I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.


Fleeing his abusive mother, white, 15 year old Anders, declares himself an octoroon and joins the negro army. This flag twirling, intelligence soldier actually began in the Union army but after being captured was quick to change allegiance and now serves the Southern Freedom. Building a life, friends and family along with commentary about the Civil War from those serving in Anders’ squad is the bulk of this story.

HOW TO DODGE A CANNONBALL is highly satirical, often literary and erudite for reasons that confounded me, so much so, that I often found it difficult to read. It reached well beyond the educated, black, theater loving character. There were some moments of humor and political double entendres to mine but it was work to do so. There’s regular use of racial “no-no’s” for white folks and the white equivalent, (ofay), that I’d never heard before, plus a full complement of expletives.

It’s difficult for me to enjoy novels when there isn’t at least one character to follow who experiences some kind of growth or change that is worth the time invested in reading the book. Unfortunately, these characters fell flat for me. I can empathize with their story and horrible treatment by white men historically but specifically within this story, they make little overall progress📚

Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks