Description: This volume offers teachers and others a valuable resource for exploring the subject of the American Civil War with school-age youth. Because of the high level of interest, more books, films, and videos on this period of U.S. history become available every year. Fully annotated, this guide provides a path to appropriate materials, plus learning questions, teaching considerations, and suggested student activities for each focus book included.

Chapters present annotated bibliographies arranged thematically on topics such as the conditions that contributed to the climate of Unrest; the issue of slavery and the lives of slaves; leaders of the time; the experiences of people both in battle and on the homefront; and rebuilding the nation. The authors chose over 100 titles as "focus books", and 70 more as recommended readings. These include fiction, historical fiction, biographies, informational books, picture books, and poetry. Selections are based on literary quality, historical accuracy, age appropriateness, and reader appeal. A final chapter provides additional resources -- media, web sites, selected museums and historical sites, and other sources. An appendix outlines the National Standards for United States History that pertain to teaching the Civil War era, and shows how each focus book meets those requirements.

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