The Fighting Ground

The Fighting Ground
By Avi

Genre: Historical Fiction
Interest Level: Grades 5-8
Reading Level: V
Where to find this book: Boston Public Library

Did you ever hope and dream about something you wanted, only to discover when your dream came true that it was not what you expected? This is an insight that frames The Fighting Ground. The novel begins with 13 year-old Jonathan imagining Revolutionary War battlefields as sites of glory and heroism. When militia members in his New Jersey farming community are called to respond to British aggression on April 3, 1778, Jonathan eagerly joins them. He soon discovers the dark underside of war: pain, fear, death, and a blurring of right and wrong.

The entire novel takes place in the span of one 24-hour period. Jonathan joins his local militia in fending off a party of thirty Hessian soldiers. (Hessians were German mercenaries hired by the British army.) The two groups encounter one another on a rural road. Jonathan is positioned by his corporal among the first line of soldiers to fire upon the Hessians. In the heat of battle, with smoke filling the air and bullets flying, Jonathan.. runs. The confusion of battle, a badly injured follow soldier next to him, and his difficulty in handling and loading a heavy musket that is taller than him proves to be too much for him to handle. Jonathan is eventually taken prisoner by the Hessians. And that event only marks the beginning of his adventures as a Revolutionary soldier.

I recommend this book because it portrays the Revolutionary War in a way that many people do not consider. We often think of the War in a flippant manner. We minimize the impact of the War on the real lives of Americans. It is too easy for us to state which side--Patriot or Loyalist--we would have taken if we lived at the time. We dehumanize British soldiers and Loyalists. The Fighting Ground provides us with the story of an American teenager who discovers the horrors of war and eventually finds it difficult to say whose side he is on.

I have not always liked Avi's books. I read Nothing But the Truth many years ago and disliked it so much that I didn't read another of his books for another decade or so. It was my loss! Two years ago, I read Crispin: Cross of Lead and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. I could not put these books down. My eyes were glued to the pages! The adventure and intensity of the stories were top-notch--right up there with Harry Potter. If you're looking for an adventure of historical fiction, The Fighting Ground will not disappoint you!