11 year old Leigh Ann Conners is a brave and polite girl, but likes to get into trouble. The story begins in Roswell, Georgia during the Civil War with her mom who is, unloyal to her family, her dad, who is distant and her older brothers, Teddy and Louis, going to fight in the war. Leigh Ann and the other mill wokers are then caught by the Yankee soldiers for making fabric for Confederate Uniforms and are sent north to work in the hospitals while Leigh Ann disguises herself as a boy to avoid going to a fancy girls school.

Leigh Ann’s Civil War uses the theme of bravery to show the reader that anyone can be brave. From being disguised as a boy to putting the French flag a top the mill. Rinaldi’s novel keeps the reader turning the pages of her book as the story unfolds. On page 170 when Mr. Roche is talking to Teddy, Leigh Ann overhears them and told Mr. Roche that she would do it if he didn’t tell Teddy. “…this poor Frenchman is too frightend to go up there. It’s so high.” This shows that Leigh Ann is brave to do this even if it means getting in trouble. Ann Rinaldi uses emotion to show how mad Teddy got when he found her walking on top of the mill with the flag; he wouldn’t talk to her for two days.

If a reader enjoys historical fiction or just likes to read, then this is the book for them. Leigh Ann’s Civil War is similar to Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn. When Teddy and Louis come home early from war because of injuries, Leigh Ann starts to sass them more often. This part and other parts made it confusing and sometimes surprising. Overall it was a good book.