The Dear America series has a system, and it often works: a diary format, historical pictures at the back, often with commentary, recipes, or other specifics, and some referents to tie the fictional events to time and place. Murphy, usually a wonderful writer (Pick and Shovel Poet, 2000, etc.) who has written other titles in this series, produces a workmanlike diary without much spirit or flair but with a truly compelling story. Sarah Jane is only 14 when her schoolteacher father succumbs to diphtheria; to keep from being sent to an orphanage, she courageously offers herself as the schoolteacher for the prairie town of Broken Bow. The boarding house where she lives has a pinched and suspicious woman running it and the sod house given over for schooling is a wreck, but Sarah Jane, holding to her own native gumption and her father’s memory, takes it on. Her students vary wildly in age and ability, and one set of siblings only speaks German. In a climactic entry, she describes roping the children together in a line so they could make their way back to town in a blinding snowstorm after the soddy’s roof falls in. A fictional epilogue wraps up Sarah Jane’s life as though it were true, one of the more troubling requirements of the series. Murphy’s historical notes at the back fill out the details of early American education and prairie life. His fiction allows the reader to learn attitudes and hardships in the struggle for survival on the prairie through the mind of a participant. (photos, recipe, acknowledgements) (Historical fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-590-43810-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Delightful.
A school trip to a legendary island uncovers more than hidden treasure for Tom Morgan, who’s in his second year at Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts.
After the release of the deadly Crimson Flu virus at his boarding school, Tom and his housemates are whisked away by their housemaster, the Corsair, on a tall ship bound for Isle Tête de Mort, or the Island of Skulls, where they’ll continue their quarantine. The island fortress of an old Shadow League leader, Antoine Bonaparte, the Duke of Nîmes, the hideout has been deserted for years, ever since the duke was assassinated and his château blown up by Shadow Assassins hoping to protect the world from the duke’s deadly ambition. But there are rumors about what remains hidden there: a treasure trove of jewels, secret documents, and details of the duke’s ultimate weapon for conquering the world. As Tom (whose mother was Egyptian and father is unknown) begins to search for the treasure with his housemates, it’s initially just another training exercise presented by the Corsair. But when the Chevaliers, followers of the duke, arrive on the island looking for the plans for the secret weapon, it will take all of Tom’s skills as a thief to get there before they do. Fast-paced and fun with plenty of hijinks, this skillful sequel expands on the worldbuilding. The pirate theme, with its codes and ciphers, adds an appealing layer of intrigue.
Delightful. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781665982344
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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