Dorothy SterlingRecensioni

Has a story-telling rather than historical fact approach I alternately find fun and annoying. Decent background, though - and an excellent bibliography. I love when authors show their sources.

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What a pack of trouble those missing spoons have caused! They must be found.
Who in this pleasant little town would steal old silver spoons from a display at the public library? Trying to find the answer, the Hill Gang fins themselves wearing disguises, trailing Suspect No. 1 and digging up the clues that lead to the surprising ending.

Born into slavery, young Harriet Tubman knew only hard work and hunger. Escape seemed impossible - certainly dangerous. Yet Harriet was strong-willed and courageous.

Secret of the Old Post-Box is the kind of mystery I would have loved reading when I was a girl and can still enjoy now. Pat Harrison, eleven years old, has lived in New York City, but her family has moved back to her father's hometown of Haven, 32 miles away. Pat doesn't know a lot of things that the local children know about the American Revolution and local events. This gives Ms. Sterling a chance to explain a number of things to readers (and amuse older readers with Pat's confusion).

The Harrisons live across the street from a colonial house that used to belong to descendants of the original builder, but it will be sold in August to pay for back taxes [property, presumably]. I don't care if most of the locals are 'a bunch of rock-ribbed, rugged individualists, who wouldn't help their own grandmas;' I am personally offended that the town isn't rallying to help out the widow and children of a soldier who was killed in the Korean War. The Paines have already had to move out. The oldest boy, Nat, is extremely prickly about the loss of their ancestral home. He also looks down on girls now that he's in junior high [middle school], which Pat doesn't appreciate. Johnny and Sam Paine aren't much better, in Pat's opinion.

Jim Gray, the boy across the street from Pat, has more modern ideas about the acceptability of girls as ball players. Barbara Thomas, who is Pat's age, is no more a 'girly girl' than Pat herself. Go, tomboys! (Barbara's father is the person who made that snark about other locals after he tried to get them to help out the Paines.)

There's rumor that a treasure is still hidden in the old Paine house. If it can be found, the family will be able to keep their home. The children start searching, but a mysterious light coming from the old house one night suggests someone else might be searching for it, too!

I enjoyed the mystery, the information about the American Revolution and George Washington's spies, and finding out a not-at-all heroic definition of 'cowboy' that dates from New York state during that revolution (see chapter 11).

The illustrations are nice. I'm glad I found this book.

The biography of abolitionist Abby Kelly Foster who endangered herself by lecturing on the topic around the New England area. The courage of this woman for her cause comes through the book on every page. Foster dedicated herself to the cause to the detriment of her health and livelihood which endeared her to me as I was reading.

It's quite a good book. I admire Lucretia's courage to stand up for what she believes in and stand up after a fall. She fought for women's rights and also that of a slave's. But for a reader like me who crave for fiction and adventure novels, this will be a bit boring. It is too plain and her life is really not that exciting. But for people who likes non-fiction, this is a must-read.

From cover: "Look!" cries Pat. "There's a light in the empty house!"

"Impossible," says Barbara. "That place has been deserted for ages." But there IS a light...moving past the darkened windows. Someone--or something--is prowling there in the dead of the night. "Come on," whispers Barbara. "We're going to find out what's going on--before it's too late!"

This was a Weekly Reader Book Club favorite for my family. After we all got older we searched so we each could have our copy. My sister recently reread it with her son and they loved it.

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