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Historical Fiction for Young Ladies, Part 2

Aug27

Post Civil War/Immigration/Native American Experience
Turner, Ann. The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864.
Karr, Kathleen. Oh, Those Harper Girls!
Gregory, Kristiana. The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868.
Beatty, Patricia. Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee.
Meyer, Carolyn. Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker.
Beatty, Patricia. Bonanza Girl.
Rinaldi, Ann. The Staircase. (1870’s Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Bauer, Marion Dane. Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rodgers, An English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota, 1873
Rinaldi, Ann. The Coffin Quilt; the Feud Between the Hatfields and the McCoys
Rinaldi, Ann. My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, 1880.
Taylor, Mildred. The Land. (1880’s Mississippi)
Beatty, Patricia. By Crumbs, It’s Mine. (1880’s Arizona)
Beatty, Patricia. Red Rock Over the River. (1881 Arizona)
Murphy, Jim. My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, A Prairie Teacher. Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881.
Murphy, Jim. West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883.
Beatty, Patricia. Melinda Takes a Hand. (Colorado 1893)
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. A Coal Miner’s Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896.

Turn of the Century/Early 20th Century
Jocelyn, Marthe. Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance. (1901)
Turner, Nancy. These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901.
Nixon, Joan Lowery. Land of Promise. (1902)
Lasky, Kathryn. Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903.
Rinaldi, Ann. Brooklyn Rose.
Gregory, Kristiana. Earthquake at Dawn. (San Francisco earthquake, 1906)
Beatty, Patricia. Lacy Makes a Match.
Beatty, Patricia. Hail Columbia!
Beatty, Patricia. That’s One Ornery Orphan.
Beatty, Patricia. Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant.
Hopkinson, Deborah. Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City , 1909.
Beatty, Patricia. Sarah and Me and the Lady from the Sea.
Beatty, Patricia. O the Red Rose Tree.
Beatty, Patricia. The Nickel-Plated Beauty.

World War I, 1910-1920’s
White, Elen Emerson. Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912.
Beatty, Patricia. Eight Mules from Monterrey.
McKissack, Patricia. Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919.
Lasky, Kathryn. A Time For Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington D.C., 1917.
Levine, Beth Seidel. When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer, New York City to the Western Front, 1917.
Rostkowski, Margaret. After the Dancing Days.
Marshall, Catherine. Christy.
Meyer, Carolyn. White Lilacs. (Dillon, Texas, 1921)

The Great Depression, 1930’s
Lasky, Kathryn. Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift. Indianapolis, IN, 1932.
Denenberg, Barry. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932.
Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Taylor, Mildred. Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Janke, Katelan. Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935.
Peck, Richard. Year Down Yonder. (1937)

World War II, 1930’s and 40’s
Denenberg, Barry. One Eye Laughing, The Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York, 1938.
Rinaldi, Ann. Keep Smiling Through.
Osborne, Mary Pope. My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941.
Denenberg, Barry. Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941.
Greene, Betty. Summer of my German Soldier.

A 1998 article by Joanne Brown about writing YA historical fiction and about teaching historical fiction to young adults from ALAN Review.

As teachers, we can help our students question the interpretations of the past offered by any single historical novel. With our students, we can make connections between past and present issues to weigh the novel’s historical perspective. Together we can discuss how a writer has represented a particular cultural or racial group. We can assess a story’s accuracy by reading more than one novel on the period or researching the history itself. And as we and our students engage with the “problems” of historical fiction, we can come to understand how the genre provides us with a lens not only upon our collective past but also upon a “here and now” that defines our individual lives.

Friday Feast

Aug26

I don’t usually participate in this particular meme, but I thought these questions were good.

Appetizer
Do you get excited when the season begins to change? Which season do you most look forward to?
Yes, I’m always ready for a new season, especially autumn. Isn’t “autumn” a great word–much more satisfying than “fall.”

Soup
Who was the first person you had a crush on? First grade–Wiley Shockley.

Salad
Would you consider yourself to be strict when it comes to grammar and spelling? What’s an example of the worst error you’ve seen? I’m sort of a stickler, but then again, I make typographical errors all the time. I hate it when I see apostrophes where they don’t belong. Grocery’s? Sear’s is having it’s annual sale? (These are made up examples, but I see things like these all the time.)

