Friday's Forgotten Books: Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (YA Novel)

I recalled once reading Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith when I was a kid probably over my summer vacation. I believed I had enjoyed the experience, so I decided to have another go at it now and hope the historical novel written for teens still holds up. I am happy to report Rifles for Watie still turns my crank. The author Keith had a wonderful knack for turning descriptive phrases of the landscape, battle scenes, and soldiers' camp life. His protagonist of Jeff Bussey from Linn County, Kansas, is a sensitive teenaged soldier who turns mean as a rattlesnake when he faces danger. Keith did tons of research as he laid out in his Author's Note before writing his novel. The level of violence surprised me, and I felt as if I was reading an adult novel. There is also romance when Jeff falls in love with a rebel girl. I got a nice historical overview of the American Civil War fought in the far west theater (the name Watie is pronounced as weighty). Stand Watie the Cherokee general who threw his support to the Confederates is an interesting character. Keith also did the smart thing by dramatizing the acts of compassion performed on both sides of the conflict. My second reading of Rifles for Watie as an adult really worked out for me, and how often does that happen? Well, I have to say not so frequently for me.