To the Front!: Clara Barton Braves the Battle of Antietam

by Claudia Friddell (Author) Christopher Cyr (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

This powerful tribute to Civil War nurse Clara Barton and her heroic efforts during the Battle of Antietam reveals how she earned the name The Angel of the Battlefield, and shows the beginnings of her journey as one of our country's greatest humanitarians and the founder of the American Red Cross.

During the Civil War, Clara Barton--one of the first women to receive permission to serve on a battlefield--snuck her supply wagon to the head of a ten-mile wagon train to deliver provisions to the Antietam Battlefield. On the bloodiest day in American history, Clara and her team of helpers sprang into action as they nursed the wounded and dying, cooked meals for soldiers, and provided doctors with desperately needed medical supplies and lanterns so they could operate through the night.

Author Claudia Friddell blends her words with Clara Barton's firsthand account to capture the nurse's brave actions, while Christopher Cyr's dramatically accurate illustrations portray one of the most heroic women in history.

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Hardcover
$18.99

Booklist

Starred Review
An extended afterword that includes photos and further quotations adds biographical details and highlights Barton's long friendship with Frederick Douglass and her fervent support for both women’s suffrage and equal pay.

School Library Journal

Nurse Clara Barton traveled in a wagon to the Civil War battleground in Antietam, where she tended to wounded soldiers and assisted surgeons during and after the fighting. The story is told largely in Clara's own clear and compelling words, augmented with concise and poetic third-person text. Soft-edge, digitally painted illustrations make great use of light, shadow, and perspective; they represent the story faithfully, including the surgeon's ominous tools. As the subtitle indicates, this book shows only a few days of Clara Barton's life and work, but has rich resources in an afterword, photographs, quotations, an extensive bibliography, and places to visit, illuminating Barton's lifelong work as an educator, humanitarian, suffragette, civil rights campaigner, and founder of the American Red Cross. VERDICT A vivid window into a few bloody and exhausting days shows Barton's unflinching bravery and inexhaustible dedication to helping those around her. Recommended.

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ In this riveting tribute to the 'Angel of the Battle-field, ' Friddell mixes incantatory lyrics with matter-of-fact quotes from Barton...to capture a powerful sense of the battle's fearful carnage and the courage required to plunge into it...An extended afterword that includes photos and further quotations adds biographical details and highlights Barton's...fervent support for both women's suffrage and equal pay. Readers moved to learn more about this admirable figure will be well served by the closing list of resources. —Booklist, starred review

Claudia Friddell
Claudia Friddell loves the magic of bringing history to life. She is the author of several acclaimed books, including Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call, Saving Lady Liberty, Goliath, and George Washington's Spies. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Visit claudiafriddell.com.

Christopher Cyr is an award-winning freelance illustrator living in Massachusetts. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design's Illustration program, his illustrations are painted digitally in Adobe Photoshop. Some pieces integrate scanned sketches and watercolor textures.
Illustrator site: plaidcats.com
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781635923223
Lexile Measure
640
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Calkins Creek Books
Publication date
March 20, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007110 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Social Activists
JNF007120 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Women
JNF025270 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States - Civil War Period
Library of Congress categories
-

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