A Dangerous Promise

We have followed the Kelly children through many things; we've seen them go West on the orphan train and watched them get adopted by several different families. Each one has faced his or her own challenges and gone on their own adventure, each one more dangerous or exciting than the last. But there is an even bigger problem heading for the Kellys and one of them will land right in the middle of it. A Dangerous Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon continues the story of Mike, the oldest Kelly boy, as he runs straight into the biggest fight in American history, the Civil War.

Even though he is three years below the minimum age to enlist, Mike Kelly is determined to become a soldier - a navy blue clad soldier of the Union army. Now that war has officially broken out, Mike can't wait to turn 16 to fight so he comes up with a plan. The army needs drummers to lead the battle charges and direct the troops and - best of all - drummers didn't need to be 16. So, drum in hand and best friend at his side, Mike sets off to enlist. But war is not for anyone, let alone little boys with big dreams - a sad lesson that Mike will soon learn.  

This book was okay. While it is a nice enough continuation of the Orphan Train Adventures series, I did not enjoy it that much. Perhaps it's just because I don't like books about war or this time era, but I found this book boring and/or too quick moving. I think that Joan Lowery Nixon tried to do too much with this one; the book is 148 pages but had the action I would expect from a 200 or more page book. Some of the chapters seemed too full and should have been spread out more. The writing was good though, and this book does add on the series as a whole. 

*****

RJ