A dramatic, witty Civil War tale from bestselling author Rodman PhilbrickMaster storyteller Rodman Philbrick takes readers on a colorful journey as...
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Mar 17, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it: 
Ah, the inveterate child liar. The chronic juvenile dissembler. Is there any more classic character you can name? Whether it's The Artful Dodger, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, The Great Brain or Soup from the Soup books, there is always room in the canon for just one more boy fibber (girl fibbers are not yet appearing the same numbers, I'm afraid). Now the best tellers of untrue tales often come from Southern soil. They are born below the Mason-Dixon line and are capable of great feats of derring-do, a
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Feb 10, 2009
Eva
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12-year-old Homer and his older brother Harold have been living with (or rather slaving for) their mean and nasty Uncle Squinton Leach (and a finer name for a villain I have rarely come across) ever since their beloved mother died. Harold has always looked after Homer, so when Uncle Squint illegally sells him into the Union Army, Homer is determined to find him and bring him back.
After Homer runs away, he has three main adventures. During the first, he has a run-in with two n More...
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Dec 03, 2011
Angie
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The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Philbrick, Rodman
Rating: ***
Summary: As a twelve year old orphan boy, Homer decides to run away and look for his older brother who is in the Union Army during the Civil War. His brother was sold to the army and Homer wants to find and save him before it is too late. During his adventure, Homer runs into a great deal of trouble. He out smarts the men who try to take his money and all the others he encounters.
Main character More...
Rating: ***
Summary: As a twelve year old orphan boy, Homer decides to run away and look for his older brother who is in the Union Army during the Civil War. His brother was sold to the army and Homer wants to find and save him before it is too late. During his adventure, Homer runs into a great deal of trouble. He out smarts the men who try to take his money and all the others he encounters.
Main character More...
Nov 13, 2011
Rodricucuz
rated it:
1. Historical Fiction
2. " The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg" takes the reader back into Civil War era United States. A little boy named Homer finds himself on a journey to find and save his brother who has been sold off to fight on the Union side that takes him into the middle of the Civil War .
3. critique
a. The story is based on the Civil War era in which was one of the darkest moments in U.S. history . The story adds a littl More...
Oct 29, 2011
Alma
rated it:
Philbrick, Rodman. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Scholastic. 2009. 224 pp. ISBN: 9780545235099. Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.7 Stars. Homer is in search of his brother after Harold has been illegally sold to the Union Army during the Civil War. The mostly true adventures that Homer gets into along the way will have you on edge and laughing out-loud.
Summary: Homer and Harold are forced to live with their mean uncle after losing their mother and fathe More...
Rating: 3.7 Stars. Homer is in search of his brother after Harold has been illegally sold to the Union Army during the Civil War. The mostly true adventures that Homer gets into along the way will have you on edge and laughing out-loud.
Summary: Homer and Harold are forced to live with their mean uncle after losing their mother and fathe More...
Jul 21, 2011
Cindi
rated it:
Review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011/07...
I am pleased to introduce a guest blogger/reviewer today. Neal, my ten year old son, is willingly writing this review to earn a later bedtime (because I'm cruel like that).
My mom read The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick to us in the car while we were going on trips this summer. It is a book about a twelve-year-old boy trying to save his brother who was recruited to More...
I am pleased to introduce a guest blogger/reviewer today. Neal, my ten year old son, is willingly writing this review to earn a later bedtime (because I'm cruel like that).
My mom read The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick to us in the car while we were going on trips this summer. It is a book about a twelve-year-old boy trying to save his brother who was recruited to More...
Jul 18, 2011
Sarai
rated it:
I would have given this a 3.5.
I listened to this on CD in my car and I think the reader did an excellent job, conveying the different characters' voices and accents extremely well.
The book, though, was just okay. There was some language that made me a bit uncomfortable, taking place during the Civil War as the story does. (I kept wondering if I was a minority student reading this for a class, what would I think of it?) I liked the definitions and slang at the end, and the adv More...
I listened to this on CD in my car and I think the reader did an excellent job, conveying the different characters' voices and accents extremely well.
