WELCOME TO AUSTRALIAN USED HOMESCHOOL BOOKS!
HISTORICAL FICTION AMERICA - SLAVERY, THE CIVIL WAR & ABRAHAM LINCOLN
PICTURE BOOKS
A. Lincoln and Me (Louise Borden) $6 PB VGC A young boy whose birthday falls on February 12th develops an interest in and an affinity for Abraham Lincoln. In poetic language, he notes the similarities between himself and his hero. Lincoln was tall for his age, skinny, and gawky, and so is he. If Lincoln could go on to greatness, then there is hope for him. Through the boy's reflections, readers will learn something about the nature of our 16th president. Borden's text flows nicely, creating imagery of the physical presence of the man. Lewin's distinctive watercolors lend style and substance to the book, producing a treat for the eyes. A story that's likely to spark discussion about heroes and role models. 7-10 YO http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Me-Louise-W-Borden/dp/0590457144
Sky Sash So Blue (Libby Hathorn) $4 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) Susannah, a young slave, tells this story of heartbreak and hope, beginning with a touching description of her mother's diligent hands. The girl's sister is going to be married and for her wedding, Ma'am has been busy stitching: first a sky-blue sash for Susannah and then, for Sissy, a wedding dress of scraps carefully collected from their mistress's discards. After the brief ceremony, the groom must immediately return to his distant employer. Worse, Sissy's dress must be torn apart to restore the missing rags. When Sissy's husband finally returns to buy her freedom, the family's parting is bittersweet; eased, in part, by Susannah's sacrifice of her sash as a farewell gift and by the shared hope that the future holds freedom for them all. The fabric-collage illustrations are especially appropriate to the story; their power and simplicity reflect the lives they portray. 6-10 YO http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Sash-Blue-Libby-Hathorn/dp/0689810903
Goin’ Someplace Special (Patricia C. McKissack) $4 HB EC (Ex lib) Confronted with the indignities and humiliations of segregated Nashville, young Tricia Ann holds her head high and remembers that she is "somebody, a human being--no better, no worse than anybody else in this world." For the first time, Tricia Ann has been allowed to venture outside her community all by herself. Her grandmother has prepared her well, fortifying her "with enough love, respect, and pride to overcome any situation." 'Tricia Ann, though frustrated by the laws that forbid her, as an African American, to enter certain restaurants and hotels, or even to sit on park benches marked "For Whites Only," rises above her pain and makes her way to one of the only places in the city that welcomes her with open arms: the public library. 5-9 YO http://www.amazon.com/Goin-Someplace-Special-Patricia-McKissack/dp/0689818858/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196648292&sr=1-1
Blues Journey (Walter Dean Myers) $4 HBDJ EC (Ex lib) The story of the development of the Blues music style with its birthing in the African experience in America. It is celebrated with a soulful, affecting blues poem that details the long journey from slavery to life today. Poignant paintings simmer in cool shades of blue. 7-11 YO http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/walter-dean-myers/blues-journey.htm
CHAPTER BOOKS & NOVELS
Escape from Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom (Doreen Rappaport) $5 HBDJ EC (Ex lib) Eliza and her baby, running across the ice. Selena and Cornelia Jackson, masquerading as boys. Henry Box Brown, shipping himself north in a wooden crate. Jane Johnson, risking everything to testify against her former owner in court. Ellen Craft, posing as her husband's owner. Escaping from slavery against overwhelming odds, these people were helped by courage, ingenuity, and the informal network known as the Underground Railroad. Here are their gripping fictionalised stories, accompanied by information about slave laws of the era, key Underground Railroad leaders, and a bibliography. 7-11 YO http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Slavery-Five-Journeys-Freedom/dp/006021631X
Stealing Freedom (Elisa Carbone) $5 PB GC (Tanning to inturns) Ann Maria Weems was a slave who lived in Maryland in the mid-1800s, and in the engaging, suspenseful novel, Elisa Carbone tells her story. Young readers will be moved by her courageous journey--from her dramatic escape with a white abolitionist, to her travels on the Underground Railroad, to her heart-wrenching reunion with her family in Canada. As she wrote, Carbone painstakingly pieced Ann's experiences together with old newspaper articles; letters found in boxes in Philadelphia and Ohio; and material culled from rare books, census and land records, wills, and graveyards. She read thousands of pages of slave narratives, and recorded the emotion she heard in these men and women's voices in her own work. The resulting novel--powerful, vivid, and a tale well told--is, according to the author, a combination of what really happened and what could have happened. Every character in her book is based on someone who lived during the 19th century. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Freedom-Elisa-Carbone/dp/0440417074