Main Course
Who has a birthday coming up, and what will you give them as a gift? Half of my family have birthdays in the fall, and we’re looking for a used car to give to a couple of would-be drivers.

Dessert
If you could have any new piece of clothing for free, what would you pick? I’d have a red skirt, a red gypsy skirt, kind of like
this one.

I copied the Friday Feast questions from Donna’s blog, A Quiet Life.

Three Books of Enduring Influence

Aug26

Rebecca Writes about three books that have had an enduring influence on her life, books that she comes back to and that have shaped her thoughts over a long period of time. I found this to be a very difficult exercise, but here are my choices—quick, before I change my mind.

1. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
3. Teach Your Own by John Holt

Visit Rebecca’s blog and leave your own list, or leave one here.

Historical Fiction for Young Ladies, Part 1

Aug26

Patricia Beatty, b. August 26, 1922.
Ann Rinaldi, b. August 27, 1934.

Since these two excellent authors of historical fiction for children and young adults have birthdays so close together, I thought this would be a good time to give you a list of historical fiction, specifically US history, and especially for girls. I haven”t read all of these, but I have included books by many of my favorite authors, including Ann Rinaldi and Patricia Beatty. If you have young ladies in your home between the ages of ten and twenty who are studying or interested in US history, you are welcome to copy my list and share it with your favorite young lady. Or read them yourself.

Colonial Times, 1600’s and 1700’s
Lasky, Kathryn. A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple 1620.
Speare, Elizabeth. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. (1687)
Fraustino, Lisa Rowe. I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembly, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691.
Rinaldi, Ann. A Break with Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials. (1692)
Rinaldi, Ann. Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley.
Lenski, Lois. Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison. (1758)
Osborne, Mary Pope. Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763.
McKissack, Patricia. Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Maoreau, a French Slave Girl.
Rinaldi, Ann. The Fifth of March: The Story of the Boston Massacre.

American Revolution, 1770-1790
Rinaldi, Ann. Time Enough for Drums.
Turner, Ann. Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Green Marsh, Massachusetts, 1774.
Gregory, Kristiana. The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777
Rinaldi, Ann. Taking Liberty: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington’s Runaway Slave.
Rinaldi, Ann. Finishing Becca: A Story of Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold.
Rinaldi, Ann. A Ride into Morning: The Story of Tempe Wick. New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1991.
Rinaldi, Ann. The Secret of Sarah Revere.
Rinaldi, Ann. Or Give Me Death : A Novel of Patrick Henry’s Family.
Rinaldi, Ann. A Stitch in Time.
Rinaldi, Ann. Cast Two Shadows. (1780 in South Carolina)
O’Dell, Scott. Sarah Bishop.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793.

Westward Expansion/Early America, 1800-1850
Rianldi, Ann. Broken Days. (War of 1812)
Rinaldi, Ann. Wolf by the Ears. (Thomas Jefferson’s slave/daughter; early 1800’s)
Blos, Joan. A Gathering of Days. (1830-1832)
Rinaldi, Ann. The Education of Mary : A Little Miss of Color, 1832.
Garland, Sherry. A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence Gonzales, Texas, 1836.
Rinaldi, Ann. The Blue Door. (1841)
Garland, Sherry. Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846.
Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie. (Lowell, Massachusets, 1840’s)
Denenberg, Barry. So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847.
Gregory, Kristiana. Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847.
McDonald, Megan. All the Stars in the Sky: The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie Mack Ryder, The Santa Fe Trail, 1848.
Gregory, Kristiana. Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849.

Civil War/Slavery, mid 1800’s
McKissack, Patricia. A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859.
Rinaldi, Ann. Mine Eyes Have Seen. (1859– abolitionist John Brown)
Beatty, Patricia. Who Comes With Cannons.
Rinaldi, Ann. In My Father’s House.
Rinaldi, Ann. The Last Silk Dress.
Rinaldi, Ann. Girl in Blue.
Hesse, Karen. A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861.
Rinaldi, Ann. Sarah’s Ground.
Rinaldi, Ann. Amelia’s War.
Denenberg, Barry. When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864.
Beatty, Patricia. Turn Homeward, Hannalee.
Beatty, Patricia. Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee.
Rinaldi, Ann. An Acquaintance with Darkness. (Lincoln’s assassination)
Rinaldi, Ann. Numbering All the Bones. (Andersonville Prison)
Hansen, Joyce. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865.

