a novel by ISBN 978-0930773-502 |
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a novel by ISBN 978-0930773-502 |
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Two teenage girls, sisters a year apart, are in a terrible auto
accident near where they live, a few miles from the Civil War battlefield at Shiloh. The
older is killed outright. The younger is badly brain-damaged. In a coma, she meets people
who are oddly dressed and who speak English but not quite the English she speaks.
Eventually she comes out of the coma, but continues to see and talk with these people who
are soon identified as doctors, nurses and soldiers--Northern and Southern--on their way
to Shiloh to fight a great Civil War battle. The girl is befriending people of the last
century who are soon to die. As fascinating as these occurrences are, they are associated
with the girl's refusal to accept the death of her sister. Indeed, her doctors expect the
girl to die. But she fools everybody, and by witnessing the deaths of her Civil War
friends she is able to come to terms with the death of her sister.
Based on a true story, this fine novel--appropriate for both adults and young adults aged
13 and over--presents death, loss and grief engrossingly and even hopefully.
What the Critics are Saying |
From Kirkus Reviews , May 26, 1998
A brain-damaged teenager struggles to reconstruct herself and her
shattered world in an electrifying first-person narrative. After an auto accident, Sandy
awakens next to the gurney on which her sister Penny's body rests. The nurses express
surprise that she's alive; the doctor holds out no hope either, and Sandy, after a brief
stay in Intensive Care, is sent home to die. Against all odds, she hangs on; in the
hallucinatory company of Penny, plus a series of Civil War soldiers converging on nearby
Shiloh,
Sandy slowly learns to walk and talk again, to find accommodations with her uncooperative,
badly injured body, to reach through the constant pain and noise in her head. She
describes her progress with unimpaired intelligence; in a measured, almost detached tone
that will grip readers from the outset Sandy recounts victories and defeats in her battle
against the ``terrorists'' and ``mischievous voices, disobedient beasts and broken
machines'' in her brain. She notes external signs of her internal healing: Random
jumbles of letters become understandable words again; she takes ever longer rambles about
the farm; she refuses to take the strong tranquilizers the doctor has prescribed; and she
accepts that Penny is gone. Woodruff fits Sandy with a distinct, individual voice, a past
life of which, heartrendingly, she recalls only traces, and a strong supporting cast led
by her sad, loving mother. A powerful, extraordinary story. Copyright ©1998, Kirkus
Associates, LP. All rights reserved.