Paint the Wind starts out in California, but quickly moves to Wyoming. In an interview, Pam Ryan said that she took hundreds of private horseback riding lessons and went on 2 extended research rides on horseback in Wyoming in preparation for writing this book. 11-year old Maya has lived with her bitter, controlling and very...
The Hero Two Doors Down is a “fictionalized” true story written by Sharon Robinson, daughter of the legendary Jackie Robinson, based on her family’s friendship with their Jewish neighbors. Instead of writing a strictly non-fiction book for children, she “fictionalizes” it by adding conversations and thoughts she was not privy to. This allows her story to “come alive” for...
Mildred Taylor’s award winning book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, was written in 1976 and has been reissued many times since then. This book was the 1st full length novel in the Logan Family Saga following the novella Song of the Trees. There have been a total of 9 books in this series which...
The Golden Wolf is the third and final book in the series about the lives of Ragnvald, his sister Svanhild, and of their family, friends, and enemies. The first book, The Half Drowned King, focused on the young Ragnvald and Svanhild as they came to adulthood and fought to claim their places. In the second...
It took a bit of looking to find children’s historical fiction on audio that was set in Nevada! Ivy’s summer adventures give readers a close-up look at some of the unique animals and terrain of Nevada and is a perfect summer read for elementary-aged children. Ivy and her best friend Annie live near Carson City,...
Although Ghetto Cowboy is set in the present, there’s a lot of history here. This fast-paced story is set among today’s urban horsemen of North Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street Riding Club, whose history and traditions date back to the black cowboys of the 1800s. Ghetto Cowboy is being made into a film which will star Idris...
Out of Left Field is a work of love dedicated to the unsung heroes and history of women’s baseball. If you’re a baseball fan, this book is definitely for you. But here’s the thing: if you, like me, have no interest in baseball or women’s baseball, or for that matter, no interest in sports at...
I’ve come across many southern pre-Civil War stories about wealthy plantation owners and slaves. I’ve also read a few stories set in the post-Civil War era and that feature sharecroppers, both black and white. This is the first book I’ve read about white sharecroppers living in the pre-Civil War era south. Once again, Christopher Paul...
Hattie Big Sky was inspired by the author’s great-grandmother who single-handedly “proved up” on a Montana homestead. Many thanks to the librarians at the ImagineIF Libraries of Flathead County, Montana for helping me find an audiobook for this project. Hattie Inez Brooks is a 16 year old orphan living in Iowa with her distance relatives,...
Kindred by Octavia Butler is a very creative way of looking at the horrible and troubling history of slavery in the United States. In Kindred, the protagonist, Dana, time travels from the 1970s to the American South in the years before the Civil War and the end of slavery. In the story, Dana is descended...
This review contains spoilers. The Reckoning, by John Grisham, returns the reader to Ford County Mississippi during the 1940s to 1050s where an unusual murder takes place. Pete Banning, cotton planter, husband, father, and decorated war hero, one day walks into the Methodist church and shoots the pastor. There is no doubt that Pete murdered the...
The early 1950s come alive in Suspect Red with each chapter starting with “current” events, news articles, and information about 1950’s pop culture. The book contains pictures of people, places and events from 1953-1954 as well as comics and maps. A good argument for audio-listeners to have both the book and the audio versions! Author...
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough is one of the best written and best told stories that I've read in a long time. It is the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, a young painter in Rome in the early 1600s. It is a man's world and women have little say in their own lives. Artemisia's mother died when...
The Luck of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker is the first book in the Buttons trilogy. Each book focuses on a different Button family member; the first two take place in 1929 and the third book takes place during the Civil War when granddaddy Ike was just a boy. All three of the books are suitable for...
According to the author Gail Levine, inspiration to write this book came from her father who was an orphan at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, the real life counterpart for the story’s fictional Hebrew Home for Boys. When Dave Caros’ father dies in an accident, his stepmother places him in the Hebrew Home for Boys; an orphanage...