By Jace Gibson ’26
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute, and his wife Brandy Noyalas ’02 recently published a new book to educate young readers on the nuances of Civil War history.
“A Civil War Journey at Cool Spring: A History for Young Learners,” which was released on Jan. 31, is Jonathan Noyalas’ first book catered toward a younger audience, and the first he’s co-authored with his wife, a sixth-grade social studies teacher for Winchester Public Schools. The book, which was published by the McCormick Civil War Institute, explores the Battle of Cool Spring, which was fought in July 1864 in Clarke County, Virginia.
The Civil War is the United States’ defining moment; one cannot fully understand our Republic’s history without a firm grasp of the Civil War era. My wife and I hope that the book will encourage young readers to ponder war and its consequences, particularly how war affects not only soldiers but also their family members who are far removed from the battlefield and how that impact can be felt for decades.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute
“A Civil War Journey at Cool Spring” provides an interactive approach to studying the Civil War era that helps students aged 8-12 develop their critical thinking and analytical skills, while also integrating primary sources and pause points to allow for reflection on the passages they have read. Brandy Noyalas uses her professional experience to engage young readers in the text, as well as help them grapple with and understand complicated or difficult ideas in an age-appropriate, and developmentally-focused manner.
Jonathan, who has written or edited 17 books to date, credits Brandy with the vision for the book, which was inspired by the couple’s experience running a children’s camp at the Shenandoah River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield, which Shenandoah University acquired in 2012. Brandy helped teach Jonathan a new language of literary education by incorporating strategies she uses in the classroom to help make Civil War history more accessible. Together, their work helps keep young students engaged by incorporating interactive activities to help students process and develop meaning from the text.
Brandy and Jonathan Noyalas, Shenandoah alums who have been married since 2004, have more than four decades of combined teaching experience. They hope their book will ignite a deeper interest in exploring the nation’s defining moments and the subject of history as a whole.
I hope that students will learn about the major causes, characters, hardships, and legacy of the American Civil War, while also developing skills to look at events from different perspectives and realize there is often not a ‘right’ answer. Adolescents often have a binary view of people and events, seeing historical leaders as either ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ This book is intended to help young learners move past the ‘what’ happened to the ‘why’ it happened.”
Brandy Noyalas ’02
“A Civil War Journey at Cool Spring: A History for Young Learners” is available on Amazon, locally at the Winchester Book Gallery and the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum in Winchester, Virginia, and Civil War and More in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
