Review

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

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by Sandra Merville Hart

A Newbery Honor Book

Jethro Creighton is nine when the War Between the States begins. As the youngest, he listens as his older brothers plan to join the fighting. They’re excitement is contagious, yet the older folks are concerned.

Folks who live in Illinois where Jethro’s family farms for a living are for the Union. All except one brother supports the Union. Jethro is closest to Bill, his quiet brother. Though Bill can’t abide slavery, he doesn’t feel right about telling the Southerners how to live. It divides the family.

There is tragedy, danger, and hardship for the young boy to overcome in this compelling story.

I couldn’t put the book down. The struggles of the characters tugged at my heart. I understand why this well-written story of how one family endured the heartaches of a war that seemed never-ending won the Newbery Honor Award.  

I loved the history of this book. It gives an overview of the Civil War from April of 1861 to April of 1865, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

An overview of the main events of the war is woven into the story through the eyes of a young boy who must grow up too soon.

As an author of historical novels set in American history, I enjoyed learning details of everyday farm life in the 1860s.

Recommend for children 9 to 14. Also recommended for lovers of American history and those who enjoy novels set during the Civil War.

https://www.christianbook.com/across-five-aprils-irene-hunt/9780425102411/pd/102416

Mandie and the Cherokee Legend by Lois Gladys Leppard

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Book 2 of the Mandie Mysteries series

I loved the historical story of this book. I was happy to learn more about the Cherokees who stayed behind in North Carolina after the tragic Trail of Tears.

Mandie is a young girl traveling to the home of her Cherokee relatives when the story begins. Her cousin, Tsa’ni, doesn’t like her at all and causes trouble for her many times during the story.

After Tsa’ni leaves Mandie and her friends in a cave to find their own way out, they find something that would greatly help their tribe. This discovery stirs up more trouble, adding to the adventures of the novel.

There are plenty of adventures for this spunky heroine—and danger, too. This book is a page-turner for young readers, who will want to know what happens next.

I enjoyed this story. I didn’t learn Mandie’s age, which is an important detail for children reading the story. Perhaps I missed it.

So much backstory from the previous book was given in the first chapter that it slowed down the story. The chapters also seem a bit long for the targeted age group.

As an author of historical novels set in American history, I enjoyed learning details of everyday life.

Recommended for children 8 to 14 and for lovers of American history.

https://www.christianbook.com/the-mandie-collection-volume-1/lois-leppard/9780764204463/pd/204463

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Buck is a St. Bernard-Scotch shepherd, a large, strong dog who has known only a kind, loving owner when the story begins. Buck is stolen from his California home and sold to a cruel man who beats him. Buck is taken north to Alaska for the Gold Rush in 1897.

There Buck, a dominant yet untrained dog, learns to pull a sled with a team. He learns to fight with other dogs, often to the death. New owners buy him from time to time, and Buck grows increasingly wilder. Each new situation is worse than before until John Thornton rescues him.

There’s a lot of violence between the dogs and terrible abuse from the owners. The story is written in Buck’s point of view, making those scenes especially difficult to read.

This is my first time reading Jack London’s classic novel. I’d heard it was a children’s story, but it’s better suited for middle-grade or older due to the recurring violence and abuse at the hands of Buck’s cruel owners.

It’s a strong, well-written story but I’m not recommending it for children.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

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by Sandra Merville Hart

This children’s chapter book is a treasure.

I read it many times to my daughter when she was in elementary school.

Wanda Petronski didn’t come to school for a couple of days before Maddie missed her. Wanda was quiet. She didn’t have any friends at school. She wore the same clean, faded blue dress every day.

So when she claims to have a hundred beautiful dresses in her closet, the girls laugh at her. Then they ask her about them daily.

Maddie is poor too. She doesn’t laugh or ask Wanda to describe the dresses as Peggy, her best friend, does.

As the days pass and Wanda doesn’t return, Maddie begins to worry about her and to examine her own actions.

A poignant story with believable characters that tug at your heart.

Recommended for children in elementary school.   

https://www.christianbook.com/the-hundred-dresses-eleanor-estes/9780152052607/pd/2052607

Stuart Little by E.B. White

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Stuart Little is a mouse, but one thing that makes him extraordinary is that his mother, father, and older brother are human.

