The Flags of War

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

Walt MacGregor would love to leave the farm near Cornwall, Ontario, to
seek adventure in the American Civil War. However, he never expects to
be kidnapped and forced to fight for the Confederacy and for slavery,
which he abhors. Walt’s cousin Nate MacGregor, the privileged son of a
wealthy cotton plantation owner in South Carolina, is engaged in the war
from the very beginning. Nate is thrilled and exhilarated with the
business of war, despite the horrors he witnesses first-hand. A young
slave named Sunday escapes from the MacGregor plantation, where he has
been whipped, branded, and had his tongue cut off. All three young men
ultimately meet on the battlefield, where loyalty and kinship become
their foremost concerns.

Wilson catapults the reader into the gory details of the battlefield
with the first sentence, and from that graphic beginning engages us in a
story that depicts the gut-wrenching reality of war and slavery,
tempered with thoughtful reflection and contemplation of the issues at
hand. The book is as much about the tragedy of slavery as it is about
war, and it is that central issue that divides the MacGregor family and
the nation. Young males who are intrigued by the drama of a war story
will be fascinated by the action-packed plot and will also learn a great
deal about many aspects of the American Civil War, including the impact
the war had on many Canadians. Recommended.