Now or Never!: Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Infantry's War to End Slavery

Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book

Here is the riveting dual biography of two little-known but extraordinary African-American Union soldiers in Civil War history--George E. Stephens and James Henry Gooding.

Stephens and Gooding not only served in the Massachusetts 54th Infantry, the well-known black regiment, but were also war correspondents who published eyewitness reports of the battlefields. Their dispatches told the truth of their lives at camp, their intense training, and the dangers and tragedies on the battlefield. Like the other thousands of black soldiers in the regiment, they not only fought against the Confederacy and the inhumanity of slavery, but also against injustice in their own army. The regiment's protest against unfair pay resulted in America's first major civil rights victory--equal pay for African American soldiers. This fresh perspective on the Civil War includes an author's note, timeline, bibliography, index and source notes.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Calkins Creek Books
Published: 10/10/2017
ISBN: 9781629793405
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2017 pg. 165
School Library Journal 08/01/2017
Booklist 09/01/2017 pg. 84
Voice of Youth Advocates 12/01/2017 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2018 pg. 238 - Recommended, Satisfactory

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 191984 / Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry's War to End Slavery
Reading Level: 8 / Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus / Point Value: 5