Because really. Those books, man. Spunky historical fiction girls existing in the past. And I was the kid who actually liked reading the historical footnotes, too. There is next to no commentary on this list, but it’s still worth observing.
5. The Lowell mills and Irish immigrants
Courtesy o fSo Far From Home, The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg.
4. Prisoners of Native Americans in the 1700s
Courtesy of Standing in the Light, The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Pope Osborne.
3. Indian schools
Courtesy of My Heart is on the Ground, The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi.
2. The great railroad race
Courtesy of, well, The Great Railroad Race, The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868 by Kristiana Gregory.
1. Coal mining camps
Courtesy of A Coal Miner’s Bride, The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
In short: wow, the history I learned in elementary school was broad and vague. The new Dear America line has some new titles as well as some old ones put out again, but I notice that none of these except Standing in the Light are actually among the reissues. Hm. These may be historical b-sides in their way, but they’re all fascinating.
–your fangirl heroine.
This was seriously one of my absolute favorite things you’ve written. These books taught me so much in grade school.