According to historian Gary W. Gallagher, "Books about the Civil War have accumulated at the rate of more than a title a day since fighting erupted at Fort Sumter in April 1861." Now, 150 years later, children's authors and illustrators continue to approach this fascinating era in inventive ways. The past decade has brought readers rich portrayals of historical figures, such as Abraham Lincoln in 3-D, along with gripping true tales of runaway slaves, girls in disguise, innovative inventors, and even a battlefield cow. People have met colorful fictional characters whose adventures led them into the heart of war, including a Virginia girl searching for her father through the bloody battle of Antietam, and a habitual liar caught in the Gettysburg crossfire. The conflict can resonate with contemporary characters as well: at a school where a Civil War role-playing assignment goes too far or in a household where a girl finds parallels between her family's conflicts and the historical one she studies. The war's literature brings readers to unexpected settings. This article presents titles that shed a different bit of light on the unique and unforgettable historical conflict in ways that are engaging, insightful, and entertaining.