Brady (Jean Fritz) $3 PB FC (Old edition) A young Pennsylvania boy takes part in the pre-Civil War anti-slavery activities. Brady has never been trusted with secrets, until now. When he discovers an Underground Railroad station near his family's farm, he is forced to make his own decision about the slavery controversy. Whatever his decision may be, he knows that this is one secret that must be kept. 9+ http://www.amazon.com/Brady-Jean-Fritz/dp/0698119371/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196391919&sr=1-2
Sarny - A Life Remembered (Gary Paulsen) $4 PB GC (Ex lib) The Civil War is over, and Sarny has been released from the shackles of slavery. She's free, but what does that mean? This sequel to Gary Paulsen's acclaimed novel, Nightjohn, follows Sarny as she searches for her children after the war. Though the war is over, hatred and danger lurk around every corner, threatening her efforts to teach others to read. 9+ http://www.amazon.com/Sarny-Gary-Paulsen/dp/0440219736/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196392035&sr =1-1 (Cover different)
The Slave Dancer (Paula Fox) $4 HB VGC, $3 PB VGC In a tale at once fascinating and horrible, young Jessie suffers capture and indenture on a slave ship. His job is to "dance" the slaves by playing his fife while they're forced to engage in daily movement. Jessie is sickened by the thought of taking part in the business of trading rum and tobacco for blacks and then selling the ones who survived the frightful sea voyage from Africa. But to the men of the ship a "slave dancer" was necessary to ensure their share of the profit.…….NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER 10+ http://www.amazon.com/The-Slave-Dancer/dp/0440802016/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196392201&sr=1-3
Who Is Carrie? (James Lincoln Collier) $3 PB GC (Light tanning) Carrie has been a kitchen slave in Sam Fraunces' tavern in New York City for as long as she can remember. But after she narrowly escapes a kidnapper, Carrie becomes more curious about her mysterious past. After all, she doesn't even know her own last name. When her friend Dan Arabus comes to town, he talks about his dream of buying his mother's freedom with the Continental notes his father left him. Deciding to help Dan discover how much the notes are worth, Carrie finds herself eavesdropping on Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and President Washington himself. What's more, Carrie also stumbles upon the startling truth about her own family. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Who-Carrie-Arabus-Family-Saga/dp/0375895035/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200637376&sr=1-1
Jump Ship to Freedom (James Lincoln Collier) $3 PB GC Young Daniel Arabus and his mother are slaves in the house of Captain Ivers of Stratford, Connecticut. By law they should be free, since Daniel's father fought in the Revolutionary army and earned enough in soldiers' notes to buy his family's freedom. But now Daniel's father is dead, and Mrs. Ivers has taken the notes from his mother. When Daniel bravely steals the notes back, a furious Captain Ivers forces him aboard a ship bound for the West Indies--and certain slavery. Even if Daniel can manage to jump ship in New York, will he be able to travel the long and dangerous road to freedom? 9-12 YO http://www.amazon.com/Jump-Freedom-James-Lincoln-Collier/dp/0440911583
Underground to Canada (Barbara Smucker) $3 PB GC "There's a place the slaves been whisperin' around called Canada. The law don't allow no slavery there. They say you follow the North Star, and when you step onto this land you are free." Mammy Sally's "secret talk" to her daughter Julilly in this classic becomes the only beacon of hope when the 12-year-old girl is cruelly separated from her mother by a slave trader. As the hellish conditions at her new plantation become intolerable, Julilly and her friend Liza are offered a means to escape to Canada by a mysterious visitor from the Underground Railroad. The threat of being recaptured by slave hunters and their howling bloodhounds is ever-present, but Julilly finds strength, courage, and a growing sense of self-worth within herself and from some unlikely people along the way. 10+ http://www.amazon.ca/Underground-Canada-Barbara-Smucker/dp/014031122X
Freedom Crossing (Margaret Goff Clark) $4 PB VGC After spending four years with relatives in the South, a fifteen-year-old girl accepts the idea that slaves are property and is horrified to learn when she returns North that her home is a station on the underground railroad. 9+ http://www.amazon.ca/Freedom-Crossing-Margaret-Goff-Clark/dp/0590445693
