With the summer solstice on June 21st this year, summer has officially begun. The start of summer means the start of summer reading. Here are some books that will take you and your students to another time in place in history.
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Landed
Written by Milly Lee
Pictures by Yangsook ChoiThere are many books out there depicting the experience of immigration into the United States. But this one was a story that had details I was unfamiliar with. Landed is a story about a boy, named Lee Sun Chor, who travels with his father from his village in China to the United States. Since Sun’s father is a returning merchant, he is able to land at San Francisco. Sun, however, has to go to Angel Island, by himself. There, Sun meets other boys that are in the same situation; waiting for their turn to pass the examinations and be granted permission to land on US.
This book is based on the experiences of Lee Sun Chor, the author’s father-in-law. The unique perspective of being able to prepare for the examination at Angel Island and the look into the day-to-day life of a boy living at Angel Island made this book stand out.
The author has also written other interesting historical fictions. Earthquake is about the author’s mother’s experiences during the 1902 earthquake in San Francisco, CA. Nim and the War Effort is about the author’s experiences collecting paper for the WWII war effort. Both are worth taking a look too.
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Mary on Horseback
Written by Rosemary Wells
Mary Breckinridge was the daughter of a well-to-do family with strong political ties to the US government. Her father was the U.S. ambassador to Czar Nicholas II of Russia, her grandfather was a US Vice President. There were also other family members in the US Congress and state governments. While a daughter of a well-to-do family in early 1900’s usually had hobbies like needlework or skills like tending to animals, they rarely had careers that took them in the deep woods of the Appalachian Mountains. What took Mary there was a series of unfortunate losses in her life. After the loss of her son and her divorce from her second husband, Mary made the decision to study nursing. When WWI began, Mary traveled to Europe to work as a nurse. After the war ended Mary remembered the families that lived in the hard to reach areas of the Appalachian Mountains without a nearby nurse or doctor. She returned to the United States to help these families. Over time Mary built clinics and brought in nurses and doctors from all over the world. In time Mary established the Frontier Nursing Service, an organization that is still helping people in the hard to reach areas.
This book is a collection of three stories about the families Mary helped. They are snapshots of Mary’s entire career. These true stories are heartfelt and are powerful lessons of how one person can change the lives of an entire community.
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Chains
Written by Laurie Halse Anderson
Isabel and Ruth’s mistress just died. They were promised their freedom when their mistress died. But their mistress’s nephew needed money so he sold them to a couple from New England. From here Isabel and Ruth’s story really picks up and things go from bad to worse. The couple they were sold to are Loyalists and it is 1776.
While the United States was fighting for independence from England, Isabel and her sister are fighting for their independence from slavery. Along the way Isabel meets a former slave boy who is fighting for the Patriots, and she spies for both the loyalists and the patriots. Isabel is willing to help anyone who promises help her gain her freedom.
This book is only part one of two parts—the second part is due to be published in fall of 2010. This book is a fascinating combination of a slave fighting for her personal freedom and a nation fighting for their political freedom.