AUNT FLORA

by Elizabeth Coatsworth ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 1953

Fourth title in the Once-Upon-A-Time-in-America series, in which off segments in America's background are told as the stories might be handed down by word of mouth. I'd be inclined to place it for the Read Aloud level of reader interest, for despite the large type the content and vocabulary seem to be at third or fourth grade level rather than beginning reading...The setting in North Carolina, in 1777, when the Scottish families who had brought their customs almost intact to the colonies, are faced with the moral issue of loyalty- to the English king to whom they'd taken oath of fealty, or the American colonials in rebellion. Aunt Flora -- whose brief tenure in North Carolina is little known- was the famous savior of Bonnie Prince Charlie long years before. She undertakes to raise a regiment loyal to the King they hate, and finds- even in her own family, sympathy with the rebels. The story is told of how 12-year old Nepsie, adoring her aunt but secretly sympathizing with the rebels, escapes her aunt's supervision, and frees from imprisonment the two youths who wanted to get away to join the marching troops...The story is thin and the moral issue involved too abstract for the age level designated. Disappointing after First Adventure, etc.

Pub Date: May 12, 1953

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1953

Categories: CHILDREN'S