The book, though, was just okay. There was some language that made me a bit uncomfortable, taking place during the Civil War as the story does. (I kept wondering if I was a minority student reading this for a class, what would I think of it?) I liked the definitions and slang at the end, and the adv More...
Jun 05, 2011
Karen
rated it:
"I say my "true" adventures because I told a fib to a writer once, who went and put it in the newspapers about me and my big brother, Harold, winning the battle at Gettysburg, and how we shot each other dead but lived to tell the tale. That's partly true, about winning the battle, but mostways it's a lie."
Homer and his brother Harold are orphans living with the meanest man in Pine Swamp, Maine: their uncle, Squinton Leach. Although Harold is only 17, Leach sells him to More...
Homer and his brother Harold are orphans living with the meanest man in Pine Swamp, Maine: their uncle, Squinton Leach. Although Harold is only 17, Leach sells him to More...
May 15, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Twelve-year-old Homer P. Figg and his older brother Harold live in Pine Swamp, Maine with their uncle, “the meanest man in the entire state of Maine.” The U.S. Civil War intrudes on their lives when Harold is illegally sold into the Union Army. Bereft, Homer runs away to find his brother, experiencing many outlandish adventures on the way and finally ending up smack dab in middle of the Battle of Gettysburg. Homer is a delightful, spunky boy who tells his story with both humor and pathos in a
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Jan 13, 2011
Andy
rated it:
Set during the time of the American civil war, this humorous tale has lots of spunk. Philbrick delivers the strong, funny, likable voice of Homer P. Figg. Homer and his older brother Harold are struggling to survive under the guardianship of Squinton Leach, the meanest man in Maine. When Homer discovers that Harold has been illegally tricked into service for the Union Army, he determines to right this wrong. Harold is all he’s got, and so Homer goes in pursuit of his brother’s Maine regiment
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Aug 29, 2010
Erin
rated it:
I had heard that this was funny, so I had to check it out despite not being too personally interested in it. I did listen to the audio version, which might have added something extra, but I really think that this is a case of a narrator with a great voice, both in audio (thank you William Dufris) and on the pages of Philbrick's story. It has all the elements of a good, modern, let's get a lot of people to read this classic. It has adventure, it has humour, it has a likable main character who
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Jul 25, 2010
Sunday
rated it:
Mostly True Adventures moves quickly covering a lot of terrain and meeting up with many a vivid character and unexpected plot twists...as 12-year-old Homer searches for his brother Harold who has been sent (illegally) from Maine to fight in the Civil War. While there is plenty of humor, there is a real dark message about the monstrosities of war...I'm not sure a fifth grader even should read this. While the sentences are simply constructed and the vocabulary is not too difficult, the Lexile leve
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Jun 29, 2010
Abbie
rated it:
This is Rodman Philbrick's latest book, and it is the story of Homer Figg whose parents are dead and whose brother has been sold into the Union army by his evil Uncle Squint. This book has a very lighthearted tone and has a fantastic adventure feeling. Homer runs away from his uncle's farm in Pine Swamp, Maine, to search for his older brother. Along the way, he meets many crazy characters and has outlandish adventures. He finally finds his brother, but Harold is not the perfect hero Homer al
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Apr 06, 2010
Ariel
rated it:
I loved the voice. Read the first chapter and you'll get a feel for it. Homer has great attitude, but is still sensitive and sweet and has a moral center.
The book has a very comic tone, but by the end it does grapple with some relatively intense war scenes. At times the tone and the content felt at odds with one another, but I loved the tone, and if he hadn't dealt with the war in some of its intensity, he would have been avoiding the obvious.
In one scene Homer gets carried away in More...
The book has a very comic tone, but by the end it does grapple with some relatively intense war scenes. At times the tone and the content felt at odds with one another, but I loved the tone, and if he hadn't dealt with the war in some of its intensity, he would have been avoiding the obvious.
In one scene Homer gets carried away in More...
