Shades of Gray

Rating:
Summary: An excellent, emotional book for all types!!
Review: I'm 10 years old, and I love this book. It's about a black girl, who must live with her uncle who is a Yankee during the civil war. He refuses to fight against the North. This book explains how this girl copes with her life which indeed is colored with shades of gray.

Rating:
Summary: It was boring, i only read it because I have to
Review: I'm an 8th grader who read this book only because i had to! It was boring, a very simple read and did not keep my intrest. I read the book in 2 day and understood everything, its that simple! if your looking for an intresting book this is not the one to pice. oh and the person wh wrote before me, the book is about a white boy, not a black girl!

Rating:
Summary: Life in the Reconstruction
Review: In the beginning of this book, Shades of Gray, by Caroline Reeder, Will Page is sent to live with his Uncle Jed and family. He doesn't like them. Will's entire family was killed during the war while Uncle Jed refuses to fight. Even though Will believes that Uncle Jed is a coward, he still works for his respect.

During the first few days, Will is very upset and puts all his energy into splitting wood and other chores. Even after Will yells at Meg for believing she had read his diary, Uncle Jed doesn't get mad or even punish him.

Uncle Jed then teaches Will to trap. After only one demonstration Will tries to do it on his own. Since he doesn't know the route well enough he gets lost.

In the end Will has to decide whether or not he should go back home to live with Dock Martin or stay and live with Uncle Jed. He really misses home but also realizes that Uncle Jed and his family are very good people.

This book was very disappointing. Carolyn Reeder is an experienced writer, and this book was not a good example of how well she can write. If you were thinking about buying this book don't. Save your money for something better.
6 grade student from OHES

Rating:
Summary: This book had a really good story line.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Hardships after the Civil War
Review: It makes you sad and want to cry when somebody in your family dies. In young Will Page's case, his whole immediate family dies. His dad and brother were both killed by the Yankees in the Civil War, his sisters died of some disease called Typhoid. That's not all, his mother died soon afterward of grief. Now Will has to live with some of his relatives in the country side. Where Will lives now is a very important part of the story. Now Will has to live like a country boy, trapping rabbits, growing crops and working very, very hard. This sad, but enlightening story Shades of Gray by Caroline Reeder, is an OK book but, not what I like to read.
Life was hard after the Civil war was hard for some people. Many friends and family had died, and it made it hard for the Confederates because they had lost. People were in grief and sorrow for a very long time.It wasn't that bad for some people, like Uncle Jed.
Will thinks that, like a lot of other people, that Uncle Jed was a traitor just because he wasn't in the war. The truth is a lot of people didn't join the war. They didn't join because they were probably farmers, and farmers had to tend to their farms and had cattle to look after. Even though the farmers didn't go, many farms were destroyed anyway by cruel soldiers.
So my point is that life during and after the Civil war was bad for pretty much anybody. They lost their family, friends, and other things that meant a lot to some people. It was happy if you looked at it differently; because the war was over. If you like war books, then this is the book for you.

6th grade student of OHES

Rating:
Summary: Wow! This book is something!
Review: Listen people! I wanted to get this out! Buy this book!!!!! It might be a real tear jerker but it is very touching. It shows that there are different kinds of courages and that you should do what you think is right. Plus, you shouldn't do something you don't beleive in and no one should force you to!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Shades of Gray
Review: Orphaned, angry, and bitter, twelve-year-old Will arrives in the Virginia Piedmont immediately after the Civil War to live with relatives he has never met. Will's father died fighting for the confederacy and his mother and siblings also died as a result of the war. Now Will's only home is with his Uncle Jed, a pacifist, whom Will considers a coward because of Jed's refusal to fight in the war. But as Will matures physically and emotionally he recognizes his own fears and weaknesses and the battles he fights in the Piedmont are far different from the battle he thought he had come to fight with his Uncle Jed. Recurring conflicts between Will and the other characters keep the book exciting for young readers. Teachers will find Shades of Gray an important addition to their Civil War study materials for its contribution to helping young readers understand the lasting effects of the war on the communities and families divided by the conflict. Ages 9-12.

Rating:
Summary: Shades of the Civil War
Review: Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reder is a wonderful book of learning how to respect people. Will's family has died. His mother died of a sickness, as did his sisters. His brother and father died in war. He moves in with the closet relatives he has, his Aunt and Uncle Jed. Will doesn't respect his uncle because he wasn't in the Confederate Army, but he wasn't in the Union Army either. Will thinks of his uncle as a traitor and doesn't want anything to do with him. As time goes by, Will learns that just because you weren't in the war, doesn't mean you aren't brave.

Rating:
Summary: Will Page struggles for survival after the civil war.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Shades of Gray
Review: Shades of Gray is a novel about a boy that faces some of the hardships of the Civil War. In the book, the main character named Will, is forced to live with his aunt and uncle after all of his family dies. Will was a strong Confederate supporter, and this clashes with his uncle's decision not to fight with the confederates. Will sees his uncle as a traitor, while his uncle thinks of himself as a person who thought there was no good cause to fight for. Will, being a city boy, encounters many troubles during his stay. Some of these include hardwork, a few mean boys, and a letter that could change the course of his life. I think that Shades of Gray is a good book. Not only is it good, but it accurately depicts the hard times during and after the Civil War. This book is enjoyable as well as informative. The characters seem to be very well developed. I give this book two thumbs up. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys Civil War novels.