The Fifth Of March by Ann Rinaldi

 

The Fifth Of March

by

Ann Rinaldi

 

The Boston Massacre is taught in every American classroom that is studying the American Revolution.  This novel by Ann Rinaldi is the story of the Boston Massacre told through the eyes of a teenaged girl who is an indentured servant for John and Abigail Adams.  The Fifth Of March demonstrates how friendships and family relationships are strained as citizens line up on each side of the issues if that time.  People chose to stay British Americans or become Plain American. This book is a Young Adult novel.  It would be a great book to read aloud as a family, especially if traveling to the eastern part of the United States to visit the various revolutionary historic sites.  It would be an excellent book for a student to do a book report on who is studying the revolutionary war in their classes.  In many ways it is a coming of age story.  The protagonist, Rachel Marsh, grows up a great deal during the novel.  She learns to think of others and not only of herself.  It doesn't have a typical happy ending.  Many things are still not resolved at the end of the book.  It is an easy read and one that every American citizen should read.  It was written in 1993 so was not available when I was in school.  I am glad that I have read it now.  Please click on the book title above to follow the links to more information.  And click on the link below to watch a video.  

VIDEO

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Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

 

Hester

by

Laurie Lico Albanese

Most of us read The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne when we were in school.  I did, years ago, and have forgotten a lot of the story.   In the novel, Hester, by Laurie Lico Albanese,  Hawthorne's story is retold from the perspective of the woman he portrayed wearing the big red letter "A".  A young bride immigrant from Scotland settles in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1800s.  Not long after their arrival her husband goes back out to sea leaving her alone in her new home.  Isobel Gamble is a seamstress who is especially gifted in the art of Tambour embroidery.  The book flashes back to the 1600s and scenes of the Salem witch trials and the persecution of witches in Scotland and then returns to the main story. It had me at page one.  Don't miss out on this novel.  It is a great October read.  Click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video at the link below.  

Video. 

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

 

The Whistling Season

by

Ivan Doig

Set in Montana in 1910, The Whistling Season is a story of the one room school house.  The novel actually begins in the 1950s during the beginnings of school consolidation.  The superintendent of Montana schools reminisces about his education in a one room school house.  Ivan Doig wrote this book in 2006 and does a good job of capturing life during that time and in that place.  It is the kind of book I would have snuggled up with my kids and read, one chapter at a time, when they were upper elementary aged and could easily be required reading for high school aged students.  Ivan Doig's sentence structure is a little challenging but I easily got accustomed to it and slid into the rhythm of the sentences.  There were words scattered throughout that I did not know.  I read it on my kindle so highlighted these new words as I read for the dictionary meaning to pop up. This is not an exciting, sit on the edge of your seat book.  It is a get comfortable and relax kind of book.  Click on the  book title above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video about the author at the link that follows.  

Watch the video here.