Dear America

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For the 1987 Vietnam war documentary, see Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.

Dear America is a series of historical novels for older children published by Scholastic Press between 1996 and 2004. The series was cancelled in 2004 with the release of the final book, Hear My Sorrow. Some of the installments in the series have already gone out of print, though others are still being reprinted. No specific reason has been given from Scholastic as to Dear America's cancellation. Each book is written in the form of the diary of a fictional young woman (except in the case of Land of the Buffalo Bones, where all the main characters in the story were the author's real ancestors) living during an important event or time period in American history. The Dear America series covers a wide range of topics, including: the Pilgrims' journey to the New World, the Salem Witch Trials, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, western expansion, slavery, immigration, nineteenth-century prairie life, the California Gold Rush of 1849, the Great Depression, Native Americans' experiences, racism, coal mining, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the fight for women's suffrage, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Battle of the Alamo, the Vietnam War, and more. The breadth of historical topics covered in these books through fiction makes the Dear America series a favorite teaching device of history schoolteachers around the country.

Contents

[edit] Books

There are thirty-six books in the Dear America series:

  • A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky (1996)
  • The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777 by Kristiana Gregory (1996)
  • When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg (1996)
  • A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 by Patricia McKissack (1997)
  • Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 by Kristiana Gregory (1997)
  • So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg (1997)
  • I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865 by Joyce Hansen (1997)
  • West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883 by Jim Murphy (1998)
  • Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903 by Kathryn Lasky (1998)
  • Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Pope Osborne (1998)
  • Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White (1998)
  • A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1836 by Sherry Garland (1998)
  • My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi (1999)
  • The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868 by Kristiana Gregory (1999)
  • A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861 by Karen Hesse (1999)
  • The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 by Ann Turner (1999)
  • A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (2000)
  • Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919 by Patricia McKissack (2000)
  • One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York, 1938 by Barry Denenberg (2000)
  • My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941 by Mary Pope Osborne (2000)
  • Valley of the Moon: The Diary Of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846 by Sherry Garland (2001)
  • Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849 by Kristiana Gregory (2001)
  • Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 by Kathryn Lasky (2001)
  • Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941 by Barry Denenberg (2001)
  • My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881 by Jim Murphy (2001)
  • Where Have All the Flowers Gone? The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty, Boston, Massachusetts, 1968 by Ellen Emerson White (2002)
  • A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917 by Kathryn Lasky (2002)
  • Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 by Barry Denenberg (2002)
  • Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935 by Katelan Janke (2002)
  • When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer, New York City to the Western Front, 1917 by Beth Seidel Levine (2002)
  • Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, an English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota, 1873 by Marion Dane Bauer (2002)
  • Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Green Marsh, Massachusetts, 1774 by Ann Turner (2003)
  • All the Stars in the Sky: The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie Mack Ryder, The Santa Fe Trail, 1848 by Megan McDonald (2003)
  • Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony, 1763 by Patricia McKissack (2004)
  • I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (2004)
  • Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City, 1909 by Deborah Hopkinson (2004)

[edit] Controversy

My Heart Is On the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, A Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi has been criticized for the historical and cultural inaccuracies, "Indian" stereotypes, and the author's overuse of literary license with regards to historical fact. Though not portrayed as such, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (the setting of the story) was an experiment where hundreds of children died from disease, abuse, malnourishment, and escape attempts. Rinaldi is also criticized for taking the names from the headstones of children who died at the school. [1]

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 by Ann Turner has also been criticized by the same organization as Rinaldi's above mentioned book. It is attacked as being stereotypical and culturally inaccurate. [2]

[edit] Spin-offs

The Dear America series was successful and inspired several spin-offs, including a nine-episode 1999-2000 TV series on HBO, and three other book series published by Scholastic:

  • My Name is America, a series of fictional journals of young men during American history
  • My America, a series of fictional diaries of young children during American history
  • The Royal Diaries, a series of fictional journals about the teenage years of famous royal women throughout world history.

In addition, several of Scholastic's international divisions have published series inspired by the Dear America series:

  • Dear Canada, published by Scholastic Canada
  • My Story published by Scholastic UK
  • My Australian Story published by Scholastic Australia
  • My Story published by Scholastic New Zealand
  • Dear India and A Princess's Diary published by Scholastic India

Other Non-Scholastic series spin-offs include: Diarios Mexicanos published by Planeta: this series is written in Spanish only. Mon Histoire published by Gallimard jeunesse: this series is written in French.

[edit] External links