One Thousand Tracings : Healing the Wounds of World War II by Lita Judge

Illustrated by the author. A young American farm girl and her mother collect necessities such as food and clothing, especially shoes, to send to families in post-war Germany. The tracings of the title are of shoe bottoms, enclosed with the poignant letters that they receive. The story is based on real events in the lives of the author's mother and grandmother. It represents an untold part of the history of World War II. Soft, slightly out of focus watercolors and photographs of actual artifacts from the period complement the text. This is a heartwarming tale, told in a gentle, low key style.
Grades 2-6

Booth’s Daughter by Raymond Wemmlinger

Booth’s Daughter is a work of historical fiction which accurately follows the career and travels of Edwin Booth and his family fifteen years after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Told as a first person narrative by Edwina Booth, Edwin’s daughter, the story documents her experiences as she faces the stigma of her uncle’s crime and gains independence from her demanding and controlling father. Raymond Wemmlinger, the curator and librarian at The Hampden-Booth Theatre Library, includes a bibliography of resources used to create an accurate timeline for his fictional account of Edwina’s life. This is an excellent presentation of an alternate perspective to the assassination of Lincoln as well as the post-Civil War life style of the theater and artist crowd.

Grades 8-11

Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells

When the Civil War begins, India Moody is twelve. She and her family live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the war profoundly affects their lives. Her father goes off to serve in the Confederate Army, schools close, and local young men who have eagerly enlisted die in large numbers. India is tutored by a young man who has theories about disease,sanitation, and how to prevent needless deaths among soldiers.The details of medical history alone makes this a title with great appeal. The story is unusually frank about the horrors of warfare. Unlike many historical novels about this period, it does not focus primarily on slavery but rather on the pride and foolishness of the Southerners who champion the fight and on the cruelties that are committed during war. Despite all the grim details of bloated bodies, amputations, and death, there is a hopeful ending. Highly recommended for middle school.
Grades 5-8

The U.S. Constitution, by Norman Pearl

This is a good treatment of a difficult subject for the very young. The pictures are appealing and every effort is made to make the ideas and vocabulary accessible to younger children. Students are introduced to the father of the American Constitution, James Madison, they see Benjamin Franklin, and they learn about the Constitutional Convention and the parts of the Constitution. The pictures, although conveying abstract ideas, read well across a room. This is a good title to add to Catrow's We The Kids (K-3), Krull's A Kid's Guide to America's Bill of Rights (K-3), Maestro's A More Perfect Union (2-4), Fritz's Shh! We're Writing the Constitution (2-5), and Sobel's The U.S. Constitution and You (3-5).

Grades K-3

Dolley Madison saves George Washington, by Don Brown

Dolley Madison was renown for her hospitality and fashion yet she was also an amazingly strong and brave woman. With the British invading Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812, Dolley had the foresight to rescue the lifesize portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart and though the city burned, the portrait was safe and eventually returned to the White House. Facts about this First Lady born in North Carolina follow the vignette.

Grades 4-8

Sweet Land of Liberty, by Deborah Hopkinson

Illus. by Leonard Jenkins.

As a child, Oscar Chapman was expelled from school for hanging a picture of Abraham Lincoln in the school. As an adult he was Assistant Secretary of State when Marian Anderson was told she couldn't sing at Constitution Hall and he helps clear the way for her to sing in front of the Lincoln Memorial instead. Interesting back story to the Marian Anderson story presented in picture book format suitable for reading aloud.

Grades 3 up

1607: A New Look at Jamestown, by Karen E. Long

Photos by Ira Block

On the 400th commemoration of the founding of Jamestown, this book looks at the newest archaeological findings about this early settlement including details about trade and conflict with the Native Americans. Traces many roots of our country's economy, government, and way of life to this early and tenuous settlement in all its complexity.