Witness (Karen Hesse) $5 PB NEW Written in free verse form, Witness tells the story of a small town in Vermont in the 1920's faced with a new force in town. That force is the Ku Klux Klan, an organization of men that spreads fear and hate for everyone else that is not white. We learn how the Klan and other important cultural events of the time impact people's lives and their values through the voices of eleven different citizens of the community. In particular, the words of 12 year old Leanora Sutter, an African-American, and 6 year old Esther Hirsh, a Jewish American, offer the reader a chance to see humans struggling with profound issues of good and evil. A story of poverty and prejudice but, ultimately, of hope and redemption. 11+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/karen-hesse/witness.htm
My Name Is Not Angelica (Scott O’Dell) $4 PB EC Raisha, a 16-year-old Senegalese girl, is betrothed to Konje, the young king of her tribe. They are betrayed by a rival ruler, sold to slavers. Konje escapes and quickly becomes the leader in a nearby camp, and Raisha later joins him as both the cruel punishments and revolution grow. The rebel slaves are able to ward off a first, half-hearted attack but are then trapped by a troop of French soldiers from nearby Martinique. Facing almost certain torture and death, the slaves throw themselves from the cliffs into the sea--all except Raisha who chooses to save the life of her unborn child. 9+ http://www.amazon.com/Name-Not-Angelica-Scott-ODell/dp/0440403790/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196392422&sr=1-1 (Cover different)
Letters From A Slave Girl – The Story Of Harriet Jaacobs (Mary E. Lyons) $4 PB EC Based on Harriet Jacobs's own autobiography, these letters, written to lost relatives and friends, provide a microscopic look at what slavery meant for a young black female in the mid 1800s. http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Slave-Girl-Harriet-Jacobs/dp/1416936378/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196393383&sr=1-1 (Cover different)
The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman (Ernest J. Gaines) $3 PB VGC Set in rural southern Louisiana, the novel spans 100 years of American history--from the early 1860s to the onset of the civil rights movement in the 1960s--in following the life of the elderly Jane Pittman, who witnessed those years. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Miss-Jane-Pittman/dp/0553263579/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196394047&sr=1-2
The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn $2 PB VGC Mark Twain's classic novel tells the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. In the course of their perilous journey, Huck and Jim meet adventure, danger, and a cast of characters who are sometimes menacing and often hilarious. 11+ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=k9p7LPCMGIoC&dq=The+Adventures+Of+Huckleberry+Finn&pg=PP1&ots=kCkzW8dP4Z&source=bn&sig=I92tmjFxlH9l1FBgnY8GCoGtFQo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result (Cover different)
Sounder (William H. Armstrong) $2 PB GC Sounder is no beauty. But as a coon dog, this loyal mongrel with his cavernous bark is unmatched. When the African American sharecropper who has raised Sounder from a pup is hauled off to jail for stealing a hog, his family must suffer their humiliation and crushing loss with no recourse. To make matters worse, in the fracas, Sounder is shot and disappears. The eventual return of a tattered and emaciated Sounder doesn't change the fact that the sharecropper's oldest son is forced to take on man's work to help support the family. His transition to adulthood is paved by the rocks and taunts hurled at him by convicts and guards as he searches for his father. But along this rough road he ultimately finds salvation as well. 10+ NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER http://www.amazon.com/Sounder-William-H-Armstrong/dp/0064400204
Sourland (William H. Armstrong) $4 HB GC (Ex lib) The book get its title from the soil in an unnamed southern U.S. county, where the ground needs a lot of “sweetening” before anything will grow. Unfortunately, the title works just as well for some of the people who live on that land. For when a gentle, wise black man named Moses Waters befriends a white farmer Anson Stone, who, with his three children, are just beginning to get over the loss of a wife and mother, some folks in the neighbourhood do not take it kindly. The children learn from fresh troubles at school that love is worth making sacrifices; and they learn so much from Moses himself. Meanwhile, Anson finds life returning to his empty heart again. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Sour-Land-Harper- … 0064400743
The Underground Railroad (Sally Marcey) $3 PB VGC Under the old church the Ringers find a hidden tunnel. What amazing secrets will they discover? It's up to you! This series helps kids learn to make wise choices as they explore the many plot possibilities in each book. 9+ http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch?qwork=6908217&matches=15&author=Marcey%2C+Sally&browse=1&cm_sp=works*listing*title
