The matchlock gun

The Matchlock Gun is a children's book by the American writer Walter D. Edmonds, published in 1941 and set during the French and Indian War.

Edward is called by his Dutch name, Ateoord, and he is disappointed that his father has taken the ordinary musket to the militia and left the family with the ancient matchlock that his great-grandfather brought from the Netherlands. His mother Gertrude keeps the farm going with Edward and his small sister while his father is away with the local company, and the book describes the chores and the weather and the work of waiting. When smoke appears in the distance and it becomes clear that the raiders are close, the family has to decide what to do with what they have, and the answer involves the gun that nobody thought was usable. Edmonds wrote it close to the ground, with the detail of a farm and a militia in a specific part of the country.

It won the Newbery Medal for 1942, and it is one of the short books in that list of award winners.