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Oct 01, 2009
Janessa
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One of my favorite parts of each day is when I tuck my kids in bed and read to them. I make the rounds from one bed to the next, with the help of my husband, making sure each child gets a chance to read from his or her own special book. If I take too long getting to my eight year old, Hunter’s, room, I’ll hear his voice, quiet but insistent, asking, “Mom, are you going to read to me?” It is a special time, and I want to make sure it is enjoyable for my kids, so I am careful about which books
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Jul 05, 2009
Brooke
rated it:
Totally charming picaresque tale of a boy with a gift for gab and bending the truth on a quest to rescue his brother from being enlisted in the Civil War. Homer's voice is magnificently cornpone, filled with all the downhome homilies and whoppers a Mark Twain fan could desire. During his cross-country trek he falls in with the requisite motley crew of colorful characters: a stoic Quaker who is secretly helping the Underground Railroad, a pair of bloodthirsty but not-too-bright theives, a snake
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Aug 07, 2011
Pamela
rated it:
This is a fun story of Homer who follows after his brother to save him from seeing the elephant (battle) and certain death, after his mean uncle has sold his brother into the army illegally and underaged. Homer escapes from a root cellar, is kidnapped by slave catchers, and fed and helped along his way by an abolitionist miner Quaker. His appointed guardian forgets about him when his guardian is smitten and then swindled by a beautiful face and her “brother” and he ends up in a pig crate. He fal
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Aug 08, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
I am not normally a fan of historical fiction, but I really enjoyed this book, partly because the character of Homer was so over-the-top and likable. Yes, he was known to tell the occasional tall tale, but he had a good heart, and all he wanted in life was to be with his brother.
After Homer's brother, Harold, is illegally sold to the Union Army, Homer does everything he possibly can to find his brother and bring him back home. But what can a boy--whose only talent is telling fibs More...
After Homer's brother, Harold, is illegally sold to the Union Army, Homer does everything he possibly can to find his brother and bring him back home. But what can a boy--whose only talent is telling fibs More...
May 15, 2010
Melissa
rated it:
My journey thru juvenile fiction continues (while trying to tackle the mammoth Wolf Hall) with The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Roman Philbrick.
A delightful tale reminiscent of the 1st Homer’s Odyssey, Homer Figg leaves home in search of his brother who has been illegally sworn in as a member of the Union army by a nasty Uncle Squint. He doesn’t encounter Sirens or a Cyclops, but does come across a conductor, slave catchers, Quakers, a traveling medicine show, and the More...
A delightful tale reminiscent of the 1st Homer’s Odyssey, Homer Figg leaves home in search of his brother who has been illegally sworn in as a member of the Union army by a nasty Uncle Squint. He doesn’t encounter Sirens or a Cyclops, but does come across a conductor, slave catchers, Quakers, a traveling medicine show, and the More...
Mar 03, 2010
Jackie
rated it:
Orphaned at an early age, Homer P. Figg and his brother, Harold are sent to live with their nasty, unscrupulous Uncle Squinton Leach. When Uncle Squint tricks Harold into signing up for the Union Army, Homer is determined to follow his brother and bring him back safely, no matter what the cost. Along the way, he meets up with characters, both unsavory and kind. First he encounters Stink and Smelt who are as smelly as their names and have captured 'Festus'. Festus is really Samuel Reed, a genero
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Jul 12, 2011
Sharri
rated it:
This award-winning juvenile novel tells the story of Homer, a 12-yr-old orphan's epic search for his older brother during the Civil War. The story is humorous and adventurous, as Homer tells outlandish lies and meets outlandish characters on his travels from Maine to Pennsylvania via horse, boat, medicine man caravan, and balloon.
The author does not shy away from the horrors of slavery and war, making it clear that the death and danger, fear and horror were real. However, the atroci More...
The author does not shy away from the horrors of slavery and war, making it clear that the death and danger, fear and horror were real. However, the atroci More...
May 27, 2010
Dawn
rated it:
I felt that this novel started off slow and it took me a few chapters to get into it; however, I'm happy that I stuck with it. This is a fantastic book that presents the reality of the Civil War through a 12 year-old's eyes. Homer Figg and his brother Harold are live with their cruel uncle on a farm in Maine. Harold's uncle enlists him in the army, even though he is under age, and pockets the money. Concerned and angry at the injustices perpetuated against his brother, Homer sets off during
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Jan 31, 2010
Jason
rated it:
(Don't forget as well the blog I maintain just for my kid-lit reviews; it's at http://kidlit4adults.blogspot.com .)