Jip: His Story (Katherine Paterson) $4 PB EC When an aged lunatic named Putnam arrives at a poorhouse farm in rural Vermont in 1855, he is treated as little more than a beast by everyone except the orphan Jip, who himself arrived at the charity orphanage/asylum after being found abandoned by the roadside. Jip and Putnam become friends, then allies of a sort, as Jip struggles to improve his own lot and that of his friend Lucy, the unfortunate daughter of the late town drunk. This historical tale by Katherine Paterson involves its young protagonist in the great 19th century struggle between slave owners and abolitionists while sending him into a test of his own loyalty and courage. Paterson handles weighty issues with grace and verve, and does not shrink from terrible truths in this challenging novel for young readers. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Jip-His-Story-Katherine-Paterson/dp/0140386742
Where Bugles Call (Lee Roddy – Bethany House Publishers) $5 PB EC Nat Travis's first attempt to escape slavery failed. But he soon learns about the Underground Railroad white abolitionists helping slaves flee to the North. When he hears that a slave boy on a neighbouring plantation could be his brother, Nat slips away to find him. Can he return to Briarstone before someone notices his absence? http://www.amazon.com/Where-Bugles-Call-Between-Flags/dp/0764220268
Soon Be Free (Lois Ruby) $4 PB VGC James Weaver goes to Kentucky to help a family of slaves break free in 1857. More than 140 years later, Dana Shannon discovers James's secret mission and how it's connected to the Delaware Indians of today. James is forced to make a dreadful decision which will surely endanger either the runaway slaves he cares so deeply about, or the gentle Delaware people of Kansas. And Dana knows which one he chose so long ago. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/dp/0689835795?tag=loisruby-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0689835795&adid=161FWEW4ZTXW6F0EPRD1&
Jayhawker (Patricia Beatty) $4 PB GC To 13-year-old Elija "Lije" Tulley, the fanatical abolitionist John Brown is a hero in a righteous cause. He eagerly joins the band of men recruited by Brown to be Jayhawkers, Kansans who cross into neighbouring Missouri to steal away slaves and help them to freedom. The Jayhawkers and their pro-slavery counterparts, the bushwhackers, clash often in bloody, sometimes murderous shootouts. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Jayhawker-Patricia-Beatty/dp/0688144225/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197871148&sr=1-1
Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mildred Delois Taylor) $3 PB GC, $2 PB FC the bittersweet and beautifully written story of the Logans, a poor black family struggling through poverty and racism in Depression-era Mississippi. Through the eyes of Cassie, the feisty only daughter, we come to admire the dignity, courage, and resourcefulness of this close-knit family. Nine-year-old Cassie Logan, growing up protected by her loving family, has never had reason to suspect that any white person could consider her inferior or wish her harm. But during the course of one devastating year when her community begins to be ripped apart by angry night riders threatening African Americans, she and her three brothers come to understand why the land they own means so much to their Papa. 9+ NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER http://books.google.com.au/books?id=f4OxeUTj2UkC&dq=Roll+Of+Thunder,+Hear+My+Cry&pg=PP1&ots=z775dhj6zr&source=bn&sig=f9kfUdx7WtnAr4xQg9-xCLWCqa8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result
Let The Circle Be Unbroken (Mildred D. Taylor) $3 PB FC (Cover wear) recounts one family’s struggle against prejudice and poverty as seen through the eyes and experiences of Cassie, the main character. The Logans battle the Great Depression, powerful, greedy, white landowners of rural Mississippi, segregation, and domestic tragedies that threaten to destroy the family at every turn. They maintain their dignity, pride, and faith, however, and keep the family together. 10+ WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD. http://www.amazon.com/Let-Circle-Unbroken-Mildred-Taylor/dp/0140348921
The Friendship (Mildred D. Taylor) $4 PB EC It's hot and humid in 1933 Mississippi, when an elderly black man and a white store owner test their friendship against a backdrop of racism and peer pressure. An explosive confrontation takes place when the black man, Tom Bee, greets the clerk, John Wallace, by his first name--an intimacy unheard of at the time. A group of witnesses heckles Wallace for what they perceive as his permissiveness, and in spite of his private promise to Bee to allow him to greet him this way, Wallace betrays Bee, shooting him in the leg. It provides strong characterization as well as food for discussion on racism and human relations. WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Mildred-D-Taylor/dp/0140389644/ref=pd_sim_b_3
