How to Dodge a Cannonball

By Dennard Dayle

Book Overview

A New York Times Notable Book of 2025
An NPR Books We Love pick
A New York Times Editors' Choice pick

How to Dodge a Cannonball is a razor-sharp satire that dives into the heart of the Civil War, hilariously questioning the essence of the fight, not just for territory, but for the soul of America.

How to Dodge a Cannonball is funnier than the Civil War should ever be. It follows Anders, a teenage idealist who enlists and reenlists to shape the American Future--as soon as he figures out what that is, who it includes, and why everyone wants him to die for it. Escaping his violently insane mother is a bonus.

Anders finds honor as a proud Union flag twirler--until he's captured. Then he tries life as a diehard Confederate--until fate asks him to die hard for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. Barely alive, Anders limps into a Black Union regiment in a stolen uniform. While visibly white, he claims to be an octoroon, and they claim to believe him. Only then does his life get truly strange.

His new brothers are even stranger, including a science-fiction playwright, a Haitian double agent, and a former slave feuding with God. Despite his best efforts, Anders starts seeing the war through their eyes, sparking ill-timed questions about who gets to be American or exploit the theater of war. Dennard Dayle's satire spares no one as doomed charges, draft riots, gleeful arms dealers, and native suppression campaigns test everyone's definition of loyalty.

Uproariously funny and revelatory, How to Dodge a Cannonball asks if America is worth fighting for. And then answers loudly. Read it while it's still legal.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250345677
• ISBN13: 9781250345677
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Okay

3 stars, This book was okay, not a favorite or something that I'll read again. It starts right out with objectionable language and once you get past that it was more of a comedy than anything else. That is if the Civil War had any comedic properties. I received a complimentary copy of #howtododgeacannonball and was not obligated to post a review.

Anders the Flag Twirler

I want to be more like Anders. No matter what happens in the horrors of the Civil War, this fifteen-year-old boy, Anders, makes the best of his time. He has honor, he has humor, he has questions, and he uses his skill as a flag twirler to his advantage. You will need to read the book to understand the flag twirling. He is simply a young man bumbling his way through the Civil War. The book is a smart critique of the stupidity of war and race relations in America.