Li'l Dan is a young boy who loves to play the drum. Another man at the plantation taught him how to play, and now he really wants to get good at playing the drums and eventually have his own. Li'l Dan lives on a cotton plantation, but one day a group of soldiers comes through and tells Li'l Dan that he is free. Li'l Dan is all alone, no family, so he goes with the soldiers and makes sure his drum is right there with him. Dan ends up being a crucial part in helping the soldiers win a battle, all with his little drum. This book would be a great way to teach about the civil war because it is from the perspective of a child, and a slave child. Students would be able to relate to Li'l Dan because they are similar to his age. I learned more about the civil war in this book because it does have factual information intertwined within the story. ( )