We started our literature groups this school year by reading With Every Drop of Blood by James Lincoln Colier and Chris Collier. The great thing about this novel is that you are learning as you are reading. Though the novel is fictional, the setting is real. It is set during the last days of the Civil War. The novel helps you understand what it was like to grow up during war time. The main character looses his father to the war, but gains understanding and respect for his captor, a young runaway slave, that joined the Union army as just a boy really. What starts as animosity and ignorance for each others lives, turns to friendship. The authors are fascinating in themselves. James is the writer in the pair and Chris uses his extenisive knowledge as a history professor. Together they create believable, relatable and engaging literature.
