Civil War Historical Fiction
Middle Grade
Series nominated for the 2012 Great Michigan Read.
Awarded two Readers’ Favorite 5 Star Seals.
Likened to the rich literary style of Ann Rinaldi but with its own twist of adventure, The Divided Decade series wraps American history in exciting, kid-pleasing packages. Find out why so many teachers have incorporated this Civil War historical fiction series into classrooms across America. Lesson plans and additional resources are available for each.
The Candle Star
Lexile score: 800L
Runaways hidden in the barn, slave catchers lodged in the hotel, and Emily caught in the middle.
Danger is the last thing Emily Preston thought she’d encounter in her uncle’s hotel. She was forced to travel to Detroit, sent by her parents from their plantation home. Now she’s vowed to become the most disagreeable houseguest ever. She doesn’t count on Uncle Isaac’s iron will. And she has no idea what to do with Malachi, the son of freed slaves who challenges every idea she’s grown up believing. Malachi’s words finally begin to sink in when Emily stumbles across two runaways hidden in her uncle’s barn. And his lessons are about to become personal as she’s drawn into operations of the Underground Railroad. Meanwhile, Mr. Burrows, the charming Southern slave catcher, is only yards away, lodged in the hotel.
Blood of Pioneers
Lexile score: 780L
Will war provide an opportunity for Hannah to finally leave the family farm?
Hannah Wallace craves excitement, but all local adventures dried up long ago, when her parents unpacked their wagon on the Michigan frontier. Then war breaks out and her father and older brother leave to fight the Confederacy. Hannah is left at home chafing under the boredom of never-ending chores, jealous of her brother’s lucky opportunity, and haunted by old memories–until unscrupulous speculators set their sights on the unmanned farm. The one place she longs to leave suddenly becomes the one place she’ll risk everything to save.
Beneath the Slashings
Lexile score: 740L
Following her father to a lumber camp is NOT how Grace picture the end of the war.
(Slashings–n. Broken branches, splintered trunks, and other debris left on the ground after lumbering: The slashings lay strewn about like casualties of war, cold, gray and skeletal.)
Grace Nickerson’s life has been shattered by four years of war. She’s desperate to return to a sense of normalcy, but soon after her father returns, he sells the farm and drags the family to a lumber camp in Michigan’s northern wilderness. Living in the primitive camp is dangerous enough, with its rough loggers and hard-bitten soldiers, but then a series of accidents prove intentional. Who is sabotaging the camp, and why? Will the winter in the woods bring the healing Grace’s family needs? Or will it drive a wedge between Grace and her father?
Divided Decade Boxed Set
Includes all three books in the Divided Decade Collection plus two bonus shorts available exclusively with the boxed set edition.