learn and grow. Which is what a coming of age tale is all about.
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Subjects
Awards
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Nominee — 1998)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1998)
Call number
J4E.Rin