Shades of Gray

by Carolyn Reeder

Book Overview

In the aftermath of the Civil War, recently orphaned Will must start a new life and overcome his prejudices.

Courage wears many faces...

The Civil War may be over, but for twelve-year-old Will Page, the pain and bitterness haven't ended. How could they have, when the Yankees were responsible for the deaths of everyone in his entire immediate family?

And now Will has to leave his comfortable home in the Shenandoah...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689826966
• ISBN13: 9780689826962
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

good book for boys or girls

Shades of Grey is an excellent book. It is about a boy whose dad and his brothers go to fight in the war and end up getting killed. Also his sisters died because of malnutrition and his mom died of depression. So Will had to go live with his aunt. But he doesn't want to because his uncle refused to fight in the war. One element that I noticed a lot was flashback. Will kept remembering how his life was so different when he lived in Winchester.

Shades of Gray

This is a great book. Will Page has to live with his uncle, aunt, and cousin after the rest of his family died in all different kinds of ways due to the Civil War that recently occured. Will in the beginning was acting too selfish, but towards the end, he appreciated his uncle after he didn't before because his uncle refused to fight against the Yankees. The Yankees killed Will's father and brother. Will decided to stay with his uncle, aunt, and cousin even after he got a letter from Doc Martin (an old friend) and said he could go and live a better life with him, but it was Will's choice.

Good way to understand the chaos.

We read this book for discussion in a fifth grade history class. It's an easy and enjoyable reader. In terms kids can understand, it explains the different views on the war. Reeder shows how slavery hurt everyone when it came to hard work. Will has to learn a whole new way of life. Uncle Jed knows how to work and fix anything. He becomes a necessary asset to his community. Lots of good things for kids to be thinking about.

This book had a really good story line.

It also had good characters because you could feel what they were feeling. The reason I like this book so much is that it took place after the war. There was always a new conflict such as when a Yankee had to live with Will for a week. I also liked how you could see the changes in Will as the book goes on.

Will Page struggles for survival after the civil war.

Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder is fiction.Nevertheless, it shows the untold hardship that war can inflict on innocent people. The civil war between the Yankees and the Confederates has ended. But it has created a vacuum in the life of Will Page, a 12-year-old boy. He has lost his entire family in the war. his father and brother have been killed by the Yankees, his two sisters have died of typhoid, and his mother of heartbreak and grief. A sad picture indeed!!Without any hope of support, Will finds himself in a state of quandary. His animosity is directed not only to the Yankees but also to his uncle Jed for refusing to fight in the war. He has lost the very thing he adored most in life- his family. In accordance with his mother's death wish, he is to be sent to Uncle Jed, a man he despises for his 'cowardly' action to join the Confiderates. However, he has no choice. The battle for survival transcends certain boundaries and contingencies. Therefore, he condescends to live with Uncle Jed and his family, always struggling to adjust from the urban civilization he's lived with to his uncle's rural way of life.Acceptance of the generosity of his new family has its own toll on Will. He must learn the skills of rural life to eke out a living and justify the board of hospitality offered by this lovely but poor family. He learns really fast and bears himself upright. With time the civil war becomes 'ancient history' to Will. His attitude to Uncle Jed changes gradually; he is right for not fighting in the war. His family has suffered for staying out of the war as much as Will's family for fighting. Although the book is fiction, the message is quite vivid. People should fight for what they believe and not be led by the nose.Will's decision to live a rural, rather than an urban life later on, demonstrates his acceptance of this truth. He's been exposed to the stark realities of life. Uncle Jed is not the coward or traitor he once thought him to be.He rather admires Jed for his wisdom, courage, and conviction. The conflicts of this book are really challenging.Every young person who reads it has a lot to learn about the ups and downs of life. This text refers to the paperback edition of this title.