Read this book with my oldest daughter. She had no interest in it because of the title or the cover. I read half the book out loud while on a trip. We returned home, and I did not pick up the book for a week. When I remembered, I asked her to read it with me, but she had already finished it. I asked her how she liked it. She really liked it because it has a satisfying ending. This is a coming-of-age book. The young man in the book is eleven years old Virginian. He has lost his parents and siblings throughout the course of the Civil War. As he walks through the next six months, he moves past his bitterness and pain. Through his own "civil war" with a bully and a visiting Yankee, he learns to realize the importance of living by conviction and to respect the convictions of others. The ending truly is satisfying, even emotional if not careful.The book deals with the complex themes related to the Civil War. On one side, we have those with the convictions that the states have rights which the Federal government cannot take away. On the other side, we have those with the convictions that human rights trump State and Federal rights. The main character wrestles with these two convictions. The author does not deal with the moral foundation for either of these convictions. Although the main character has a Bible, the teachings of the Bible have no place in the story. In the end, the story promotes a humanistic approach to life. It advances the progressive agenda.The book also deals with the selfishness engendered by painful losses. The main character learns to look past one's personal pain and recognize the pain felt by others. In war, everyone has their share of pain. Maturity allows us to serve others in spite of our pain. Again, religion and faith have no part in the formation of a morally mature person.
Junior Book Log: Fiction - HistoricalRecommending Source: textbook pg. 210It is the very end of the Civil War and Will has lost everyone that he cares about. He is a southern boy in his heart and he can not stand that the Confederates are loosing, and what's worse is that those Yankees killed all of his immediate family. Will is forces to move in with his aunt and uncle in the Piedmont region of Virginia, and he is not happy about it. He has never me them, he just wants his family back. And worst of all his Uncle Jed is a traitor and a coward because he did not stand up for the South and go to war like the rest of Will's family did. As Will lives with them he begins to rethink some of his ways. Maybe Uncle Jed isn't a traitor, maybe he isn't such a coward after all. This story really makes you think about loyalties and how you have come to think about courage and honor. Sometimes those are not things that are gained on a battlefield, but instead out in a farmers field.The students will definitely be able to relate to this story. The boy in the book is right around there age and is going through some of the similar struggles that they are going through, his are just set way back in the past. Around here there are a lot of military families, and students who have parents that are overseas right now. They will be able to identify with Will as well since they know what it feels like to have a loved one gone at war. This book would be a great supplemental activity to read when the students are learning about the Civil War.
What do You think about Shades Of Gray (2000)?
In the book Shades of Grey, William Page learns how to respect peoples' beliefs and to fight for what you believe is right from his role model, Uncle Jed. William Page is angry at his Uncle Jed because he thinks his uncle is a traitor. Uncle Jed makes Will realize that you must do what you think is right and fight for what you believe in. Uncle Jed felt there was no reason for him to fight in the war because he did not believe the war was just. At first Will did not understand this because his family had all died in the war and he thought that everyone should have fought in that war. It was only because Will's father believed that the war was right that he went out to battle. But at the end Will is ablebto give his Uncle more respect and to realize that not all Yankees are bad. In a letter to a Yankee he says, "After my father and brother were killed, I hated all Yankees, but now I understand that there were good men fighting on both sides-and some good men didn't fight." Here the role model is Uncle Jed because he shows Will what he believes in and why he did not fight.
—Matthew
Shades of Gray was a book that opened my eyes to a wider mind. It made me see the topic of our Summer Reading Essay clearly. It showed that your perspectives that you learn in your household in your upbringing can alter the way you look at other people greatly. Will Page is all for the Confederates and when his entire immediate family dies he has to live with his uncle in the country. You might think this is a blessing to him but Will Page is more than unwilling to go there just because his uncle didn't fight in the Civil War. He believes his uncle is a coward for not fighting in the war. He believes he betrayed his family who was all for the Confederates, even his father and brother died fighting for the Southerner's opinions. As Will works side by side with his uncle he realizes his uncle's perspective and he realises he may have misjudged him too fast. Now Will has to make a decision to live with his uncle or a profesor he met before he listened to his uncle's point of view that he made arrangements with. This book also teaches you that no matter what family will always be there no matter what and you always have a home with family. I like the message this book conveys.
—Anniesa
This exceptionally well-written book tells the story of William Page, a twelve year old boy who lost everyone in his immediate family during the Civil War. Will moves to rural Virginia to live with an aunt and her husband. In his new home Will experiences many new and exciting things yet he is angry at and rejecting of his uncle, a Southerner, who refused to fight for the South. Will expresses the many beliefs and attitudes of those Southerners who fought for that they believed was a just cause. Gradually Will comes to see how others viewed the war; he begins to acknowledge that someone can be a good person even if they believe something radically different from you.The action is exciting and the attitudes are subtle.
—Kellyn
