From Publishers Weekly Zoe, 13, her little brother Jim Henry and their mother are all horrified when Captain Hetchera hated Yankeesets up temporary military headquarters in their home. Putting up with the bullying captain's constant orders is bad enough, but Zoe and her mother share a worrisome secret: Zoe's father, on leave from the Confederate Army, may arrive home any day, and that means he'll fall into the hands of the Yankees. Determined to prevent this, Zoe comes up with a plan to get rid of the captain and his troops. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this well-researched depiction of life in rural Georgia during the Civil War. But some readers may be disappointed that likable Zoe is never given the chance to become a truly compelling character. Her growing self-reliance, a confusing flirtation with one of the captain's young aides and her realization that Yankees aren't always inhuman monsters are just a few of the tantalizing issues that are brought to light but never satisfactorily resolved. Ages 10-up. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Grade 5-8 Zoe Snyder, 12, spends the longest week of her life in June 1864, when invading Yankee troops take over her family's Georgia home and use it as their headquarters. With her father off fighting, Zoe and her mother must face the enemy alone, reduced to waiting on the Captain, Benjamin Hetcher. Hetcher is a superstitious sort, and Zoe sets out to scare him away with talk of the ``haunt'' who shares their home. In terms of historical fact, this is a trifle of a storymore an entertaining slice-of-life novel than anything else. Climo's stereotyped characterization of Hetcher, a silly creature more interested in a cup of coffee than the war, is somewhat offensive, but her other Yankees are more sympathetic and more human. Most of Climo's use of regional dialect is good, but some sounds like a Northerner's version of the dialect (as, when Zoe shouts at the troops, ``You all stop that right now, hear!''). A story whose themesummed up by Zoe when she tells one soldier, ``Maybe underneath that ugly blue uniform you're not all that different from me''makes a good balance to other Civil War stories. Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, Tenn.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
