The River Between Us

USA Today

The book is rich in detail about life along the Mississippi and the limited, late war news that further splits communities. Peck captures the light and dark sides of the Pruitt family, the sweetness of tiny moments, the excruciating pain of a distraught mother's words. He writes life-changing scenes reminiscent of the Atlanta pilgrimage that Scarlett O'Hara makes in Gone With the Wind: Tilly and Delphine are confronted with hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers after an exhausting trip to Cairo, and, like Scarlett, roll up their sleeves and find a strength that neither knew she had. — Lynne Perri

The Washington Post

This unusual Civil War novel really boosts Peck's credentials as America's best living author for young adults. Not only is it a gripping yarn -- about two enigmatic women and a small Southern Illinois town in the momentous first year of the war -- but it is nearly as intricately structured as Wuthering Heights, with multiple narrators and tales-within-tales enhancing both the mystery and the wistfulness of long-ago events. — Elizabeth Ward

Publishers Weekly

In our Best Books citation, PW wrote, "The author crafts his characters impeccably and threads together their fates in surprising ways that shed light on the complicated events of the Civil War." Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Richard Peck won a 2000 Newbery for A Year Down Yonder and a 1998 Newbery honor for the prequel, A Long Way from Chicago (both $5.99 from Puffin). Both books are steeped in history and strong characters. So is his newest, The River Between Us . The main character is fifteen-year-old Tilly Pruitt who lives in Grand Tower, a muddy little Mississippi River town. Tilly worries about what the impending Civil War may do to her already threatened family. The situation is gripping, but it's Tilly's voice that captures readers with a the mix of humor and homespun that shone in Peck's other books. Soon a second character enters who sets mystery into motion. On a "velvet night" a ship arrives from New Orleans and two figures come down the plank, back lit by the boat's lanterns. One, Delphine Duval, is a beauty, encased in taffeta and satins. The other is dressed plainly and it is quickly assumed she is Delphine's maidservant. The two take up residence at Tilly's home and the family is immediately struck with Delphine's fine manners, elegant possessions, and generosity. Delphine is shrouded in mystery of the exotic New Orleans life she describes and "her conversation was a lacework fan that opened and closed, concealing and revealing." The strength of the two characters and the relationship they establish transcends the horrors of war and the prejudices of gender and race, and highlight lesser known historical facts and make them real. 2003, Dial, Ages 11 up.
— Susie Wilde

KLIATT

This latest historical novel by Peck will win critical acclaim and also appeal to YA readers, even high school readers. It is set during the Civil War in a little town along the Mississippi River, where a family lives slightly apart from their neighbors. Tilly is surprised when her mother takes in two strange young women, Delphine and Calinda, journeying up the river from New Orleans as the war begins. Delphine is enchanting and Tilly is surprised to learn they are about the same age; 15. Tilly's older brother Noah is definitely fascinated. And Calinda understands Tilly's strange little sister, who sees visions; mostly visions of horror to come. The horror, of course, is the war. Noah joins the Northern army, and after a terrible battle nearby, Tilly and Delphine go to find him wounded in the ghastly hospital tents and eventually save his life, with the help of a young Army doctor. Peck tells the story by peeling off layers, saving the best surprise for the end, which I won't give away here. His mechanism is introducing the family history through the eyes of a boy living in 1916, whose father, a doctor, takes the boy to visit his elderly relatives; Tilly, Noah, Delphine, and Dr. Hutchings; before he himself goes off to Europe to take care of the wounded in another Great War. The narrative voice shifts to Tilly at 15, who relates the events of 1861, before returning in the final chapter to the boy in 1916 once again. Peck has achieved the highest awards for his work in children's literature, and this novel is among his best work for YAs. KLIATT Codes: JS*; Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Penguin Putnam, Dial, 164p.,
— Claire Rosser

VOYA

Mixing vibrant characters, a gripping plot, and historical facts, Peck cooks a literary gumbo worthy of New Orleans' finest chefs. (Or "Nouvelle Orleans" as character Delphine would say.) Irksome dialect aside, this book is sumptuous. Fifteen-year-old Howard's story in the Model-T era complements grandmother Tillie's story of fifty-five years earlier, when she has enough troubles with her sister's visions and her brother facing war. Then two Louisiana women waltz into their lives, with southern drawls and surprises beneath their petticoats. The town starts whispering, the Civil War begins, and Tillie's life changes forever. Peck spices up his stew with showboats, apparitions, romance, battle, and twists around every corner in this great read, even for those who dislike historical fiction. VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Dial, 176p,
— Jing Cao, Teen Reviewer

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-In the opening days of the Civil War, a genteel but worldly wise young woman and her companion step off a steamboat from New Orleans onto the dock of a provincial Illinois town. This richly told and evocatively realized novel tells how the strangers are taken into the Pruitts' home (and into their hearts), changing all of the characters' lives forever. Winner of the 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

"Imagine an age when there were still people around who'd seen U.S. Grant with their own eyes, and men who'd voted for Lincoln." Fifteen-year-old Howard Leland Hutchings visits his father's family in Grand Tower, Illinois, in 1916, and meets four old people who raised his father. The only thing he knows about them is that they lived through the Civil War. Grandma Tilly, slender as a girl but with a face "wrinkled like a walnut," tells Howard their story. Sitting up on the Devil's Backbone overlooking the Mississippi River, she "handed over the past like a parcel." It's a story of two mysterious women from New Orleans, of ghosts, soldiers, and seers, of quadroons, racism, time, and the river. Peck writes beautifully, bringing history alive through Tilly's marvelous voice and deftly handling themes of family, race, war, and history. A rich tale full of magic, mystery, and surprise. (author's note) (Fiction. 12+)