The Civil War of Amos Abernathy (juvenile fiction)

     Amos, protagonist of Michael Leali's The Civil War of Amos Abernathy, has for much of his young life has been a volunteer historical reenactor at the Chickaree County Living History Park. As you can probably guess, he's a real history buff. 

     Amos has a most unusual penpal. Much of his narrative is written in the form of letters to Albert D. J. Cashier, a Civil War Union soldier who probably in this century would have identified as trans. Amos is gay. He's beginning to think the park is telling only part of the story. There must have been LGBTQ+ people in the 19th century. He's seriously researching to learn more about them and gain representational inclusion in a space that's become very important to him. 

     Unfortunately there are people who don't want this to happen, including a wealthy, influential person who is threatening to cut off funding for the park if this "inappropriate" content is included. Amos's mom, as director of the park, is caught between her need to keep it solvent and her loyalty to her son.

     As if that's not confusing enough Amos has a crush on a boy, Ben, who is giving confusing and contradicting vibes. 

     Leali was nearly thirty when he finally took his mother's advice: write what you know. He's had the experiences of being afraid to come out (Ben) and being openly gay and proud (Amos). For years he was a young nineteenth century historical reenactor. 

     But to fill out the story he had to do massive amounts of research which also enabled to make up a list of resources for readers who want to learn more.

     Although Amos and the other twentieth century characters are fictional, Albert D. J. Cashier was very real.

On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was the first day of calendar spring. It was warm enough out for me to take a 4 bus Goodwill/Hannaford run. At Goodwill I was so excited to see the stuffed animals on shelves instead of in deep bins. I got a 🦁 Squishmallow, a Halloween 🐈 😻 🐈‍⬛️ 😺 🐱 😸 shirt, a Squishmallow hoodie, and sequin covered leggings that will be purrrfect for drag or cosplay. At Hannaford I got fruit and veggies. Last night we got a sprinkling of ❄️. It had melted by 10 this morning, but more is on the way. But I'm glad I'm in Maine, not Texas. According to the meteorologists they're having dangerously hot temps in March!?!

A great big shout out goes out to all the Goodwill and Hannaford workers who make shopping there such a good experience. 

Jules Hathaway 

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