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MWSA Review
In 1910, Yale professor Michael Mueller treats his history class to his childhood experience as a messenger in the Civil War. Were this TV, the picture would go wavy as he transports all of us to his house in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1856.
Michael has always pushed the envelope and has very fast legs. Fueled by a Yankee frame of mind, he begs his parents to allow him to join the war effort. They acquiesce and in 1861, at age 13, he becomes a messenger for the North. Linda Loegel Hemby’s Testing Michael is a slightly sugar-coated view of war, making it a historical novel for all ages.
Don’t get me wrong—these young “soldiers” saw their share of war. Ammo in, wounded out. Soldiers cut down in front of them. Michael, like all soldiers, grew up fast and hard, summoning unfathomable courage, but the author never lets us forget that he is a child. One of the touching bittersweet scenes is when Michael is in Virginia, his mother is at home in Connecticut, both singing the same Christmas song at the same time. Later, safely at home, “Mike let the horrors of war slowly slip from his mind, replacing past thoughts with the perfect and enduring love of his family. He was home, the sweetest place in the world.”
For me, the biggest shudder of the book is when, now back in 1910, one of Michael’s students asks, “Could we ever be that divided again?”
Linda Loegel Hemby’s Testing Michael: A Civil War Novel holds a refreshing perspective, appropriate for adults and a younger audience: an easy-to-read and comprehend, historic account of the children of the Civil War.
Review by Sue Rushford (January 2023)
Author's Synopsis
In the Prologue and Epilogue, the year is 1910 and Professor Michael Mueller is teaching his Yale students about children who served in the Civil War. When they ask, "Did you know any of them?" he answers, "Let me tell you my story." The story then moves to 1856 with young Michael learning the events leading up to the war. In 1861 Michael joins the war as a thirteen-year-old messenger, much to his mother's dismay. He makes friends and travels to places far outside his New Haven home, and has experiences he never thought possible--some exciting and some that give him nightmares.
Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 196
Word Count: 36,000