Distant Thunder

Annotation
Staying in the Moravian community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when the American Revolution breaks out, fifteen-year-old Kate and her friends demonstrate how a peaceful people can help alleviate the suffering brought on by war.

From the Critics
From School Library Journal  
Gr 5-8-- A novel about the Moravians' involvement in the American Revolution, with customs and beliefs deftly blended into the story. Kate Rau, 15, lives with her aunt and uncle because her parents are missionaries among the Indians. The war affects them, first as one cousin defies Moravian tradition and joins the militia, and then when Hessian prisoners and later wounded Americans are sent to their town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Kate becomes involved in nursing the soldiers and thus experiences some of the horrors of war. The appearance of a long-lost uncle, captured as a child by Indians, ties things together a bit too neatly, and characterization is a little superficial. While lacking in depth, this portrayal of Moravian life and the choice of pacifism is interesting enough to make it worth reading. Mediocre black-and-white illustrations add little. --Jane Gardner Connor, formerly at South Carolina State Library, Columbia