Gloria Whelan

From the Dust Jacket:

"In 1843, with all their possessions loaded onto a single wagon, young Louisa May Alcott and her family bravely venture into the wilderness. Louisa's father is determined to realize his vision of a perfect life: one where people live in peace with each other and with nature, surviving off the land. Louisa keeps a journal in which she vows to try to uphold her father's high ideals.

But her family's journey can't erase her own dreams, doubts, frustrations, and fears. With the words "This is to be my secret diary," Louisa begins recording a very different version of events. Unfolding together, the two accounts reveal one remarkable tale of young writer finding her voice.

Based on Louisa May Alcott's own journals, National Book Award winner Gloria Whelan's novel breathes new life into a forgotten chapter from the youth of the beloved author of Little Women.

Author's Note:

In 1843, when Louisa May Alcott was ten years old, Louisa, her sisters Anna, twelve, Lizzie, seven, and two-year-old Abby May settled with their mother and father on a farm they called Fruitlands. It was the dream of Louisa's father together around him men and women who shared his vision of a more perfect world. Louisa's experiences at Fruitlands were both sad and funny.

From the time she first learned to write, Louisa kept a journal. It is believed that her father destroyed a part of her Fruitlands journal. Louisa herself, when she was older, destroyed many of her diaries. Only nine brief journal entries about her eight months at Fruitlands remain. I have imagined the diary that Louisa might have kept as well as a secret diary that told of her thoughts. This book is fiction, but it is based on real happenings. Fruitlands itself is now a wonderful museum where you may see, among many mementos of those days, the attic where Louisa and her sisters slept and a lock of Louisa's hair.… (more)

15-year-old Rosalind is the smart and sympathetic narrator of this lovely story about a British girl coming of age in India during the push for Indian independence. The book has the feel of an old-fashioned classic, making it suitable for readers as young as 5th grade, even though it's technically YA. It's full of very interesting questions about identity (how can Rosalind follow her heart and also please her father?) and compassion (even though she's supposed to be loyal to the British crown, Rosalind understand why Indians want their independence).

I thought Rosalind's maiden aunts, Ethel and Louise, were a bit flat and stereotypical, but, as devices, they contributed nicely to the themes being explored in the story. Ethel is so firmly attached to her identity as a frugal, upright British citizen that she's unbending and unsympathetic. Louise is practically Ethel's ward, though she has the ability to strike out and follow her heart.

Some small acts of amazing courage that stood out for me: Rosalind trying to save the baby, Rosalind going to see Gandhi speak, Aunt Louise standing up to Aunt Ethel, and the young Indian boy Ravi braving cold England for his education.… (more)