Rifles for Waitie, by Harold Keith, is about a 16-year-old boy, Jeff Bussey, who travels a 4-year journey from young adulthood to manhood via the conflicts of the Civil War in the Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Cherokee Nation territories. Jeff's vision of fighting in the war is one of a glorified adventure; however, he finds he is in for a rude awakening.

Jeff decides to enlist in the Union army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after two proslavery Missouri men raid his family's farm and threaten to kill his father. Jeff fights back, proving the courage in his character. Jeff recruits two neighbor boys, 16-year-old David Gardner and 18-year-old John Chadwick, as he travels the road to enlist. The first time the Kansas Volunteers meet on the drill field with Captain Asa Clardy, Jeff sasses the officer after Clardy slurs Jeff's name. This is the first run-in...