Elijah of Buxton

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 2007. ELIJAH OF BUXTON. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0763624020

PLOT SUMMARY
Elijah was the first person born into freedom in the town of Buxton. Buxton is a town in Canada that was founded by runaway slaves.  His life is pretty dull until someone steals money from his friend, money he had been saving to buy his family out of slavery. Elijah travels across the border to America, into the world of slavery to help his friend. Elijah is shocked by the way slaves are treated and tries to help a group of imprisoned slaves at all costs.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Young readers will be able to connect to Elijah as they read this book. He loves doing anything besides going to school, especially if it involves fishing. He thinks his parent’s are too hard on him, which young readers will definitely identify with.

This book uses authentic language from the time period which at times is hard to decipher. I feel like this book would be hard to read for anyone who is a struggling reader.  The author states at the end that parts of the book have been fictionalized, but a majority of it is based on fact.  Curtis sites sources in the back of the book that he used when researching the town of Buxton. 

Although the story showed what life was like as a young boy, I feel that it didn’t have enough action to keep the reader’s attention.  The story took too long to get to the climax and then it ended very quickly.  

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Coretta Scott King Award Winner
Newbery Honor Book for 2008.
BOOKLIST Starred Review: “Many readers drawn to the book by humor will find themselves at times on the edges of their seats in suspense and, at other moments, moved to tears. A fine, original novel from a gifted storyteller.”

CONNECTIONS
*Students can read this book after studying the Underground Railroad to see what happens after the slaves are free
*Have students write a letter to someone describing the town of Buxton and people who live there.

Catherine, Called Birdy

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen. 1994. CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0064405842

PLOT SUMMARY
CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY is the story of a young girl living in 1290. Catherine keeps a journal that chronicles her daily life. She writes of the chores a lady of the house must do, what she would rather be doing, and what she thinks of her potential suitors. Through the year she discovers more about herself through conversations with others and by observing the world around her.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Set in England in 1290, this story helps students see what life was like in 1290.  Students will read about what life was like without electricity, having to go outside to use the restroom and women not having much of a say in their lives. Students will learn about who villages used to be set up.  Everyone had a place in the village and a role to fulfill.  If they didn’t do their job it wouldn’t get done.

This book is very easy to read and very entertaining. Students will enjoy reading through her diary and learning that girls have the same struggles now that they did in 1290.  They struggle with getting along with their family, making time for things they enjoy and of course boys!

In an interview at the back of the book Cushman writes that she uses history books, historical novels and the internet to do research for her books, but gives no specific sources that she used.

Students might be confused with Catherine being so vocal about her potential suitors.  In the endnotes, the author writes that most women wouldn’t have put up such a fight, they would have accepted their fate and moved on.  If students didn’t read the endnote, they might not understand that Catherine was the exception rather than the rule.

This unusual book provides an insider's look at the life of Birdy, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is the girl's witty, irreverent diary. She looks with a clear and critical eye upon the world around her, telling of the people she knows and of the daily events in her small manor house.”

REVIEW EXCERPTS
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Review: “This unusual book provides an insider's look at the life of Birdy, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is the girl's witty, irreverent diary. She looks with a clear and critical eye upon the world around her, telling of the people she knows and of the daily events in her small manor house.”


CONNECTIONS (taken from the Author’s Note section)
*To learn more about life in medieval England read
-Joseph and Frances Gies’s series Life in a Medieval City, Life in a Medieval Village, Life in a Medieval Castle.
-Dorothy Hartley. 1981. LOST COUNTRY OF LIFE. Pantheon. ISBN: 0394748387.
*Other stories set in or near the Middle Ages
-Chute, Marchette. 1968. INNOCENT WAYFARING. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. ASIN: B001LK1NVS.-Marcuse, Katherine. 1995. THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP. Abingdon Press. ISBN: 0687105064.

Hattie Big Sky

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Larson, Kirby. 2006. HATTIE BIG SKY. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385735952

PLOT SUMMARY
Larson has written a historic novel set in the early 1900’s in Eastern Montana. Hattie Brooks or Hattie Here-and-There has been shuffled around to different relatives since she was orphaned at age five. She had never had a place to call her own, that changed when she received a letter telling her she had inherited her late uncle’s homestead.  At sixteen years old she packed her belongings and boarded a train for Vida, Montana.  The story is of her adventures in learning what it means to be a homesteader and a neighbor. 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book will give students a glimpse into living as a homesteader in the early 1900’s. This book does not sugar coat the details instead it describes very realistically what life was like. Describing how Hattie had to go out in the blizzard to milk the cow and how people were helpless when they were sick because there weren’t doctors in every town.

Larson shows that she did a thorough job researching for this story. It is based on her great-grandmothers story.  Her grandmother did not keep a journal, but she read many other journals to piece together this story. This story also rings true of the times by bringing in the anti-German sentiment. In the “Author’s Notes” section she states that the mob incident with Mr. Ebgard actually occurred.  

Students will be able to identify with Hattie as she tries to make it on her own.  They will also relate to the fact that it isn’t always easy to be friends with people who others discriminate against.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
BOOKLIST Starred Review: “authentic first-person narrative, full of hope and anxiety, effectively portrays Hattie's struggles as a young woman with limited options, a homesteader facing terrible odds, and a loyal citizen confused about the war and the local anti-German bias that endangers her new friends.”

SHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Starred Review: “Larson creates a masterful picture of the homesteading experience and the people who persevered.”

CONNECTIONS (found in the “Further Reading” section)
*For further reading about Montana in this time period
-Presser, Marvin. 1997. WHEN YOU AND I WERE YOUNG, WHITEFISH. Billings, MT: Montana Historical Society Press. 0917298438.
-Lucey, Donna. 2001. PHOTGRAPHING MONTANA 1894-1928: THE LIFE AND WORK OF EVELYN CAMERON. Mountain Press Publishing Company.



*Learn more about World War I at www.firstworldwar.com
*Learn more about your own family and state history at www.usgenweb.com