Guts for Glory: The Story of Civil War Soldier Rosetta Wakeman

In a stunning debut 12 years in the making, JoAnna Lapati's intricately illustrated picture book biography of Rosetta Wakeman, Guts for Glory, presents a singular account of secretive military history through arresting artwork and the subject's own words.

Lapati uses scratchboard, evocative of 19th-century wood engravings, and digitally tints the period-authentic drawings in crisp military blues and atmospheric sepias. The detail Lapati achieves in this notoriously demanding medium is gasp-inducing; each line of Rosetta's hands is etched with the utmost precision. The endpapers alone justify this purchase, but backmatter notably reveals that Rosetta "is the only female soldier whose letters represent a woman's point of view during the Civil War." Lyons's handwriting peppers the artwork with her missives excerpted in text. Extensive backmatter includes research bolstered by Lapati's participation in Civil War reenactment groups.

This title, amplifying women's role within Civil War military history, is a natural precursor to Erica Armstrong Dunbar's 2023 Susie King Taylor and a technically staggering artistic debut. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf

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