Uncertain Glory

by Lea Wait

Joe Wood has big dreams. He wants to be a newspaperman, and though he's only thirteen, he's already borrowed money for the equipment to start his own press. But it's April 1861, and the young nation is teetering on the brink of a civil war. He has to help Owen, his young assistant, deal with the challenges of being black in a white world torn apart by color. He needs to talk his best friend, Charlie, out of enlisting. He wants to help a young spiritualist, Nell, whose uncle claims can she speak to the dead. And when Owen disappears, it's up to Joe to save him. Lea Wait skillfully draws on the lives of real people in Maine's history to tell this story of three young adults touched by war and the tensions it brings, forcing them into adulthood before they may be ready.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Middle Grade, Drama

210 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2014

About the author

Maine author Lea Wait writes the NYT-praised 8-book Shadows Antique Print Mystery series, the latest of which is SHADWS ON A MORNING IN MAINE, and the USA Today best-selling Mainely Needlepoint series which debuted with TWISTED THREADS in January, 2015, and was followed by THREADS OF EVIDENCE in August, 2015, THREAD AND GONE, in January, 2016, DANGLING BY A THREAD in late October, 2016, and TIGHTENING THE THREADS in March, 2017. Wait also writes acclaimed historical novels for ages 8 and up set in 19th century Maine, the latest of which, UNCERTAIN GLORY, takes place in a small northern town during the first two weeks of the Civil War. Lea's LIVING AND WRITING ON THE COAST OF MAINE, about being an author and living year 'round in Maine with a husband who's an artist also includes writing tips. Lea did her undergraduate work at Chatham College (now University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her graduate work at New York University. While she was raising the four daughters she adopted as a single parent she worked as a manager for AT&T. Now she writes full time and speaks at schools and libraries. She loves rowing, visiting historical sites, and, of course, reading and writing. See her website,
www.leawait.com, and the blog she writes with other Maine Mystery writers, http://www.mainecrimewriters.com, friend her on FB and Goodreads, and, if you'd like to be on her email list to find out when her next book will be published, send her your email address write to her at [email protected]

Reviews

[Lea]

I wrote UNCERTAIN GLORY because I loved the idea that Joe Wood, a real boy in April, 1861, published his town's newspaper for about a year. That he did so during the critical days of Fort Sumter and the beginning of the Civil War was too good a story to miss. I read Joe's newspaper and his diary, now in the Maine Historical Society's archives, and decided to also include Joe's close friend Charlie Farrar, who helped Joe with the newspaper, but who chose a different future from Joe's, and who saw the war as an exciting adventure. (Joe was a life-long newsman.) I added the character Owen, a 9-year-old African American boy who helps at the newspaper, to show how free blacks in the north responded to the war ... and how people responded to them. Nell, a 12-year-old traveling spiritualist, is based on several girl spiritualists of the period, when spiritualism was taken seriously, even at the White House. All the events described in UNCERTAIN GLORY related to the Civil War did take place in Wiscasset, Maine. I tried to bring 1861 to life; to show what history books may miss, or make dull. I hope I was successful. A special note to teachers and home schoolers: a teachers' guide to UNCERTAIN GLORY, and suggestions for how it can be connected to the common core curriculum, are on my website, http://www.leawait.com

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my, that Lea Wait knows how to bring history to life! She starts with a real person (who's diary she read) and then spins a wonderful fictional story around that character. It's 1861 in Wiscasset, Maine, and 13-year-old Joe Wood runs his own newspaper, but if he doesn't make enough money to pay off the money he borrowed to start the paper, he'll lose his business. And when you charge one cent for a one-page flier of news and you have to handset all the type, it seems nearly impossible to pay off $22 dollars of debt in less than 2 weeks. But the Civil War is starting and men from Wiscasset are asked to enlist plus there's a mysterious 12-year-old traveling spiritualist who claims to speak with the dead in town--lots of news for a small town. Maybe Joe can earn the money, but with unexpected events including a missing friend, Joe and the reader are left with uncertainty as the story unfolds. Wait's details are rich and create a wonderful sense of time and place--fascinating to see how children's roles in the world were so different back then. The last third of the story is fast-paced and satisfying--the novel does begin a little slower setting up the story and the actual ending felt a bit abrupt. But overall, a delightful trip back in time!

