In Massachusetts in the 1700s, Deborah Sampson was a 'give-away child'. When her parents could no longer look after her, she was passed around to live with several different people. She finally became an indentured servant to Deacon Thomas and his family until she turned eighteen. Although she was a servant in each place, she also learned to read and write. After her eighteenth birthday, a disgusting man insisted she marry him. To escape him, she dressed as a boy, ran away and finally enlisted in the army to fight in the Revolutionary War. In the army, Deborah discovers the horrors of war but also discovers the joys of friendship. Deborah tells her true story of adventure, deception, war and honor. You won't be able to put it down.

Reviewed by: hap

Date read: 9/10/2009

ISBN-10: 080508200X

ISBN-13: 9780805082005

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In 1942, in the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, 11-year-old Milada has just celebrated her birthday with her loving family. Though the village is under Nazi rule and food is in short supply, the family is happy. Then, in the middle of the night soldiers suddenly burst into their home and herd the family to a school gym to await further orders. They are separated, and Milada is taken to a center in Poland, where she is retrained to be a perfect German citizen, because her features are what the Nazis consider the Aryan ideal. After two years, she is adopted by a high ranking German officer and his family. Based on true events, it is the story of love and loss and the many emotions in between.

Reviewed by: ewl

Date read: 5/19/2009

ISBN-10: 0618535799

ISBN-13: 9780618535798

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Commenter: Grace, grade 5

Everyone in eight-year-old Artie's family loves lighting firecrackers at the Lunar New Year. One day, Artie's mean cousin Petey teases him too long, driving Artie to make a rash promise. He says that he'll buy firecrackers for all his cousins' Chinese New Year celebrations. How will Artie come up with the money to do this? Can his favorite Uncle Chester help him? Read this gentle story for a look at life in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950's

Reviewed by: msp

Date read: 12/8/2011

ISBN-13: 9780060253158

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This book tells the story of how Francis Scott Key's poem became our national anthem. The story is told in a simple and beautiful way. Francis, who was a lawyer, boarded a ship in hopes of freeing his friend, who was being kept a prisoner by the British. He wrote the Star Spangled Banner while aboard the ship, as he witnessed a battle between the Americans and the British. As he wrote the poem, he anxiously wondered who had won the battle, and kept looking to see whose flag was still flying. When did it become the national anthem? Read this book to find out this and other interesting facts about our beloved anthem.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/14/2009

ISBN-10: 1575056976

ISBN-13: 9781575056975

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Ten-year-old Sally feels like her life has come to an end. Her older brother had rheumatic fever, and her family is planning to move 'temporarily' to Florida from their home in New Jersey. Sally has lived in NJ all her life ' she will miss her best friends, and her relatives, and school. Sally's favorite hobby is to make up movie stories, in which she is always the star. The year is 1945, and WWII has ended. In some of her scenarios, she saves her cousin, who in real life died in a concentration camp. In Florida, Sally meets some girls who are just like her ' teetering between little girlhood, and the teen years. Sally encounters an old man who, she is convinced, is Hitler masquerading as an old Jewish man. In this year she spends in Florida, Sally learns a lot about herself, and about those she loves.

Similar books: Anastasia Krupnick series by Lois Lowry

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 088103181X

ISBN-13: 9780881031812

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