“Beyond the Western Sea - The Escape from Home” by Avi

“The Escape from Home” by Avi is book one in the two part “Beyond the Western Sea” series. This amazing historical fiction adventure explores the experiences and feelings of three children as they leave their homelands and set off for America, the New World.

Two of these children, Maura O’Connell, age fifteen, and Patrick O’Connell, age twelve, are from Ireland. At the start of the story they are living in a small village called Kilonny with their mother. Gregory O’Connell, the father of Maura and Patrick, emigrated from Ireland to America to try to find work. For nearly a year they have received no news from him, and they are beginning to fear that he has not survived the dangerous passage over the Western Sea. Read the rest »

“The River Between Us,” by Richard Peck

“The River Between Us,” by Richard Peck is a historical novel set during the Civil War. It focuses on the relationship between a young teenage girl, her family, and two remarkable strangers who visit their small town.

Fifteen-year-old Tilly Pruitt fears the approaching Civil War because her brother is determined to sign up and join the army. The Pruitt family lives in a small town on the Mississippi River. Their town is between the North and South, so half the boys in town are preparing to join the Confederacy, while the other half are eager to join the Union Army. In fact, there is a good chance that the boys will end up fighting each other if war reaches their small town. Read the rest »

“Dark Water Rising,” by Marian Hale

“Dark Water Rising,” by Marian Hale is a historical fiction novel about the powerful hurricane that devastated Galveston Island in 1900.

Unlike the rest of his family, sixteen-year-old Seth Braeden is not at all thrilled to be moving to Galveston. Sure he enjoys the great weather and the swimming at the nearby beaches, but to Seth the move to Galveston thwarts one of his most important dreams. Seth wants to be a carpenter like his father, but the family moved to Galveston so that Seth could attend college there and become a doctor. Read the rest »

“The Time Travelers,” by Linda Buckley-Archer

“The Time Travelers,” by Linda Buckley-Archer is the first book in a series of time traveling adventures. This book was formerly known as “Gideon the Cutpurse.”

When an antigravity experiment goes bad and Peter Schock and Kate Dyer are mysteriously thrown into eighteenth-century London, it is the start of an journey that will take the two young people into dangerous situations that their modern day lives have not prepared them for.

No sooner do the two children arrive in the past than their time travel machine is stolen by an infamous eighteenth century villain who goes by the name Tar Man. Read the rest »