The Slopes of War: A Novel of Gettysburg

by N.A. Perez

Buck Summerhill, a young soldier from West Virginia, faces the horrors of the Battle of Gettysburg knowing that his two cousins, Custis and Mason, may be fighting against him in the Army of northern Virginia.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, School, Read For School, Civil War, Historical, Fiction

202 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 1984

About the author

N. A. Perez was born in Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. The idea for The Slopes of War took shape after a family visit to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Touched by the terrible and significant battle that had been fought there, the author felt that although much had been written about the event itself, little had ever captured what was going on in the hearts and minds of the residents when the war rumbled to their doorsteps in July 1863.

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent historical fiction! I’ve been to the Gettysburg battlefield and visited the town; the author did a wonderful job of making me “see” all those places again.
I would recommend this book to Y.A readers and older. The three days of the battle are described very realistically and graphically; several scenes made me wince and think, “Oh, my!” I think this would be an excellent teaching tool for teachers of older students.
Memorable Quotes:
(Pg. 118)- “Not hell, then, after all. Worse than that, Buck guessed-a field hospital, probably a barn.”
(Pg. 199)-“Buck knew by the look of disappointment that the tall man realized that what he had just said had not been grasped or understood or believed. He wished he could reassure him in some way that the little speech, so large with meaning, had not been a failure.”

[Karielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

i sort of want to stab this book

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy perspective shift Batman!
Book was a good, quick read if you need a novel about the Civil War. The perspective change left it a bit confusing at times but there are maps and a list of characters to help just in case. Overall, would recommend.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. It is really engrossing and exciting, but it has a sad ending.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the civil war novel whose title I always forget. Memorable only because the main character strikes up a romance with her first cousin and that was hilarious when I was 13.

[Elizabeth Anne Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the different perspectives, but wish I knew whose perspective I was reading. In my opinion, the perspective changed too often in a chapter. It was so confusing.
Rating: 2/5 stars

[Paul Hyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy quick read. Nice story about numerous people participating in the Battle of Gettysburg.

[Heidi Finger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many different points of view are told in this book about the civil war. Union and confederate soldier, mother, sister, cousin, and young love all changed by the war in this historical novel.

[Aubrie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book but a little hard to follow at times.

[Keeley McJunkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty good except it was difficult to understand the different POVs.

[Ashley Cobb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an "historical fiction" retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg. The author tells the story mainly through the eyes of fictional characters from both sides of the war although real figures appear in the story. The tale is hard to follow at times as you are jumping back and forth between several characters and it is hard to keep straight who is who, largely because the book is relatively short (about 200 pages) to have so many "main characters" involved. My greatest criticism of the book however is the oversimplification of the cause of the war. The author pegs slavery as the chief concern. While that is what is taught in most schools, I think it overlooks the larger issues. One of the most ironic parts of the book is a quote from General Meade, commander of the federal forces at the time, who states to President Lincoln after the union victory, "he would look for greater efforts to drive from our soil every vestige of the presence of the invader" A curious statement from a man whose forces had already spent nearly three years of invading the south. That said it is an okay read with some very gripping scenes.

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

About: The Slopes of War is about a family living in Gettysburg at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg. What I think: I love this book. I love all of the main characters, especially Bekah Summerhill and Adam Waite. One of the most interesting things about this book is that it's from multiple people's perspectives. I've heard that not many people like that that type of storytelling, but I do. I am a little upset that we don't get to see much from Mason's perspective, but I least we got something from him. I also love how it ends with the Gettysburg Address. I think that that was the perfect way to end this lovely book.

[Cat *living for the One who breaths life into me* · Rating 1 out of 5]

just not my style. it was for school and i just didn't like the writing. but then again, i am a kid reading this. history is my fav subject and all but . . . this book just wasn't 'wow' for me. i didn't like the chacaters and i honestly don't really want to learn about Gettersburg. some of the Civil War stuff was kinda annoying. but it isn't my fav part of history.
well, needless to say i just didn't like it :(

[Melrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very poor. The author was jumping from person to person so much that I hardly knew who was who.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sad, and also very good.

