This book could be performed as a play or read aloud quite readily in class. Julius Lester – Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue 1859 The story is based on the life of Elijah Nicholas (Nick) Wilson. Wonderful book about the beginning of the Pony Express. So that lets you know what Jimmy decided. The second book is Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express. Jimmy eventually has to decide between the white man’s world and the Shoshone. Great insight into the Shoshone tribe life. Two days later, Jimmy is in the Shoshone camp and learns they expect him to become one of the tribe. Two Shoshone boys showed up and the played a bit, next day they came back with a horse and told Jimmy if they came with them, he could have the horse. Jimmy is expected to work in his father’s store, but he is not the indoor type. Kristiana Gregory – The Legend of Jimmy Spoon 1854 I finally understood the debacle at the Alamo. Piper’s Ferry explains the Texas Revolution in a way that textbooks do not. I have read most ofWisler’s books focusing on Texas history.

The books are very well researched and fluidly written. Her mother disappears in the frozen winter with her baby sister, so Mem sets out to rescue them both. Her father’s new crop is destroyed by an early frost. That one tidbit sure stands out in my mind about the book. Through the challenges in all three books, Mem finds the strength to keep her family together.I’m fairly certain it is in the first book that the family gets very excited about a dinner of turtle. She is only eleven when her family travels by covered wagon to the wilderness of New York.

I read this series a few years ago and it stood out for many reasons, Mem being the best. There are many stories written about families making the decision to leave civilization and make a new start in unsettled lands. Mary Jane Auch – Journey to Nowhere, Frozen Summer, The Road to Home 1815-1817 Alder is the author of one of my favorite books about England’s history, The King’s Shadow, listed under World – Medieval. If he had been successful, what a different course our past, present, and future would be. This book eloquently tells Tecumseh’s story and his attempt to unite the many tribes to stand against the tide of white men. Betrayed time and again by the US, his fighting was ultimately futile. He earned the respect of his people and the white men who continued to advance and invade Native American territory. Tecumseh was a brilliant Native American leader with strong qualities of honesty and loyalty. I have read many novels from the Native American point of view. Elizabeth Alder– Crossing the Panther’s Path 1812

Frozen Summer by Mary Jane Auch