a journey to the new world by kathryn lasky

(but as a librarian I know that this language level is perfect for young readers.) I'd still fully recommend this to a kiddo today. This series will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason.Īs for the book itself, the language inconsistencies with historic accuracy bothers me. plenty has happened in my millennial life that I've written and recorded because of these books, so I have literally recorded history. (someone who journals, not a writer for a news source lol) I thought, in my innocence, that these were Fact and that by writing in my journal I'd also be preserving history for future girls like me. I even write my journals like this too! I also get totally mad when someone pushes me at recess, just like Mem.Īs an adult, these books are the reason I became a journalist.

I'm learning about history from the eyes of someone like me. As my young self, and my current self.Īs a kid, I think these books are awesome. (Sept.Rereading this as a nostalgic adult and ho boy are the interactions with the indigenous tribes HARD TO READ More than a supplement to classroom textbooks, the series is an imaginative, solid entree into American history. Rough-edged pages and sewn-in ribbon place-markers give these attractively priced, paper-over-board volumes the look of genuine diaries. Epilogues provide a follow-up to the fictional characters' lives, while historical notes objectively summarize key events of the periods. Journal entries in Denenberg's book are decidedly more formal and ponderous than those penned by Lasky and Gregory, but his heroine's personality and way of life emerge almost as convincingly as those of her counterparts. All three authors include an abundance of hard-hitting incidents and images: the mothers of two of the narrators die Remember watches as bodies of the dead are thrown overboard from the Mayflower near an army surgeon's hut, Abby spies a trough filled with hands and feet. The greatest emphasis, however, is on the girls' daily lives and their relationships with family, friends and sometimes annoying acquaintences. Presented as a girl's diary, each book features real-life historical figures and the diarists' subjective descriptions of significant occurrences (respectively, the Pilgrims' journey on the Mayflower and founding of Plimoth colony in 1620, Washington's army's arduous winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, and the Union occupation of a Virginia town in 1864).

In the impressive inaugural installments of the Dear America series, three accomplished authors give readers illuminating glimpses of the nation's past.

A journey to the new world by kathryn lasky