The book that made me a reader. And I'm buying a copy for my 8-year-old granddaughter, and curiously revisiting a book that has occupied a very important place in my memory ....
Published in 1958, of course this is dated. But this is a children's book -- how complicated could, or should, it be? The basic story, that of a 12-year-old boy who follows his older brother to the Alamo and winds up witnessing the slaughter of his brother and almost 200 men he had gotten to know, admire and become fond of, works very well on a personal, emotionally gut-wrenching level (as 8-year-old me could testify).
It's very well-written, and shows respect for the intelligence of its young readers -- I must have liked that a lot.
Published in 1958, of course this is dated. But this is a children's book -- how complicated could, or should, it be? The basic story, that of a 12-year-old boy who follows his older brother to the Alamo and winds up witnessing the slaughter of his brother and almost 200 men he had gotten to know, admire and become fond of, works very well on a personal, emotionally gut-wrenching level (as 8-year-old me could testify).
It's very well-written, and shows respect for the intelligence of its young readers -- I must have liked that a lot.
