Friday 20 June 2014

Turn Homeward Hannalee





Turn Homeward Hannalee
Author: Patricia Beatty
ISBN: 978-0-688-16676-2
Pages: 193
 
 
Turn Homeward, Hannalee
 
 
Twelve year old Hannalee lives with her mother and bother during the final days of the Civil War.  Her father has died, her mother is pregnant and her older brother is in the war.  Hannalee and her younger brother both work at the mill to support the family.  This is until the mill is burnt down and the mill workers are all taken from there home and sent to other towns.  Hannah and her brother are taken from their mother by the Yankees and separated.  Hannalee escapes, dresses as a boy and travels to find her brother.  Together they make their way home, becoming trapped in the middle of the fighting.  They watch one of the battles from up a tree and survive many obstacles in their quest for home. 
 
The author's notes state "The first half of this novel is fact, the second half fiction - or, more correctly, the result of some "educated" guessing as to the probable events that could have taken place in the lives of my characters after midsummer 1864".
 
It is good to see these stories are so well written that children can envision these events in history.  They are better than a history textbook and tell the story from the perspective of  the child. 
 
 
This book was available from: Book depository, Fishpond and Amazon
 
 
 
 

 



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