The Friendship and Other Stories (Mildred D. Taylor) $5 HB EC Three short stories that are thought-provoking and conscience-disturbing in their portrayal of black oppression and vulnerability in 1930s Mississippi. Titles are; ‘The Friendship,’ ‘Song of the Trees’ and ‘The Gold Cadillac.’ Episodes from the author's childhood have been skilfully woven together and show how the everyday innocent events of a loving, warm family life become life threatening if you're black. Vibrantly written, commonplace events are viewed from rigidly opposing perspectives, that of Southern whites, Northern blacks and the reader. 10+ http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418FDE38N8L.jpg (Cover different)
The River Between Us (Richard Peck – author of A Year Down Yonder) $5 HBDJ BRAND NEW The year is 1861. Civil war is imminent and Tilly Pruitt's brother, Noah, is eager to go and fight on the side of the North. With her father long gone, Tilly, her sister, and their mother struggle to make ends meet and hold the dwindling Pruitt family together. Then one night a mysterious girl arrives on a steamboat bound for St. Louis. Delphine is unlike anyone the small river town has even seen. Mrs. Pruitt agrees to take Delphine and her dark, silent travelling companion in as boarders. No one in town knows what to make of the two strangers, and so the rumours fly. Is Delphine's companion a slave? Could they be spies for the South? Are the Pruitts traitors? A masterful tale of mystery and war, and a breathtaking portrait of the lifelong impact one person can have on another. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/River-Between-Us-Richard-Peck/dp/0439686997/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196397459&sr=1-3
Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee (Patricia Beatty) $5 HB VGC (Ex lib) Hannalee's brother Davey has returned from war without an arm, intent upon moving the family to Atlanta to begin a new life. Hannalee's strength of character and optimism continue to serve her family well, particularly when she finds a job in a dry goods store in order to help support them. When Davey is jailed for murder, Hannalee is able to prove, with the help of a frightened former slave, that her brother is innocent. This fast-paced historical novel chronicles the post Civil War period from the point of view of the Southern white working class who never owned slaves. There is an afterward which describes the historical background upon which this story is based. 11+ http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/olid/OL8071371M-M.jpg (Cover slightly different)
The 290 (Scott O’Dell) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) Follows the fate of a boy who is a shipyard apprentice and caught between his hatred for slavery and his love for the ship he made, which would become one the Civil War's most famous vessels. He finds high adventure aboard the S.S. Alabama, a Confederate ship which sails the Atlantic destroying Union vessels. 11+ WINNER OF THE HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN MEDAL http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/o/scott-odell/290.htm
Who Comes With Cannons? (Patricia Beatty) $5 PB EC A great novel set during the Civil War, told from the perspective of a southern Quaker family. Truth is 12 when her parents' deaths send her to North Carolina to live with her uncle, his wife, and their two sons. She finally gains acceptance in her new family and they trust her to help them with their activities on the Underground Railroad. Through the war years, Truth matures as she and her family suffer the vilification of Quakers who will not fight for either side. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Who-Comes-Cannons-Patricia-Beatty/dp/0688110282/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196397265&sr=1-1
Charley Skedaddle (Particia Beatty) $4 PB EC Fighting is important to Charley Quinn, 12, a street-tough New York Bowery Boy who runs away from his Irish-Catholic home to join the Union forces in Virginia. But war proves much more horrible than he'd thought, so terrible, in fact, that he deserts, giving himself the disparaging name "Skedaddle." http://www.amazon.com/Charley-Skedaddle-Patricia-Beatty/dp/0816713170/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196398136&sr=1-2 (Cover different)
Amelia’s War (Ann Rinaldi) $5 HB EC (Ex lib), $5 PB NEW The Civil War is seen through the eyes of Amelia Grafton, a young teen living in Hagerstown, MD. The story takes place over a period of three years, and readers learn of the townspeople's struggles as they are forced to split in their loyalties and deal with young men enlisting and families losing their most prized possessions. Amelia, a Yankee sympathizer, wants to make a difference by participating in the war effort in other ways besides preparing food and helping the wounded, the traditional duties assumed by women. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Amelias-War-Ann-Rinaldi/dp/0439326664/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196398726&sr=1-1
Watchers War (Peter Lerangis) $3 PB VGC Thirteen-year-old Jake Branford is crazy about war--especially the Civil War. When a film crew comes to town to shoot a bloody war epic, Jake stumbles on their secret set and becomes a part of the action. It is great at first, but he soon realizes war isn't so cool after all, especially when you're in the middle of it. 9+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/peter-lerangis/war.htm