I think I’ll save the second half of this post for tomorrow.

Born August 24th

Aug24

Max Beerbohm, b. 1872, was an English satirist, critic and caricaturist. Quotation of the day: “Anything that is worth doing has been done frequently. Things hitherto undone should be given, I suspect, a wide berth.”

I’d like to look at one book of caricatures by Beerbohm entitled Rossetti and His Circle because I’m interested in Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, and the Pre-Raphaelites. I wrote here about the movie that first piqued my interest in Rossetti and his circle of friends.

Where We Put the Books

Aug23

I think every available wall in our home has a bookcase–many of them floor to ceiling.

mysteryshelf
I have all my paperback murder mysteries—mostly Agatha Christie and Rex Stout and Dorothy Sayers–on a small black metal shelf. One of my bedroom walls is covered in bookshelf, and it houses many of Engineer Husband’s science and math books. We have another large shelf full of children’s science books, another with US History-related books, and another world history related books.

history shelf

In the living room we have a shelf full of Picture Book Preschool books, another with fiction, and another with mostly Bibles, commentaries, and art books.

pbpshelf

We have holiday books, cookbooks, foreign languages and biographies shelved in the gameroom, and each of the urchins has a shelf for school books. Oh, and there’s more fiction in Organizer Daughter’s bedroom, and more picture books in the boys’ room. And I still have books in boxes in the garage.

I’m ashamed to say that our shelves don’t look neat; we have a bad habit of stacking things on top of the books in the shelves–notebooks, a radio, videos, a rolled-up poster, science supplies. I can see these things just in the bookshelf next to my computer.lrshelf

Last but not least, I forgot about the books waiting for a home that are stacked behind my closet door.stacked books

What’s a bibliophile to do? Build more bookshelves.

New Paolini Book

Aug16

eldest
Eldest, the second book in the Inheritance Trilogy by homeschooled author Christopher Paolini is due to be released a week from today on Tuesday, August 23rd. I probably won’t read it until it hits the library, but my library system is fairly speedy in the acquisition of new books. So maybe in a month or two I can tell you what I think of this second book. Or you can just read it and decide for yourself.

My review of Eragon, the first book in the trilogy.

Beyond the Summerland by L.B. Graham

Aug13

I just finished reading this Christian fantasy novel yesterday, and I’m still reeling from the ending. Well, “reeling” may be something of an exaggeration, but I was surprised. I won’t give it away, but it’s a tribute to the skill of author L.B. Graham that I didn’t see the ending coming. Some of the plot developments were predictable, but I didn’t expect . . . well, anyway, enough about that.

Beyond the Summerland is a good read from a publishing company that specializes in “publishing excellent books that promote biblical understanding and godly living as summarized in The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.” These folks have a high mission, and Graham’s fantasy fits into the reformed tradition. The book begins with The Fall of Man in which one man is deceived by Malek, the most powerful of Allfather’s servants. The rest of the book takes place a few thousand years later in the Thrid Age. Time, events, and tradition have made the Novaana, Kirthanin’s ruling class, the defenders of the land against the evil schemes of Malek. Joraiem, the protagonist of the novel, is preparing to travel to Sulare, the Summerland, to undergo a mandatory time of training and bonding for those of the Novaana who are the proper age to attend this once in a lifetime educational opportunity. The rest of the novel follows Joraiem’s adventures along with those of the other Novaana in Sulare and beyond.

Computer Guru Son is a fan of good fantasy (Tolkien, Stephen Lawhead, and others), and he and I were discussing just the other day the prevalence of cheap Tolkien imitations in the world of fantasy literature. At first glance, Beyond the Summerland does have some similarities to Tolkien: dragons, swords, a wise old man/prophet, evil creatures called Malekim instead of orcs, battles, comrades who band together to fight evil, a journey. These elements all mirror Tolkien. Graham himself says that “J.R.R. Tolkien is the fantasy writer that changed my life. I’d never encountered anything like Middle Earth before, and even as an avid reader, his work set my imagination on fire.” However, Beyond the Summerland is no Tolkien knock-off. Graham has created a story and characters that engage, and the Christian worldview permeates the book without interfering with the plot or overwhelming the flow.

