Charley Skedaddle

Twelve-year-old Charley Quinn is a Bowery Boy. He feels tough, clever, and ready for adventure. When he gets a chance to join a New York regiment marching to battle in the Civil War, he is happy to go along. Charley is too young to be a soldier, so he is trained to be a drummer boy. No amount of drumming, though, can protect him when the bullets start flying. Frightened and sickened by the blood, Charley runs. As he scrambles for safety in the Virginia mountains, he is captured by someone more menacing than any soldier. Each day, as Charley works for his captor, he hopes that he can prove that he is not a coward. But what will he do when he is faced with the ultimate test? Charley Skedaddle tells the story of a boy's journey toward manhood. Jeff Woodman's narration keeps up the swift pace of this historically-accurate work.