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy full of dreams and responsibility towards his friends, a possible charlatan medium, and a community on the brink of the Civil War. This is a book about choices and commitment. Perhaps there were too many characters for a novel of this length. This could have been longer, allowing for the many characters to be better developed, or it could have addressed fewer characters at depth. Still, I enjoyed this bit of historical fiction. There are lessons about maturity, compassion for others, honesty, and self-sacrifice throughout all of this story; the tone is not heavy-handed or moralistic, however. Events that we learn about come through the eyes of the 13-year old Joe Wood, an ambitious young newspaper writer who is scrambling throughout the book to pay off his start-up loan. His work at the press allows us to see the events and places of pre-Civil War Maine, and it's full of its own prejudices, conniving people, positive values, and respectable citizens. We learn about history with this new perspective, and I suspect many Young Adults or preteens will enjoy reading this.

[Gail Nall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncertain Glory is the story of Joe Wood, a thirteen-year-old boy who publishes his own newspaper in the little town of Wiscasset, Maine in 1861. Joe has help from his friend Charlie, and a younger African-American boy named Owen. At the start of the Civil War, Joe has almost more business than he can handle with the war news and the arrival in town of a young spiritualist, Nell, who claims she can speak with the dead. Joe and Charlie suspect Nell is a fraud, but when Owen goes missing, Joe seeks Nell’s help to find him.

This is a quick, exciting, well-researched read (based upon actual, real people), and the author does an excellent job of layering in the historical detail needed to understand the story without resorting to info dumps or awkward dialogue exchanges. I especially enjoyed the spiritualism aspect of the story, and loved trying to guess for myself whether Nell was legitimately speaking with the spirits, or duping the entire town. The book also briefly touches on racism as it existed in mid-nineteenth-century Maine, which is a great addition that really rounds out Owen’s character.

Also, did I mention how gorgeous this book is? Hardcover, with lovely art on the dust jacket, and maps inside both the front and back covers (maps! I’m such a nerd for a good map.).

[Julie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Wood is a young boy with big dreams. At 14 he has started a newspaper in his town of Wiscasset, Maine but only has a little time until he must pay off a loan and keeps the paper. It's also the beginning of April 1861 and the whole country is on edge as the United States enters into the Civil War and people are talking of enlisting. During this time a spiritualist named Nell is in town. Joe is trying to cover the news, figure out if Nell is for real, help his friend Owen who is a young black boy, and help his parents with their store. It is a lot for a boy of 14.

I thought the book was enjoyable. There was a lot going on but it all fit together and was believable. Of course, the biggest draw was the local connection. I try to promote books by Maine authors and set in Maine whenever I can. While historical fiction can be a hard sell this had some good action and is short enough that I hope to get some takers.

[Laura Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on the arrival of the Civil War. I live in Wiscasset, so perhaps I am biased, but I think Wait did an admirable job of showing the excitement and trepidation that came along with the arrival of the Civil War in small town Maine.

[Ellen Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set on the Maine coast at the brink of the Civil War, this story, told from the point of view of a 13 year old newspaper editor, captures important dilemmas including patriotism, race relations, child welfare, spiritualism, addiction, loyalty.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lea Wait brought the days preceding the Civil War to life, as told through the eyes of young Joe Woods.

[Flesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Woods has always had a gift for words and when he inherited a printing press he out that gift to good use writing and printing a local newspaper. As the civil war approaches Joe struggles to pay back a loan he took to get his business up and running, without enough revenue he will lose his business.

This book, set in Maine, has a pretty wide audience: upper elementary through lower highschool. Wait provides Historical Notes at the end which share more about the background for the story.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Adult/teen book I read because I have followed the author and really liked her adult mystery writing. Nice story. Held my interest. Two teenagers are running a printing press in Maine as the Civil War breaks out. The boys witness prejudice, child abuse and the fears that the war will sweep into their small Maine town

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-crafted look back at a few days at the start of the American Revolution. Discusses racial issues and the spiritualism craze. Uses the setting and historical aspects to its advantage. I really enjoyed the is she or isn’t she, will they or won’t they aspects of the story. Engaging and informative of the time.

