Juliet's Moon Book

A scandalous, little-known event in our Civil War history

KLIATT

This novel is based on one of the most dramatic events in the Civil War. Twelve-year-old Juliet Bradshaw lives in Missouri, and her older brother Seth is a rider with Quantrill's Raiders. Readers follow the lives of Juliet and Seth as Union soldiers try to end the raids by the unorthodox Quantrill and his guerrilla fighters. The Union virtually imprisons the female relatives of Quantrill's men until a tragic accident kills many of the innocent young women and sends the Southerners on one of their bloodiest raids. After her confinement at Union hands, Juliet lives with Seth and his young wife, fending off nosy Union soldiers and befriending Sue Mundy, an unusual member of the Quantrill party. As Union soldiers become regular visitors to the Missouri farm, it is no longer safe for Seth to be seen there. And on one fateful night Juliet has to decide how far her loyalty extends to the raiders with whom her brother rides. Although the characters of Juliet and Seth are not based on real people, the story of Quantrill and his Raiders carries legendary status and this novel provides YAs with a look at the world of midnight raids and the decisions that relatives had to make in order to keep their secrets. The story is all Rinaldi, intertwining the fictional family with historical figures to address universal themes of loyalty, friendship and hard choices. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson