Red moon at Sharpsburg : a novel

Review

India Moody is 12 when the Civil War comes to Virginia. All of the local boys can't wait to join the rebel army and India's pa joins too. School is closed, so India goes to study with a neighbor, Emory Trimble, whose health has kept him out of the war. Emory is a student of the emerging field of chemistry and teaches India all kinds of "men's science" about bacteria, penicillin, and other new-fangled notions. India and Emory try to convince the doctors and the generals that bacteria is killing much of the army. When Emory goes to war as a doctor, India is heartbroken. Only her dreams of making it to Oberlin College, where women can attend, keep India going during the long, hard war.