Dear America Series Books

One of the book series that I grew up loving to read was the Dear America Diaries. There was one girl for each of these exciting events throughout American history and also represented different ethnic groups throughout time – slaves, Native Americans, immigrants, etc. After I read several of these, I discovered the Royal Diaries. These were the same set up but focused on the young royals. And I just learned recently that there is a series like this aimed at boys called My Name is America. I am not going to give the blub for each one (because that would take forever), but I will list those in the series and link to them. There is a little something for everyone. The books span American history from its start right up to the present. They are also frequently used in schools (I read Remember Patience Whipple in 5th grade).

Also, stay tuned later today for my giveaway announcement. I still have a few of the Dear America Diaries left from my personal collection that I am going to offer up to a lucky winner.

Dear America Diaries

They stopped producing the Dear America Series in 2004, but as of 2010 they have been picked up and being reissued as well as new books being released.

• A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620
• The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777
• When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864
• A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859
• Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847
• So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847
• I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865
• West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883
• Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903
• Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763
• Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912
• A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1836
• My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880
• The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868
• A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861
• The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864
• A Coal Miner’s Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896
• Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919
• One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York, 1938
• My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941
• Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1849
• Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849
• Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932
• Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941
• My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881
• Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Diary of Molly MacKenzie, Flaherty, Boston, Massachusetts, 1968
• A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917
• Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, Perkins School for the Blind, 1932
• Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935
• When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer, New York City to the Western Front, 1917
• Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, an English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota, 1873
• Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Green Marsh, Massachusetts, 1774
• All the Stars in the Sky: The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie Mack Ryder, the Santa Fe Trail, 1848
• Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony, 1763
• I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691
• Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City, 1909
• The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941
• Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918
• Cannons at Dawn: The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1779 (sequel to The Winter of Red Snow, releasing May 2011)

Royal Diaries The Royal Diaries series ended in 2005, no word as to if they will be relaunched like Dear America. I read about half of this series. The subject matter of this series is teenaged royals from around the world – they cover the lives and customs. There are also facts about the real people at the end of the books.

• Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544
• Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C.
• Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466
• Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769
• Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914
• Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595
• Kaiulani: The People’s Princess, Hawaii, 1889
• Lady Ch’iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D.
• Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829
• Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553
• Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, 595 A.D.
• Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, India, 1627
• Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, France, 1136
• Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden, 1638
• Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, Austria-Hungary, 1853
• Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts-Rhode Island, 1653
• Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, 749 A.D.
• Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan, 1858
• Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490
• Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743

My Name is America

This series was also discontinued in 2004. This series has male main characters. I don’t see much YA hist-fic for boys, so this is possibly a good choice for them.

• The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce: A Pilgrim Boy, Plymouth, 1620
• The Journal of William Thomas Emerson: A Revolutionary War Patriot, Boston, Massachusetts, 1774
• The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804
• The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition, 1846
• The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner, California, 1852
• The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West, 1867
• The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy, The Chisholm Trail, 1871
• The Journal of Brian Doyle: A Greenhorn on an Alaskan Whaling Ship, The Florence, 1874
• The Journal of Rufus Rowe: A Witness to the Battle of Fredricksburg, Bowling Green, Va, 1862
• The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863
• The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy, The Trail of Tears, 1838
• The Journal of Finn Reardon: A Newsie, New York City, 1899
• The Journal of Otto Peltonen: A Finnish Immigrant, Hibbing, Minnesota, 1905
• The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant, Oklahoma to California, 1935
• The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942
• The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944
• The Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues, Birmingham, Alabama, 1948
• The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty: United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968

You can check out the various teaching resources that go along with many of these books on the Scholastic website. Also, for readers, you can check out the Scholastic site with various expanded content for your enjoyment.




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court