A book of historical fiction about a girl and her family living in 1800’s rural New Hampshire. Written as the girls’ journal, it is easy to read and full of personal details. A great book of folk history. We learn about the way they lived, their schooling, their seasonal labours; but more interestingly we learn about their personalities and their approach to life.

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As another reviewer correctly put it, this book is good because the characters are convincing. You feel like you are spending time with a girl from past. Her ‘mindset’ feels authentic. It is not (like many unfortunate ‘historical’ books) our contemporary mindset played out on a ‘historic background’.

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The story of the girls life is touching. You get a feeling of how time passes, bringing with it joys as well as difficulties. The reader feels the inevitable sadness that accompanies the beauty of our world. A beautiful and upright community that struggles with historical questions including: slavery in the southern states; human dignity; and death. An enjoyable and heart-warming book that deserves its Newberry Medal. At points it felt a tad bit didactical but I consider that this attitude is historically correct.

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