“Like a River has vaulted to my top-five favorite war stories ever. It’s a war story, a thriller, a romance—all that and more. Meticulously researched and brilliantly written, Like a River will transport you into a story you won’t want to end. Call Like a River unforgettable. A stunning debut!”
—Jerry Spinelli, Newbery Medalist for Maniac Magee
“Like a powerful river, this novel offers surprises at every turn. Kathy Wiechman gets deep beneath the surface of two intertwined characters to bring us a gripping, heartbreaking, and uplifting story.”
—Rich Wallace, author of Wrestling Sturbridge
“Silence guards a girl’s secret in one of Kathy Cannon Wiechman’s rich and real portraits. Like a River is beautifully researched, and it smells right.”
—Richard Peck, Newbery Medalist for A Year Down Yonder
“Like a River brings to light and life a little-known slice of the Civil War. It’s an unflinching look at a rough and bloody time, but, like the river referenced in the book’s title, love and hope flows throughout. I will be thinking about Leander and his comrades for a long time to come.”
—Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor Medalist for Hattie Big Sky
“Rich in historical detail and brimming with resilient characters, Wiechman’s story of two Civil War soldiers is heart-wrenching and surging with turmoil. Unforgettable.”
—Sandra Neil Wallace, author of Muckers
“A fascinating glimpse of the very end of the Civil War through the eyes of two engaging heroes. The adventures of Paul and Leander will take your breath away.”
—Michaela MacColl, author of Almost Emily and Rory’s Promise
“The stories of three teens intersect in the later years of the Civil War in this debut novel. Fifteen-year-old Leander Jordan runs off to war from Ohio to prove he’s a man. “Working in the foundry wasn’t something to admire, not like being a soldier in uniform, a soldier who’d risk his life facing enemy guns. Pa had to see he was doing a manly thing.” But he lands in a Southern hospital, where he befriends Paul Settles, another young Union soldier, who tends to his wounds. When they’re separated, Paul ends up in hellish Andersonville Prison, where smallpox, scurvy and hunger plague the prisoners. There, Paul’s friendship with Given McGlade, a fellow prisoner and Leander’s neighbor from back home, helps keep them both alive. Though the prose is a bit florid early on, the stories are effectively related in twinned third-person narrative, and Wiechman’s abundant research is unobtrusively folded into the tale. An excellent author’s note provides further information about the times. Though the horrors of Andersonville and various Civil War-era events such as the Battle of Atlanta, Lincoln’s assassination and the explosion of the steamboat Sultana provide wartime context, it’s the secrets woven into the well-paced tale that will pull readers eagerly to the tearful conclusion. A superb Civil War tale of friendship, loyalty and what it means to be a man.”
—Starred Review by Kirkus Reviews
