Thunder at Gettysburg

Based on an autobiographical account of the Battle of Gettysburg by Tillie Pierce Alleman, Gauch's historically accurate treatment of the 14-year-old girl's experience is a welcome reissue of a book first published in 1975. Sent to a farmhouse for safety, Tillie unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of the battlefield, ducking cannon fire as she runs for water to aid wounded soldiers. The reader, like Tillie, is drawn into the sounds and sights of the rapidly unfolding events through the dramatically rendered story. In reflecting on the events, Tillie acknowledges, ``It was better to win. / But look what had happened. / Dear God, look what happened.'' Gauch's dramatic, verse-like text and Gammell's somber black-and-white drawings evoke the horror of war with startling but not overpowering clarity. Ages 7-11. (June)