Rifles for Watie

by Harold Keith

Book Overview

Winner of the Newbery Medal * An ALA Notable Children's Book * Winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

A captivating and richly detailed novel about one young soldier who saw the Civil War from both sides and lived to tell the tale.

Earnest, plain-spoken sixteen-year-old Jeff Bussey has finally gotten his father's consent to join the Union volunteers. It's 1861 in Linn...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006447030X
• ISBN13: 9780064470308
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Harperteen
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Spectacular Historical Fiction

I first read this delightful novel in 1968 or 1969. It continues to be one of my favorite books. Historian and former OU sports information director Harold Keith actually makes history "fun" for teenagers with this award-winning tale, as RIFLES FOR WAITIE gives readers a full account of the brutal Civil War campaign in the Indian Territories of the frontier.At the heart of Keith's story is young Jeff Bussey, who joins a regiment of Kansas volunteers as a 16-year-old, idealistic adventure seeker. Jeff's idealism is short-lived once he confronts the horrors and barbarism of war; it is replaced by disillusionment, bitterness, fear. Although written in the Fifties, Keith cuts no corners in portraying the brutality of the Civil War in Oklahoma Territory; the reader can smell the smoke, hear the deafening roar of cannon, feel the bullets whistle past. And as young Jeff matures. . .becomes a battle-hardened survivor. . .he is sent on an assignment behind enemy lines--only to discover the men he is fighting are just like him: cold, tired, hungry, and ready to go home.Wonderfully written and flawlessly paced, RIFLES FOR WAITIE is an absorbing read. Highly recommended for teenagers or history buffs wanting to learn more about the Civil War in Oklahoma.--D. Mikels

I think I read it when I was 13 or maybe more........

I really enjoy this book but, I'm not leaving it at that.I think this book should and could be made into a film.It's got all the ingredients.A young man called Jeff in his teens(I'm about his age actually)who goes off to war to fight for his homeland for the Union.(same old story right?)EXCEPT about halfway through the book he joins the Rebel side.Which ideals are best for fighting a war? Help keep the union together and get rid of slavery or fight to help save the cherokee indians lands fighting under conel Watie of the confederete army? Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Heroic battles where Jeff is pitted agains't Rebels in pitched battles including a time where he gets a medal for bravery.Deadly skirmishes(that really give the story it's excitment)often by suprise from the enemy.Jeff meets and loses friends on both sides that are each nice in their own way.Both sides have very different ways they fight the war.A captivating cherokee girl(totally a rebel) named Lucy meet and come to love each other utterly despite their differances. I have given only a few of the points that would make this book a good movie.I don't have room to write more.I guess it could be rated PG-13 for battle sequences but not for other lewd content thats not in the book.I hope in to it in theaters in a few years!(I think Peter Jackson could do a good job seeing how he did Lord of the Rings so well.

Got Rifles

Rifles for Watie is about Jeff Bussey a sixteen year old farm boy from Kansas. This story takes place in the Ozarks region(Kansas, Missouri, Olkahoma, and Arkansas). Jeff's family gets "bushwacked" by Confederate bushwackers and because of it Jeff joins the Union Army. Jeff thinks war would be fun so he's excited to be in his first battle. But when friends die in the battle Jeff changes his thoughts about war. He finds out that war means destruction and killing. I think Rifles for Watie deserves a five because I think it was well written, took place in a very important American historical event, and it has a wonderful plot. I compare this book to War in the Ozarks. It takes place in the same region as Rifles for Watie, and it has about the same plot. Rifles for Watie was a extremely exciting and excellent book.

Its a Civil War Classic about a curios Kansas boy.

Rifles for Watie is about a boy named Jeff who lives on a farm in Kansas. At the start of the Civil War, he joins the Union Volunteers. After about two years he is a sentry. One night, he is sent out to scout Rebel positions. By mistake he ends up in Watie's Cavalry (An Indian onfederate unit)and likes it. Will he go back to the Yankees, or will he become a "Johnny Reb" as some called them.

Classic Civil War Adventure, "Great Fun"

I first discovered this book when my school librarian aunt brought home a copy one summer to preview. It become probably my favorite library book from 4th to 12th grade. I probably checked it out 20+ times. "Rifles.." recounts the adventures of Jeff Bussey during the western campaigns of the Civil War in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri. It tells of friendships on both sides of the war. His love of the rebel girl Lucy, his friend Noah the tramp printer and the life of a common Union soldier and a Rebel Cavalryman. The book recounts battles and the small world within them that a soldier plays, often missing the large results that are defined with the outcome. It tells of courage, and fear and determination as Jeff is pursued for miles in his daring escape from the Confederate army.This book you must include in your home library. I still pick up my copy and read it again, still as enjoyable as the first time back in Idaho.