I have one complaint with this book, and it may seem picky at first. I found three instances in my (library) copy of this book where homophones were used incorrectly. Twice the word “too” was used when the spelling should have been “to.” And another time a character who is agreeing with the group says, “Here, here!” Ouch! Where was the editor or the proofreader? These errors make the book and its publishers look sloppy and second-rate. Such blatant misuse of simple words should not occur in a published novel.

Nevertheless, ignore the spelling/usage errors, and read the book if you enjoy adventure fantasy. I’m planning to get the next book in The Binding of the Blade series as soon as I can, because I really want to know where this story is going next. Isn’t that a pretty high recommendation for any novel? If I want to keep reading, it must be good. I’ve forgotten, as usual, who recommended this book to me, but whoever it was, thanks.

Born August 11th

Aug11

Joanna Cole (b. 1944), author of the Magic School Bus series. Ms. Frizzle is the best science teacher ever.

Going back to my post on Tuesday about Mary Poppins, the wise woman/magic mentor character does pop up in children’s books quite often. She’s hardly ever called a “witch,” but of course, some people see witchcraft and encouragement toward occult activity in Mary Poppins, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and even Ms. Frizzle, the science teacher with the magic school bus. I like all these characters and find them to be comparable to Princess Irene’s Great-Grandmother in The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald. These women are teachers, mentors, old and wise and able to open the doors that lead to adventure and Truth and Life. Their “magic,” if it can be called magic, is not Satanic in origin or expression, but rather an appreciation for the wonders that God made in this mysterious and wonder-filled universe. (“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5) They’re not casting spells and cursing cattle, but rather giving gifts and blessing children’s imaginations and enriching lives.

Can you think of any other good and wise women in children’s books who appear as aunts and teachers and fairy godmothers and grandmotherly types who have extraordinary powers to guide and enrich the children in the stories in which they appear? (I can think of quite a few in the fairy tale canon.) Are these women symbolic of the Virgin Mary as she appears in Catholic theology or are they witches–or something else? Do you have any problem with these kinds of characters appearing in children’s books?

Born August 9th

Aug9

Happy Birthday to Pamela L. Travers (b. 1899, d. 1996), author of the Mary Poppins series: Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins in the Park, Mary Poppins Comes Back, Mary Poppins Opens the Door, Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane, and Mary Poppins and the House Next Door.

Some people don’t care for Mary Poppins for the same reason some people don’t like Harry Potter. Mary Poppins uses magic to both entertain and teach her young charges, and her creator, P.L. Travers, was in fact a disciple of several New Age mystics, including two guys named Gurdjieff and Krishnamurti. Some of this pagan nonsense did creep into the Mary Poppins books, but I think it’s easy to ignore. And I have a soft spot for Mary Poppins, a no-nonsense sort of nanny with a sort of prickly personality. Julie Andrews was much too twinkly and loveable in the movie to actually personify the Mary Poppins in the books. (I like the movie, too, though.) Anyway, for those who are still with me, I’ll bet you didn’t know that:

* Pamela Travers’ real name was Helen Lyndon Goff.
* P.L. Travers was born in Australia and grew up there; she died in London.
* In between, Travers lived for quite a while in Taos, New Mexico, of all places.
* She was a friend of the poet, W.B. Yeats.
* She never married, but in her late 30’s she adopted a baby and raised him as her child. Strange story:

Camillus was his name, and he had a twin. She consulted an astrologer about which twin she should adopt. If she’d take the other one, Anthony was his name, he was the sweet, non-crying one, so she was quite perverse in that way and she said, “No, I’ll take the noisy crying one.” And she actually went to Dublin on the ferry from England, brought him home, raised him, and it wasn’t until he was 17 that he found out he was a twin and he was adopted, and he found out not from his adopted mother, but from his own twin. They met in London because the twin knew, and he’d gone searching for his brother, but Camillus did not know, and really never forgave his mother for that.

And what do you think about that?