Like a River: A Civil War Novel

Leander is fifteen and lives in his older brother’s shadow. Nate, eighteen, is everything Leander wants to be. When Nate announces he is joining the Union Army with his friend, Given, Leander watches the decision drive a wedge between his parents. Days later, Nate is badly injured and will never walk again. Leander signs up in Nate’s place. He and Given are in a fierce battle and Leander loses his arm. While recuperating in a field hospital, Leander meets Paul. Paul has a big secret. When Paul’s injured father dies, Paul joins a fighting unit, ending up in Andersonville Prison where he meets Given, and they help each other survive.

Kathy Cannon Wiechman has written a compelling story of loyalty, survival, friendship, and love for young people caught up in the most terrible of times and places during the Civil War. It is clear Wiechman did a great deal of good research to bring such a level of realism to this excellent story. The characters are rich and well-rounded, the settings nearly palpable, and the writing is beautiful and powerful. This should have a much wider readership than the middle-grade and teen audience for which it is intended.