Click here for a sample section of the Study Guide!     Check out the E-Guide version, available immediately!

1965 Newbery Honor book • 1966 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award • 1965 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award • 1964 Charles W. Follett Award • 1965 Clara Ingram Judson Memorial Award

Times are uneasy for the Matthew Creighton family, tensions rising between the north and the south as war between the states approaches. When war finally does break out, two of the grown Creighton sons, and the town's young school teacher and friend of the family, join the fight. They are expecting an easy victory for the Union, but it quickly becomes clear that victory will neither come easy nor soon. Then the last grown son, Bill, also leaves; but he does not join the Union. When word gets out that he has joined the south, the Creighton family finds the war in their own home, and division and strife rise between them and their neighbors. Nine-year-old Jethro is now the only son still at home. Soon after, his father suffers a heart attack, and it is now up to Jethro—as the only remaining 'working man' in the family—to do the work of five or six grown men to support the women and children left behind. They live from letter to letter and for each newspaper with accounts of the fighting.
Young Jethro discovers that a man's good character can be stronger than a gun and lasts much longer than a war.

Progeny Press' English/Language Arts curriculum will provide your middle school grade student with:

About the Author: Learn about Irene Hunt.
Background Information: American Civil War.
Vocabulary: Understand words used throughout the novel, utilizing a variety of activities to stimulate retention and growth.
Literary Techniques: In context, setting, similes, idioms, characterization, synonym, personification, foreshadow, mood, hyperbole, theme, juxtaposition, metaphor, thesaurus, irony, antithesis, paraphrase, plot, rising action, climax, denouement, conflict, motif.
Moral Lessons and Character Values: Compassion, peer pressure, setting aside revenge, hardships, growth, coming-of-age, authority, mercy, submission, forgiveness, peace, responsibility, maturity. 
Activities and Writing Assignments: Map work, slavery, Civil War battles and history, letter-writing, music, persuasive writing, mobs, Bible study, Gettysburg Address, field trips, biographies, essays.

All of Progeny Press' Language Arts unit lessons are written from a Christian perspective!

Features and Benefits of a Progeny Press ELA study guide

Printed Workbook Format

• Large 8.5x11 format is convenient to read and easy on Middle School student's eyes
• Every question in our novel unit study has plenty of whitespace for middle school level student answers
• Encourages neat and clean handwriting practice
• Easily transports without the need for a laptop or other expensive equipment
• Provides a permanent record of the middle school student’s work
• Complete, removable answer key included for the teacher to make grading simple!

 CD Format

• Contains the complete study guide in universally compatible PDF format (works on Mac AND Windows)
• No costly software purchases necessary
• PDf files open in the FREE Adobe Reader program.
  Note: Mobile devices may require an alternative app that supports and saves fillable form fields and interactive features.
• Upgraded, fillable form fields allow the student the opportunity to complete their work on the computer, saving you printing costs
• Conveniently print what you need, when you need it:
• Print the whole ELA study guide at once
• Print single literature lessons or pages as the student completes them
• Print multiple copies of the entire curriculum study guide for classroom sets
• PDF format makes it easy to use with multiple students
• Complete answer key PDF file included for the teacher to make grading simple!

Formatted with your Middle School grade student in mind, Progeny Press language arts study guides divide the book into writing assignments and lessons that strengthen their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and refine their critical analysis and writing skills. Each Progeny Press novel study accomplishes all of this without busy work that can drain the fun out of reading and literature! Kids have loved using Progeny Press ELA curriculum in homeschool, co-ops, and private schools around the world for over 30 years!