The Marvelous Orange Tree

Deception is bold and prominent in this heartfelt and often gritty Civil War saga, in which the lives of a Union Army private and a tomboy intersect. In 1863, Robert Taylor, 20, is part of Grant’s siege of the Confederate stronghold in Vicksburg, Miss.; he experiences both the carnage of battle and deep, enduring friendships forged under desperate conditions. Jennie Edwards is a boisterous teenager who prefers trousers to dresses, loves roughhousing with her two brothers, and is learning magic tricks from Owl, a magician, in her idyllic Illinois prairie home. After her brothers join the Union Army, and her mother goes away to get her depression treated, Jennie, disguised as a boy, becomes a soldier and ends up at the battle of Vicksburg. After she returns from the war, Jennie is plagued by wartime visions and prolonged blackouts; she has also fallen in love with Marie, her best friend, creating an “impossible” situation that eventually leads her to Chicago and, under the tutelage of Owl, performing magic tricks on stage. Howell cleverly weaves in Robert’s story and keeps the pages turning. Readers will be captivated in particular by the coming-of-age of Jennie, who makes this story a pleasure to read. [em](BookLife) [/em]