Special Collections
Dear America
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My Secret War
by Mary Pope OsborneThirteen-year-old Madeline Beck's diaries, recorded through 1941 and 1942, reveal her experiences living on Long Island during World War II while her father is away in the Navy. B&W photos and illustrations.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
by Barry DenenbergAfter Bess is blinded in a sledding accident, she must face a frightening, much-altered world at the Perkins School for the Blind in 1932.
Color Me Dark
by Patricia C. MckissackLike many other African-Americans, Nellie and her family move North for a better life and hopefully, to escape racism. Instead, they are faced with a more sinister form of prejudice--hatred within their own race.
West to a Land of Plenty
by Jim MurphyThe first humorous book in the Dear America series, "West to a Land of Plenty" follows an Italian girl's immigrant family as they move from New York City to a utopian community in the frontier West.
The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
by Ann Warren TurnerIn her first book for the "Dear America" series, acclaimed historical fiction writer Ann Turner brings readers the deeply affecting story of a Navajo girl on the Long Walk.
Early Sunday Morning
by Barry DenenbergDiary of Amber Billows from the World War II era. Part of the Dear America series.
When Christmas Comes Again
by Beth Seidel LevineWhen General Pershing calls for French-speaking American girls to operate the switchboards on the Western Front, Simone Spencer becomes one of the first "Hello Girls" whose courage helps lead the Allies to victory.
So Far from Home
by Barry DenenbergCritically acclaimed author Barry Denenberg turns a sharp eye on life for a young Irish immigrant at the Lowell Mill.
Look to the Hills
by Patricia C. MckissackThe Newbery Honor-winning author presents this story of an orphaned slave girl who arrives with her French masters in New York Colony at the end of the French-Indian War.
Love Thy Neighbor
by Ann TurnerThe drama of the American Revolution is brought to life through the eyes of young Prudence Emerson, who tells the story from the rarely heard perspective of a Tory.
All the Stars in the Sky
by Megan McdonaldA girl's diary records the year 1848 during which she, her brother, mother, and stepfather traveled the Santa Fe trail from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Land of the Buffalo Bones
by Marion Dane BauerFourteen-year-old Polly Rodgers keeps a diary of her 1873 Journey from England to Minnesota as part of a colony of eighty people seeking religious freedom, and of their first year struggling to make a life there, led by her father, a Baptist minister. In fictionalized diary form, Polly tells of her family's first winter in America and the journey to get there. She discusses in great detail the hardships she and her family have to endure during their first harsh Minnesota winter.
One Eye Laughing, The Other Weeping
by Barry DenenbergFor the first time, a Dear America story is being told in two parts -- complete in one volume! Julie Weiss's world is suddenly torn apart by a war that will forever change the face of humanity. Her life as a privileged Jewish girl quickly becomes one of humiliation and terror. In part two, Julie has left Nazi Austria for New York, where she begins a new life with her extended family who she has never met.
My Heart Is On the Ground
by Ann Rinaldi"My under-where is itching me all this time. I feel silly in my citizens' clothes. I trip on the skirts when I walk. I am angry. Then Mrs. Camp Bell told me not to be dis-re-spect-ful. And to pick a name. So I did, for Mrs. Camp Bell. So now I am Nannie Little Rose. And now I am here. And I have learned to wear this citizens' clothes and write their words. But I will never forget my past."
My Face to the Wind
by Jim MurphySarah Jane Price keeps a diary as a promise to her late father, the former school teacher in Broken Bow Nebraska. She accounts her struggle to gain acceptance as the new teacher even though she is so young. She tells of the harshness of the weather, her trials at balancing relationships between herself and her pupils as well as herself and the rest of the townspeople.
Christmas after All
by Kathryn LaskyTwelve-year-old Minnie Swift recounts living through one of the toughest times in American history, the Great Depression, through her diary that spans over one Christmas month. Reflecting both sadness and optimism that characterized the time, this is an intimate portrait of a Midwestern family's triumphs and losses. Photos.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone? The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty (Dear America)
by Ellen Emerson WhiteIn 1968 Massachusetts, after her brother Patrick goes to fight in Vietnam, fifteen-year-old Molly records in her diary how she misses her brother, volunteers at a Veterans' Administration Hospital, and tries to make sense of the Vietnam War and tumultuous events in the United States. Includes historical notes.
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
by Kristiana GregoryIn her diary, 13-year-old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon, along the Oregon Trail. Historical fiction.
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
by Barry DenenbergBlinded after a terrible accident, Bess must learn to overcome her disability with the help of new friends and skills at the Perkins School for the Blind, in the wake of America's Great Depression.
After Bess Brennan is blinded in a sledding accident, she must face a frightening, much-altered world. Confronted with a new set of obstacles, Bess manages to overcome her disability with the help of her new friends at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, where she also learns how to read braille. Her twin sister, Elin, assists her with recording daily events in her diary and contributes entries of her own. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Bess's story will inspire all readers to be strong in the face of hardship.