7.6 /10 1 Votes7.6
4/5 Barnes & Noble Media type Print Originally published 1984 Genre Children's literature | 3.5/5 Goodreads Publication date 1984 ISBN 0-06-440185-5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Avi books, American Revolution books, Children's literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The fighting ground
The Fighting Ground is a 1984 young adult historical fiction novel written by Edward Irving Wortis, under his pen name, Avi. The book is about a 13-year-old boy named Jonathan who runs away to fight in the American Revolutionary War. The novel covers two days, April 3 and 4, 1778.
Contents
The Fighting Ground won the 1984 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and was listed on the ALA's Notable Children's Books list. It was banned from elementary schools in Florida's Bay District Schools in 2008 for containing profanity.
The fighting ground trailer
Plot summary
A thirteen-year-old boy named Jonathan is eager to join the Revolutionary War that his family is at first very enthused about. His father used to help him train, but now after he returned from a battle with a wound in his leg, he is fearful and doesn’t want his son to leave. However, when the war bell rings he leaves anyway. He borrows a tavern owner’s gun and takes to a morning long march to battle German Hessians. He ends up being taken prisoner. The Hessians take him to an old house where he finds a young boy in a shed and a dead mother and father in a field. It distresses him. All the while he isn’t sure if he trusts or mistrusts the Hessians, but he comes to appreciate them, at least. Together they bury the two parents. Then he escapes in the night back to the army camp. Since the Corporal murdered the boy's parents, he knew where the house was. As he leads the militia to the house, they force Jonathan to see if the Hessians were awake or asleep. He runs into the house and wakes them and tells them to run, but they decide to fight instead and they use him as their hostage. He slips away, the Hessians all die, and he comes home to find out the Door was open and his parents were dead.