When the Civil War was declared, Frank Thompson went to sign up. Except Frank wasn’t his real name. He wasn’t even a man. He was really Sarah Emma Edmonds. To get away from an arranged marriage when she was sixteen Sarah cut her brown wavy hair and put on pants. She crossed the border to Canada. Three years later she came home to the United States to fight in the war. First fighting as a soldier, she was then trained as a nurse, which was something only men with the strongest stomachs did because of the long, draining hours and the horrors of surgery without anesthetic. Proving herself to her superiors, they called on “Frank” for another important job. As a spy Sarah decided to disguise herself as a freed slave and infiltrated the Confederate camp.
This was a wonderful book about an interesting person. I loved the author’s and artist’s notes at the end of the book. A great addition to any library, I would suggest the book for Grades 4 and up.
Review by Shannon Bishop, Wilson Elem. School Media Center
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 4 and Up
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero
Written by Marissa Moss, Illustrated by John Hendrix
Abrams Books for Young Readers
48 pages
Release Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 9780810997356 (hardcover)
