Publisher Description
With fighting erupting around his Kansas farm, 16-year-old Jefferson Davis Bussey can hardly wait to join the Union forces. He wants to defend his family from the dreaded Colonel Watie and his Cherokee Indian rebels. After enlisting, Jeff discovers the life of a soldier brings little glory and honor. During battle, his friends die around him. And when he infiltrates Watie's camp as a spy, he discovers the enemy is much like himself-only fighting for a different cause. As Jeff collects information, he wonders if he will be able to betray his new rebel companions when the time comes for him to return to the Union forces. Historian and author Harold Keith packs this well-researched novel with fascinating details and breath-taking action. Rifles for Watie was named an ALA Notable Children's Book and won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Believable characters and vivid battle scenes burst from the pages of history with narrator Tom Stechschulte's dramatic performance.
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About Harold Keith
Harold Keith (1903-1998) grew up near the Cherokee country he describes in Rifles for Watie. A native Oklahoman, he was educated at Northwestern State Teachers College at Alva and at the University of Oklahoma. While traveling in eastern Oklahoma doing research on his master’s thesis in history, Mr. Keith found a great deal of fresh material about the Civil War in the Indian country. Deciding he might someday write a historical novel, he interviewed twenty-two Civil War veterans then living in Oklahoma and Arkansas; much of the background of Rifles for Watie came from the notebooks he filled at that time.
About Tom Stechschulte
Tom Stechschulte (1948–2021) was an acclaimed narrator and winner of the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He had been a college athlete and business major when a friend dared him to audition for a play. He got the part and traded the locker room for the dressing room, eventually taking him to New York City and to recording audiobooks.