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. My most recent, The (Mostly) True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (also a 2010 Newbery Honoree), More...
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. My most recent, The (Mostly) True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (also a 2010 Newbery Honoree), More...
Dec 13, 2011
Michael
rated it:
the Mostly true adventures of Homer P. Figg
By. Rodman Phillbrick
Review by Michael Burdock
published by: scholastic inc., new york, 2009
price: $6.99
This book will amaze kids ages 8-12. It every thing from spies, medicine shows, military, slaves, con artists, and much more! The main character has lies for everything, lies to get out of things, and lies to make his adventures seem better. It starts out with Homer and his brot More...
By. Rodman Phillbrick
Review by Michael Burdock
published by: scholastic inc., new york, 2009
price: $6.99
This book will amaze kids ages 8-12. It every thing from spies, medicine shows, military, slaves, con artists, and much more! The main character has lies for everything, lies to get out of things, and lies to make his adventures seem better. It starts out with Homer and his brot More...
Jun 18, 2009
Hilary
rated it:
When Homer's older brother, Harold, is illegally sold to fight with the Union Army, he escapes from his Uncle Squint's farm in an attempt to rescue his brother from the terrible Civil War that is raging. Along the way he encounters everything from escaped slaves on the underground railroad to Professor Fleabottom and his traveling medicine show, eventually finding himself smack-dab in the middle of the battle of Gettysburg. Philbrick has given Homer a believable voice and the vernacular of the s
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May 16, 2011
Aleisha
rated it:
Absolutely 3.75 stars! This book was a joy to read!
In literature (and most especially mythology), a "quest" may be used to aid the plot line. A quest is a long and adventurous journey towards an ultimate goal. Themes of good and evil, virtue and vice, strength of character, and overcoming physical and emotional challenges are common in quest stories. There is conflict. There is resolution. There are evil villains. There are brave "knights in shining armor." More...
In literature (and most especially mythology), a "quest" may be used to aid the plot line. A quest is a long and adventurous journey towards an ultimate goal. Themes of good and evil, virtue and vice, strength of character, and overcoming physical and emotional challenges are common in quest stories. There is conflict. There is resolution. There are evil villains. There are brave "knights in shining armor." More...
Jan 11, 2010
Prairie
rated it:
Homer P. Figg is a very intrepid and plucky protagonist. Although the cover leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion, the story is a great one with lively voice. This would be a great read aloud. Homer runs away from his villainous, disingenuous uncle Squinton after Harold is illegally conscripted into the union army. Homer aims to save Harold from an uncertain fate as a union soldier. His adventurous are fantastic and unbelievable but make for a very engaging and comedic story. The story
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Dec 13, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
Homer P. Figg is a very intrepid and plucky protagonist. Although the cover leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion, the story is a great one with lively voice. This would be a great read aloud. Homer runs away from his villainous, disingenuous uncle Squinton after Harold is illegally conscripted into the union army. Homer aims to save Harold from an uncertain fate as a union soldier. His adventurous are fantastic and unbelievable but make for a very engaging and comedic story. The story
More...
Dec 15, 2011
Nobies57
rated it:
This is a very good and mostly true personal narrative told by Homer P. Figg who lived during the Civil War with his brother, Harold, under the care of their cruel and shifty Uncle Squint. One day their uncle sells Harold into the army for $200, despite the fact that he is underage to be a soldier. Homer is determined to find his brother and reveal the fact that he has been illegally transcripted and bring his brother home. After stealing his uncle's horse and taking off in a southerly direct
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Dec 13, 2011
Hunter
rated it:
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg By: Hunter Weiss
Have you ever had your brother sold to army illegally by a man who starved you until you tried to eat the slops of a pig. Well that's just what Homer's uncle Squint is doing. An unintended journey that will take to the barns of the Pine Swamp Maine and back to the bases of the British. No matter were this book goes you will be sure to follow. After free ballooning into war, More...
Have you ever had your brother sold to army illegally by a man who starved you until you tried to eat the slops of a pig. Well that's just what Homer's uncle Squint is doing. An unintended journey that will take to the barns of the Pine Swamp Maine and back to the bases of the British. No matter were this book goes you will be sure to follow. After free ballooning into war, More...
