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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
The Gettysburg material is not softened: Common Sense Media notes many killed and injured and limbs amputated with a saw, plus a boy being kicked and men beaten with a baseball bat
Language
Some
No profanity — Common Sense Media rates the category 'none' — but period racial slurs for African Americans, including 'darky,' appear in dialogue and are worth pre-framing
Sexual Content
Barely any
Women perform dances in their undergarments for male audiences at a travelling show; nothing further
Substance Use
Some
Adults drink and chew tobacco, and children smoke pipes, all presented as ordinary in the 1860s
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Slavery, illegal conscription, battlefield amputation and adult predation on a lone child sit under a comic surface
What this book is about
Homer's brother Harold is illegally sold into the Union army, so Homer sets off after him and talks his way through Underground Railroad conductors, medicine-show frauds, balloonists and con men until the road ends at Gettysburg. Common Sense Media rates the 224-page Newbery Honor novel 10+. The comedy runs alongside real war: 'many are killed and injured, some have to have limbs cut off with a saw,' and there are men kicking a boy and beating others with a baseball bat. On language, Common Sense Media's category rating is 'none,' but the review records period slurs for African Americans such as 'darky.' Adults drink alcohol and chew tobacco, children smoke pipes, and women dance in undergarments for male audiences.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Battlefield deaths and amputations
Period racial slurs in dialogue
Children smoking; adults drinking and chewing tobacco
Women dancing in undergarments
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