Behind Rebel Lines: the Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy, by Seymour Reit

If there was a war going on would you feel it was your duty to fight for the side you felt was right? That is how Emma Edmonds felt and this is her story. The cause she felt strongly about was slavery and the war was the Civil War. As you know, women weren’t allowed to fight or be near the fighting. To get around this and do her part Emma cuts her hair, dresses up as a man named Franklin Thompson and joins the Union Army. Luckily for her they did not give physical examinations to the recruits. Emma is assigned to the infirmary to help the sick and wounded. One day she sees a sign asking for spies for the army and she decides to apply. She is chosen to spy on the rebel camps. On her first assignment she dresses up as a slave named Cuff, and so begins her career as a Union spy. Will she be caught? Will her true identity be discovered? To find out what happens read Behind Rebel Lines by Seymour Reit. --Carrie Falk, Shenandoah Public Library
144p., New York: Gulliver Books, 2001. 0152164278