Five Smooth Stones: Hope's Diary 1776

This is the story of Hope, a young girl living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1776 just prior to the Declaration of Independence. As such, it's an interesting story of some of the conditions people lived under at the time, and how not every single person was in agreement over whether or not the colonies should declare their separation from England. This was the type of controversy that could tear families apart just as the Civil War did much later.

One very interesting thing in the book was a section about the Quakers, a religious group, and how they could "read out" a person, that is, kick them out of the group. If that happened, then friends and family were not allowed to talk to them and no one was allowed to shop at their store (if they owned a store.) So if you wanted to be different you could find yourself kicked out of your family and religion, both.

As always there is a historical section but, as with at least one other My American book, there is no epilogue to the story.


Main Index

Dear America index page

Young adult Index