Since Stuart is only two inches tall, his bed is a cigarette box. He has plenty of adventures with his family and the family cat before Margalo, a beautiful bird, comes to live with the family.

Stuart exudes confidence and gets into many scrapes dangerous to a mouse.

I didn’t read this book as a child when I might have liked it. As an adult, the story seems disjointed. He acts like more like an adult than a child from the beginning. When Stuart is seven, he leaves his home in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. At seven, he didn’t ask permission to leave, which a young child will notice.

The main character isn’t successful in his quest to find his friend Margalo, who flew north. The book ends on a vague note with no real ending or resolution. It almost seems the author grew bored with the story or perhaps ran out of ideas.

After loving Charlotte’s Web, another book by the same author, I was disappointed in this one.

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Newberry Honor Book

I read this book as a child and loved it. When I read it as an adult, I saw other levels of meaning.

This book is about friendship. Wilbur the pig is the runt of the litter. Fern, a little girl on the farm where the pig lives, rescues him and raises the farm animal as her pet.

Wilbur becomes friends with Charlotte, a spider in the barn where they both live. When the pig learns he’s in danger, he turns to Charlotte. This amazing spider helps him.

The characters in this story are believable and relatable. Friendship and sacrifice are part of this classic children’s story.

Recommend for children in elementary school.

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Book 4 of the Little House series

I loved this book!

I found this book among my daughter’s childhood collection and read it. What a refreshing read!

Laura Ingalls is seven when her family moves to Minnesota. Their first home is a sod home by Plum Creek, and they all have much to learn about living there—including what the term “grasshopper weather” implies.

Her father plants a wheat crop that will pay for a new home and buy many things the family has had to do without. Then tragedy strikes.

I love Laura’s feisty character and how she longs to be more like her older sister Mary, who is always obedient. Every character is well-defined and lovable.

The descriptions of everyday life and Laura’s new experiences captivated me as a reader. As an author of historical novels set in American history, those details took on deeper meaning. I loved it!

I read some of this series as a child. I look forward to reading the whole collection!

Recommend for children in elementary school and for lovers of American history.

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Winner of the Newbery Medal

This simple children’s story gripped me from the first page.

The story opens with Anna’s mother giving birth to Caleb. Her mother died the next day and it took three days for Anna to love her brother.

Several years pass. Readers aren’t told how old the children are when her father places an ad for a mail-order bride. Sarah writes that she will come for one month … just to try it.

On the prairie, Anna and Caleb are desperate for a mother. Will she stay?

I love the characters in this story. It drew me in so that I wanted to keep reading. The story is told entirely from Anna’s perspective.

Another thing I loved is how children will read it on one level and adults will see another level of meaning.

Recommend for elementary and middle grade readers!

Southern Lady, Yankee Spy by Elizabeth R. Varon

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by Sandra Merville Hart

The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew,

A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy

I discovered this book while researching to write my “Spies of the Civil War” series. The second and third book in my series are set in Richmond, Virginia, in 1862. I wanted to learn more about Richmond’s most famous Union spy, Elizabeth Van Lew.

The author of this biography gives her childhood background and a bit of her family history as well yet the main focus is the Civil War years.

Plenty of important historical events connected with war happened in Richmond. Elizabeth wasn’t the only Union supporter—called Unionists—during the war. Others worked as spies for the North. We know the most about the activities of Elizabeth Van Lew.

A well-written and compassionate biography of Elizabeth’s life.  

Sarah’s Choice by Pegg Thomas

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Forts of Refuge Series

Book One

Wow! This story gripped me from the first page.

Sarah Feight’s life on the 1763 Pennsylvania frontier felt like paradise.  She lives with her husband David in their wilderness clearing near his two brothers and their families. One tragic, brutal night changes everything.

Leith McCully, a friend of the Feight brothers, rescues Sarah and takes her to Fort Pitt where many settlers have sought refuge from the Ottawa, Chippewa, and other tribes.

Believable characters touched my heart with their struggles. These are characters I learned to love and hope to see more of in future books in the series.

Well-written. Heart-wrenching. Action-packed. Steeped in historical events. Full of twists and turns I didn’t anticipate. I couldn’t put it down!

I will look for more books by this author. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!