"Elise the Actress" by Norma Jean Lutz

About this book:

  “Elise Brannon loves to perform.

And she’s ready to put her acting skills to good use—by helping her family and friends forget, at least for a while, the depressing news from the battlefields of the War Between the States. But even Elise’s optimism is challenged by the death of a friend from war wounds…her capture by a band of deserters…and the assassination of the president.

As her world spirals out of control, can Elise maintain hope—and keep her faith in the midst of such trouble?”


Series: Book #13 in the “Sisters in Time” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to that review: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, & #12.


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Church going; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, & hymns; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of those in the Bible; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of miracles.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stinking’; All about many mentions of the war, traitors, fighting, blood, injuries, losing limbs, killing/shooting, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of President Lincoln being assassinated & others being shot and killed; Mentions of a massacre, fires, screams, & many deaths; Mentions of slaves & slavery; Mentions of injuries, pain, a broken bone, & passing out (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of horses being shot, injured, & killed; A couple mentions of prison camps & prison; A couple mentions of hunting.

Sexual Content- A couple mentions of kisses;

             *Note: A couple mentions of children who died in childbirth.

-Elise Brannon, age 10-11
                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                            Set in 1864-1865
                                                    141 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This book feels very connected to the previous book, but because the names are all different, it gets quite confusing with it being written by the same author. Those notes aside, I liked Elise and her heart for others and making them laugh. She did have to learn about weeping with those who are weeping, but that’s an important lesson shown in this middle-grade read.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.