What do You think about Bull Run (1995)?
Okay, this is partly the fault of Paul Fleischman and partly the fault of my teacher. I had this book as a summer reading assignment and it reads like it's written for much younger readers. The characters have no personality, and are all annoying. And there are too many of them. I think the ones that annoyed me most were Shem Suggs not only because of his weird name, but because of his weird obsession with horses. I have a bestie who is obsessed with horses, and its not annoying at all. But this guy? Obsessed to the point of being unhealthy. Somebody pointed a gun at his horse and he "shot him without thinking". I half hoped his horse would die. I know, cold. But it was the author's fault for not developing the character enough so that I cared what happened to him and his stupid horse. (I know this may be surprising, but I actually do like horses quite a bit. I just wouldn't die for them.) Another annoying person always that naiëve eleven year old boy who wanted to fight and kill. Just another year, buddy, and you could volunteer for the Hunger Games!! Also, that cab driver's constant 'Tis a fact'ing was super annoying. I'm not sure what messages this books is trying to send, but people, in my own words, war is bad. Okay? It just is. And this book sucks. It was a wasted two hours. Why could I not have been assigned a better book? A classic, maybe, if it had to be educational. Then I could have added that classic to my repertoire. But this book sure ain't a classic, and it sure ain't going going on my repertoire.
—Maya
In Bull Run, Fleischman depicts the epic first battle of the American Civil War from 16 different characters. From Confederate generals, to slaves, to a girl in Minnesota whose brother fought for the Union, almost every imaginable angle during the time of the event is displayed. The book describes the victory of the Confederacy and how no one expected the war to last as long as it did. I found the story to be very helpful in understanding the Civil War but a bit complicated to keep track of each character, especially since each one only spoke for approximately 6 pages throughout the book. Overall, the novel was very telling of the time period and its circumstances. This would be a cool read-aloud when learning about the Civil War. Although focusing on only the first battle, it would lay a good foundation for the many perspectives and attitudes held throughout the war.Fleischman, P., & Frampton, D. (1993). Bull Run. New York: HarperCollins.
—Susie White
I did not like the book Bull Run. It was very boring and not very exciting. I honestly did not like how it was a diary page for everyone's story. I just wish that it was just a story.Bull Run, by Paul Pleischman, was baout Confederate and Union soldiers fighting in the Civil War. They each wrote a journal page on their experience in the war. They wrote about many different things. For example, Vigil Peavy, a confederate soldier, wrote about being knoked off his horse in battle.I recommend this book to people who like history, nonficton books. I odn't think that kids would like this book.
—Isabella Procopio