Cry Of Courage (Lee Roddy – Bethany House Publishers) $4 PB VGC In Virginia during the Civil War, Gideon wants to break away from the farm where he has grown up; Emily, a newly orphaned Yankee girl must try to uphold her beliefs among the Confederates; and Nat, a slave boy, looks for the opportunity to escape. 10+ http://www.barbsbooks.com/images/CryOfCourage.jpg
Westward Dreams “Promise Of The Valley” (Jane Peart) $3 PB GC When southern born Adelaide Pride loses her home, her parents, and the man she would have married during the Civil War, she accepts a position as a companion to a Yankee spinster at a health spa in Napa Valley, California. Did she dare to hope that her dreams of love and belonging were yet possible? 12+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/jane-peart/promise-of-valley.htm
Pride Of The Green Mountains (Carin Greenberg Baker) $3 PB EC With her father away fighting in the Civil War and her mother struggling to keep their Vermont dairy farm despite increasingly hard times, ten-year-old Rosalie tries to come up with a plan that will save their home without selling her beloved Morgan horse, Major. 9+ http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Green-Mountains-Trusty-Treasured/dp/0590316540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200637523&sr=1-1
Shades Of Gray (Carolyn Reeder) $4 PB GC The Civil War has left 12-year-old Will Page an orphan, and he is sent to his mother's relatives in the country in Virginia. Prepared to hate his uncle, a "coward" who refused to fight for either side, Will slowly comes to respect the man's position. And as he fits into the hardworking farm routine, the boy discovers, to his surprise, that physical labour (which his parents' slaves used to do) can be rewarding. Will's coming-of-age story revolves around overcoming his prejudices about Yankees and Confederates. Thoughtfully told, the novel captures the hardships that followed the last war fought on U.S. soil. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Gray-Carolyn-Reeder/dp/0027758109 (Cover different)
The Red Badge Of Courage (Stephen Crane) $4 PB GC A vivid psychological account of a young man's experience of fighting in the American Civil War, based on Crane's reading of popular descriptions of battle. The intensity of its narrative and its naturalistic power earned Crane instant success, and led to his spending most of his brief remaining life war reporting. 12+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Badge-Courage-Wordsworth-Classics/dp/1853260843
Union Army Black (L. Travis) $4 PB VGC Zack, a twelve-year-old black boy who has watched the Civil War continue for four bloody years, enlists as a drummer boy in the Union Army and finds adventure in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 9+ http://www.amazon.com/Union-Army-Black-Ben-Zack/dp/080104037X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200636490&sr=1-3
A Promise At The Alamo: The Story Of A Texas Girl (Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler) $4 HB EC The year is 1836. The place is San Antonio, before Texas became the 28th state. Maria Hernandez and her family are living within the fortress walls of the Alamo, prepared to defend it against the Mexican dictator Santa Anna. Making powder loads for Davy Crockett's rifle, Maria wonders whether victory or death will be the defenders' fate. She has the chance to prove her own bravery when she makes a promise at the Alamo. But will she be able to slip past the Mexican sentries to keep her promise? And, as Maria and her family participate in the heroic but tragic defence of the Alamo, she discovers that Texas liberty and the refusal to surrender one's beliefs are worth fighting for. 10+ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Promise-at-the-Alamo/Dorothy-Hoobler/e/9780382243523
More Than Halfway There (Janet Halliday Ervin) $3 HB VGC (Inscription on first page) “There ain’t nothing to schooling. If there was, don’t you think I’d taken it up myself long ago?” Albert’s father tells him. But that October day in 1829, which started out so disappointing, turns out to be the most eventful day in young Albert’s life. He gets to meet a likeable, outspoken reading man, Abe Lincoln, who told him that once a person makes up his mind, he’s more than halfway there. Albert’s mind is made up to go to school, but he needs to convince his father. 10+ http://www.paperbackswap.com/Halfway-Janet-Halliday-Ervin/book/0695801597/
An Acquaintance With Darkness (Ann Rinaldi) $5 PB BRAND NEW Chaos reigns in Washington, D.C., after President Lincoln’s assassination. But for fourteen-year-old Emily Pigbush, the Union’s turmoil is nothing compared to her own struggle. Sent to live with her uncle Valentine after her mother’s untimely death, Emily realizes that her best friend’s mother was one of John Wilkes Booth’s accomplices. And even worse, she suspects that her uncle is breaking the law. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Acquaintance-Darkness-Ann-Rinaldi/dp/0152021973
(Last update February, 2011)