[Dale Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical novels are always interesting to me - especially those set in Maine. This one was of particular interest because of the time period, the outset of the Civil War. i think this would be good for young readers. I will recommend it to some of my grandchildren.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the cover and title of this book do it a disservice. This is an excellent younger YA/older MG historical fiction selection, set on the eve of the Civil War. Based on actual events and people, UNCERTAIN GLORY is the story of fourteen-year-old Joe and his newspaper. After a distant relative leaves him a printing press, Joe decides to publish a weekly newspaper for his small Maine town, together with his friends, sixteen-year-old Charlie and Owen, a nine-year-old African American boy who helps out at the press. As Joe works to pay off an impending debt for the start-up costs of the paper, the boys scramble to keep abreast of the breaking news from Charleston, SC, where the Confederates have fired on (and eventually captured) Fort Sumter. Wait really skillfully weaves together so many strands here to depict life in a fully realized small Maine town in the 1860s: there's Joe's own personal challenges as a teenage business owner and newspaperman; his family's struggles following the death of his older brother the year before; the precarious position of African American Owen and his family in a state where slavery has been illegal for decades yet prejudices still exist; the historical events of the opening of the Civil War and the repercussions for families losing loved ones to the war effort; and the impact of spiritualism on American society in the form of young Nell Gramercy, a traveling medium, who makes a big impact on Joe and his small town. There's action and adventure, hope and grief. Though the ending is a little too pat to make this a truly masterful novel, it is nonetheless a well-researched and well-conceived piece of historical fiction.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1861 in small-town Wiscasset, Maine, teenage Joe runs his own printing shop and newspaper—at least he will if can make enough money to pay off his equipment. Luckily, things are happening in Wiscasset: the telegraph brings constant news of the start of the war, which gives Joe both newspaper articles and extra printing jobs, and there’s a twelve-year-old medium in town bringing news of the dead—or is she? Joe’s partner Charlie is determined to expose her as a fraud, and just as determined to go off to war even though he’s not yet 18, but Joe is not so sure—he’s concerned, himself, that Nell’s aunt and uncle are abusing her, whether she’s a fraud or not. Then there’s nine-year-old Owen, an African-American boy who helps out with the paper, and isn’t having an easy time of it with the local bullies. How will it all end up?

I’m sorry, but I found this a total snore. It was basically a fictionalized history lesson, full of infodumps, rather than an historical novel in which the story is the main thing. The plot was slight, and while I did like the characters, I thought they didn’t change much from start to finish. The town was well-described, for the most part, and I did like the endpaper maps. The writing was mostly fine, but for the use of “figger.” But I had to force myself to get through this one.

[Azhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d give this novel 5 stars. First, I really enjoy reading this novel, and it was interesting. The story was about a young boy (Joe Wood) who started his own business which is publishing a newspaper. He got help from his friends Charlie and Owen. At that time, two important things happened, the war and Nell Gramercy, the girl how can hear the death. The author gave us some personal detail about especially in Joe and Nell’s lives. Joe the one how takes care of his family after his brother died. Nell the one how lives with her uncle because she can hear the death and makes money for him, and when Joe knew that, he helped her to be away from him and being a part of the Woods family. The author also mention some of the racism against the black people. Second, I like this novel because it shows sacrifice when some people involved and participated in this was because they think of other people, and think of the next generation. They want their kids to live freely. In my opinion, I will recommend this novel to my friends because it is easy to understand, and it didn’t include very much difficult words.

[Famin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and am hoping there are sequels! I'm not usually one for historical fiction, but this one was really well done--and well researched. Story is based on a number of actual residents of this small town in Maine on the eve of the Civil War breaking out in the South. Story's told from the perspective of a 14-year-old young man who inherited a printing press, and it truly is the journalist's perspective. Highly recommend, especially for anyone who liked L. Halse Anderson's Chains.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Joe Wood has big dreams. Already, at 14, he owns and operates a newspaper — if only he can pay off his loan in time! Then war breaks out between the North and South, and suddenly he has almost more work than he can handle. The news of war affects different people in different ways, providing an excellent backdrop for this novel. Highly recommended.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very good. It really did bring that time period to life in a way I've never seen before. I loved the characters and I loved that it had a happy ending. Most books just kind of end, but this one really was a happy ending. I do admit being the tiniest bit bored in the middle (I'm not sure why-the story wasn't necessarily dull at any point...) but I'm glad I read it.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a teenager running a small town newspaper at the start of the Civil War. Wait does a good job bringing 1861 Wiscasset, Maine to life. This is well-researched historical fiction with characters the reader will care about in an interesting time period.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical novel for young readers.

[Armaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was about Racism