Characters: Kathleen (Kat), her mother (a suffragette), her sister (Nell), her cousin (Alma), her father, political figures of the day

Setting: Washington, DC

Theme: Suffragette movement in 1917

Genre: Historical Fiction - MS

Golden quote (optional): “Mother in jail. Life is full of awful surprised.”

Summary: 13 year-old Kathleen Bowen, also known as Kat, lives in Washington, D. C. with her family. The United States is involved in World War I and the women of the country are working towards getting the right to vote. Kat’s mother becomes very involved with the movement participating in the picket lines in front of the White House. Her sister leaves home (unannounced) for France to be an ambulance driver. Her extended family (cousin, aunt, and uncle) appear with their own troubles to add to Kat’s life. Kat keeps a diary and journals the events along with her feelings. Much to her horror, her mother is arrested for picketing and taken to jail. Her world feels like it is falling apart until her father assures her things will get better. And they do.

Audience: Middle School

Curriculum ties: U. S. History, women’s movement, U. S. government, English

Awards (optional):

Personal response: I am a big fan of the Dear America series of historical fiction stories. The book is an easy read and the characters are believable. Kat is caught between events in U.S. History; World War I and the women’s right to vote movement. She manages as only a 13 year old can – she personalizes everything until she realizes events are bigger than her non-understanding of what is going on in the world. My favorite part in each book is the epilogue and historical notes. There is information about the main character (real vs fictitious) including pictures from the events of the time period. I love seeing the faces of my students (the girls) after they read these books. It is the best! ( )

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not. ( )

A diary account of 13 year-old Kathleen Bowen's life in Washinton D.C. in 1917, as she juggles concerns about the national battle for women's suffrage, the war in Europe and her own school work and family.

It's 1917 in Washington, D.C, and as the Great War rages in Europe, thirteen-year-old Kathleen Bowen is caught up in a fight closer to home. Her mother, sister Nell, and Auntie Claire are suffragists, fighting for voting rights for women, to the disapproval of her Uncle Bayard and the worry of her father. Kat and her cousin Alma, who are the exact same age, want to help, but they are too young to join the picket line. As it begins to seem more and more likely that the United States will enter the war, life begins to change in other ways. Nell leaves to join the Women's Ambulance Corps in France, and Alma, desperate to escape after her parents' bitter divorce, runs away to England and becomes a Red Cross volunteer. But the worst hardship of all is still to come. Kat's mother is arrested, and Kat wonders how she will ever make it through this unbearable loneliness. I highly recommend this book to all fans of the Dear America series. Through this book you can learn a lot about the struggle for women's suffrage as well as life in America during World War I. ( )

This was a really interesting book. The girl's mom gose to picket so woman can vote. She also suffers because of this. ( )