United States

Will he survive? Although the day started pleasant enough, larks singing and the grass turning a pale gold, the redcoats were forming below, forming a formidable line to overtake their small band of New England militia in the battle of Breed’s Hill.

The Treegate saga continues with Peter Treegate’s War. In this second book, the story opens with the battle of Breed’s Hill about to commence, better known as the battle of Bunker Hill.

Peter is caught between two conflicts, the war between the British and the emerging American nation and the conflict between his father, John Treegate, and his foster father, Maclaren of Spey. Both men demand his love and loyalty. Both men despise each other. Peter wants to please both, but soon finds out he has to make a choice. Will he make the right one?

As the plot develops, the story follows several pivotal scenes in the War for Independence and includes an unforgettable cast of characters. Like his conflict with his father and foster father, Peter must choose. What does it mean to be loyal?

As he goes from one exciting adventure or misadventure to another, including capture, imprisonment, and escape, Peter seems to be a magnet for trouble. Along the way, he learns that people and situations are not always what they appear to be, especially with the surprise ending. What will Peter Treegate learn in the end?

Wibberley captures the intensity and drama of war. We can feel the tension mount as the redcoats relentlessly bear down on the ragtag group of militia, their powder running low, fear gripping them as they hold their muskets ready to fire.

More than an exciting tale of the American Revolution or realistic story about conflict and resolution in a family, Wibberley shows that even in the midst of evil the courageous soul is willing to risk all out of love, kindness, and compassion for others.

This is a delightful collection of additional stories about Caddie Woodlawn and her family (and one additional story as explained in the introduction that doesn't quite belong). These stories take place between 1863 and 1866 and so in some places overlap the original stories in Caddie Woodlawn which took place in 1864. Here each chapter stands alone as an interesting and true story and many are very touching and beautiful. The first, from which comes the title Magical Melons, is the story of how the three oldest children discovered a large number of perfect watermelons in the hayloft in the barn. Childishly believing them to have magically appeared there, they quietly devoured a large number of them over the course of several weeks. It turns out that the farm hand Robert Ireton had hidden them there to provide a surprise for the family later in the fall when they would be unexpected. When he went to pull them out there were only a few left and Tom, Caddie and Warren had to sit by while the rest of the family enjoyed what was left of the treat.

This book would make a delightful read aloud for the whole family and should be required reading, along with Caddie Woodlawn, for those studying Wisconsin history

The Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1 - 3, 1863) is a complex, multi-faceted piece of history that would be difficult to understand after reading just one book. If you ever find yourself in the South-Central Pennsylvania, I would recommend a visit. I've been there twice and it's very a moving, historically interesting site.

This book offers a glimpse into a number of aspects of the human side of the war. The author met with a number of Civil War veterans personally, and so the accounts contained within the book are very human and anecdotal. He tries to give us a sense of the flavor of life in that time period; the way people thought about each other - particularly those on opposite sides of the Potomac River.

Like many Landmark books, this probably isn't the first place you want to turn to in studying about Gettysburg - and this one isn't quite as cohesive as I would like. I think it would be most interesting and accessible to upper grade schoolers who had already become familiar with events in a general way from a textbook or from a visit to the battlefield. My 11 year old daughter tackled this independently this past year in the midst of other books on the civil war, bits and pieces of Ken Burns' Civil War Documentary and enjoyed and benefited from it.

This is a fictitious diary of a 12 year old boy in a Japanese internment camp in California during World War II. (The diary covers the bombing of Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7 1941 thru parts of 1943). The diary is based on letters from Internment camp survivors and other actual events from the time period.

The story helps the reader to understand certain truths about the camps and the consequences of having such camps;

Many of the prisoners, particularly the children were every bit like other Americans in their loyalties, interests and lifestyles and didn't identify with Japan at all.

The camps were a very difficult place to raise children and tended to cause a decline in morals and traditions among the people. A few examples: because the living quarters are so small (one room usually divided with a blanket to accomodate two families), the children roam fairly freely about the camp, allowing for such situations as this: the main character and another boy sneak off to try to see some "naked girls" changing for a play (they are unsuccessful). As far as traditions go, it is very sad to learn that the very traditional Japanese mothers and grandmothers are forced to wear pants because the dust and wind make dresses unmanageable.

The overall injustice of the situation is clearly portrayed as well. Before they leave for the camps, families are forced to sell nearly all of their belongings at ridiculous prices (the author does also introduce us to some kind neighbors and friends who help these families in various ways, such as storing furniture for them). Some of the fathers are taken away for a time to a separate camp because the government thinks they might have specific connections with the Japanese.

After I read the book, I was at first struck that it was very depressing. All of the bad things that happen are not alleviated by a hope in God or even a hero figure on a natural level. Ben Uchida is merely recording the way things are, rather than reflecting on them (with the exception of becoming somewhat cynical). It finally struck me that what the author has done is portray many of the major aspects of the hardships of the internment camp through the eyes of one boy and have all of the different sorts of problems occur within his close circle of friends. I believe that this is somewhat unrealistic and that the book should be read by children old enough to understand this concept. Other than that (and the objectionable incident mentioned above) it really does give the reader a sense of the significance of this terrible event in American history which - even in the politically correct climate of modern America - is largely ignored. The Historical Note section (17 pages) is quite interesting. It includes some factual information about the camps, a number of black and white photos, and a brief history of the treatment of Chinese and Japanese in America (and particularly the discriminatory laws aimed against them over the years). It is also interesting that Franklin Roosevelt (who is so admired by "the left" today) is quite fairly criticized for committing such a crime against American citizens (by Executive Order) and it is interesting that it was Ronald Reagan who attempted to make some sort of retribution (however inadequate) to the Internment Camp survivors.