march toward the thunder by joseph bruchac

He’s mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn’t speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. 10 & up)ĭarius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. But Louis is a likable character and readers will follow him with interest, learning much along the way.

Grant visit his camp discovers a fellow soldier to be “a lass” and befriends Thomas Jefferson of the United States Colored Troops, whose disconcerting dialect mars the scene. Parker, the highest-ranking Indian in the Union army receives treatment from Clara Barton greets Walt Whitman sees President Lincoln and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. In fact, Louis becomes something of a Civil War Forrest Gump. The author’s extensive research is evident. Ultimately, as in most wars for most soldiers, it isn’t politics or a cause, but the band of brothers forged on the killing fields of Virginia that makes Louis feel he belongs. Based on Bruchac’s own great-grandfather, Louis proves to be an able soldier in the Virginia Campaign of 1864. Fifteen-year-old Louis Nolette, an Abenaki Indian from Canada, enlists to fight with the Irish Brigade in the Civil War.

March toward the thunder by joseph bruchac