[Catherine Eitzenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book...had me crying for hours...I'm still not over it...😢💔😭but omg it was SO GOOD!! Becca and Custis, I will always love you 😭😭

[Stacey Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows Buck Summerhill, a young man who takes place in the battle at Gettysburg and his younger sister Bekah who was at home. I liked that this book chronicled not just the war but the way the war affected the civilians living in Gettysburg. At first they didn't think it was possible that fighting would take place in their small town. Bekah quickly learned about the trials of war as the soldiers presence grew. Bekah's family gives much needed to food to soldiers as they await battle. Then she nurses a soldier who gets injured. It doesn't matter to them what side the soldiers are on they all get treated the same....with kindness. The people left (mostly women and young boys) in Gettysburg are practically in the battle as the fight gets closer and closer....some tragedies occur. The battle scenes are explicit as not only the commands to the soldiers are explored but also the emotions felt by the soldiers. This war Pitted neighbor against neighbor, families split between sides. This book shows the toll that took on the soldiers fighting as well as on the commanders in charge. We watch as Bekah changes from a girl who clapped and cheered as the men headed toward war to the woman she became as her eyes were opened to what war really means. The people of Gettysburg were in the midst of the bodies broken by war without enough trained help or resources to save them. I love the way N.A. Perez gets into the heart of the young people she's writing about. She shows a view not often seen digging into the emotion in a cleaver way making for a wonderful read.

[Verity Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Randomly reread this book. SO good. Simple, insightful prose that leaves you thinking, extremely immersive even within the POV of real historical figures, but a treatment that always remains grounded, not fanciful or overstepping the bounds of credibility. Definitely impacted my handling of military/war topics beyond what I was even aware of at the time—I came across several phrases that were startlingly evocative of words I must have written about three years later.

(Read for the first time at some point during high school... I was 15 or 16, I think. Just getting into my stride with drafting the Ceristen Series.)

[Kaelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book set in Gettysburg during the battle. It gave me a new and interesting perspective on what this battle was like. The people of Gettysburg never imagined that a battle would take place there.

The story follows many different characters, both fictional and historical. At times, I would get confused and forget certain characters, but, thankfully, there was a cast of characters in the front of the book.

Since this book followed a war, I would also get confused reading some of the battle parts. There were maps at the beginning of each section, so that was helpful.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone studying American history!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with the 13yo as part of his American History curriculum and we both really enjoyed it. Told from multiple POVs, The Slopes of War is a compelling story that gives readers a view of the Battle of Gettysburg from both the Union and the Confederate sides, and often, within the same family. There are glimpses of Grant, Lee, and even President Lincoln.

[Judy Freidhof · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are going to visit Gettysburg, this is a good book to get a perspective on the Confederate and Union armies strategy for the battle. The novel gives first person account of those fighting for each side. Beckah who has relatives on both sides comes to the realization that war is neither romantic or glorious when you loose the ones you love.

[Megan Everitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3⭐️ (own physical). Read aloud w freshman daughter for history. Good information about Battle of Gettysburg but a bit hard to get through for us as the battle logistics and details were abundant.

[Little House · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book that I read to my girls for school. It jumped around so much that we all had trouble following it. Those who are really into the Civil War, may enjoy it more than we did.

[milana waller · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing good this book did for me was give me extra credit.

[Lilah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was pretty poorly written it was hard to follow because it kept going from character to character and I usually like historical fiction but this I give 1 star

[Miss Lili · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole cousin romance thing was kinda weird but it was so good!!! I’m still dying.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

For our Homeschool: While this book was very gruesome it was very eye opening to a pivotal battle of the civil war.

[Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad ending 😞

[Spencer Pinkerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so well written with heart breaking characters. It was hard to read at times because of the immense sadness I felt. It had a cousin kissing sadly

[Elena Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

N. A. Perez is rocking this whole really sad historical fiction gig, to be sure.