Louisa May's Battle: How the Civil War Led to <i>Little Women</i>
At 30 years old, Louisa May Alcott traveled to Washington, D.C., to nurse wounded soldiers at a Union hospital. Though inexperienced and unprepared for conditions there, she made herself useful by feeding, bathing, and comforting the men. After only weeks on the job, Alcott contracted a near-fatal case of typhoid. She recovered and began writing in hopes of paying her family’s bills. Hospital Sketches, a successful book based on her letters home from Washington, was followed by Little Women, which brought financial security and literary immortality. Krull offers a lively account of Alcott’s experiences as she traveled to Washington, served at the hospital, and found her style as a writer. While the large-scale, richly colored illustrations, “created with Corel Painter digital oils,” are uneven in their effectiveness, this picture book offers a new slant on the Civil War and on Alcott’s life. Back matter includes articles on women in medicine during the period and on the Battle of Fredericksburg, along with a source bibliography and lists of books and websites. Grades 3-6. --Phelan, Carolyn