The Fighting Ground was published by J.B. Lippincott in 1984. The novel covers exactly twenty-four hours in the life of Jonathan, a thirteen-year-old boy in Trenton, New Jersey, in April 1778. Jonathan, desperate for the glory of battle, joins a group of militia volunteers to fight a nearby force of Hessian soldiers. By the end of the day he has been captured, has seen men killed, has helped bury a dead family, and has discovered that his own militia leader is as capable of murder as the enemy.
The novel’s compression — twenty-four hours, told in real time — was its most effective formal device. Avi refused to let the war exist as background or abstraction; every hour of Jonathan’s experience was rendered in specific, physical detail.
Collecting The Fighting Ground
First edition (J.B. Lippincott, New York, 1984): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $30–$75
- Very good: $10–$30
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Twenty-Four Hours of War
The novel compresses the entire arc of a war experience into a single day. Jonathan, thirteen, is thrilled when a bell summons his New Jersey community to fight Hessian soldiers in April 1778. By nightfall he has experienced terror, captivity, moral confusion, and the discovery that the enemy soldiers are human beings — and that the “patriot” cause is more complicated than he imagined. Avi’s use of time — the narrative is marked by the hour — gives the novel an urgency that mirrors Jonathan’s disorientation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How historically accurate are Avi’s historical novels? Very. Avi researches extensively, and his historical settings — colonial Pennsylvania, Revolutionary War New Jersey, medieval England, 1830s maritime life — are rendered with period-accurate detail in language, material culture, and social structure. He uses history not as backdrop but as the substance of the story.