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Book Reviews of The Last Silk Dress

The Last Silk Dress
The Last Silk Dress
Author: Ann Rinaldi
ISBN-13: 9780440228615
ISBN-10: 0440228611
Publication Date: 10/4/1999
Pages: 352
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 29

4.1 stars, based on 29 ratings
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

5 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

mandi avatar reviewed The Last Silk Dress on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great YA book about a young girl living in the deep south during the Civil War.
reviewed The Last Silk Dress on
Helpful Score: 1
Author writes wonderful teenage historical fiction
reviewed The Last Silk Dress on + 23 more book reviews
Inspiring book that shows the other side of the civil war, truely a must read
reviewed The Last Silk Dress on + 9 more book reviews
A civil war historical novel. Very well written and fast paced.
annapi avatar reviewed The Last Silk Dress on + 334 more book reviews
Once again Ann Rinaldi shows why she is my favorite YA historical fiction writer. Susan Chilmark is 14 when the Civil war breaks out, and she is determined to do something meaningful for the Confederacy, especially as her estranged older brother refuses to enlist, shaming the family. She volunteers to collect silk dresses from Richmond's ladies to make a balloon to spy on the Yankees. But when the wounded come pouring into the city, Susan realizes that war isn't the glorious thing that orators have been trumpeting, and doubts about it begin to assail her. When she accidentally meets her brother and gets to know him, he challenges her beliefs in the system she was born into, and she must muster the courage to do what is right even if it hurts the ones she loves.

Rinaldi's research is impeccable, and her writing always puts you into the heart of the character and the period. In this book she does an excellent job of portraying the difficult choices faced by Southerners who still love the South even though they believe that the North is morally right in the issues of the war. Susan is forced to grow up fast in a harsh world even as she clings to her innocence. It's a testament to Rinaldi's skill as a writer that even though I wasn't in the mood for a Civil War story, I could not help picking up the book again and again to finish it, and it kept me fascinated throughout.