... Well, I know how you can find out ...

It’s Ohio, in the year 1858 and young Sarah is about to experience a tragedy that will change her life. Instead of dwelling on her own pain, she seeks out ways to alleviate the pain of others. Sarah is a sensitive, likeable and believable character that we enjoyed getting to know between the pages of a book that the author asked the Old Schoolhouse Magazine (TOS) Crew to review.

“Sarah’s Wish” is the first book in a series of exciting books written by Jim Baumgardner. The stories are historical fiction written by a lover of history, and the characters in the stories are based, in part, on the author’s ancestors.   

Author Jim Baumgardner, Keeping History alive for us ...

Throughout the story, the author gives interesting details about the time period, such as descriptions of items which we now think of as very old fashioned! He also includes a glossary of terms so we were not left to determine what the mysterious word meant only by the context of the story.

As I read aloud, we all learned more about the lifestyle of that era. We chuckled at Granny’s use of homey phrases and humor. We were sobered by the descriptions of the deprivation and abuses of slavery. The characters in the book deal with death and loss in a sensitive way. Death is presented as the believer being ushered into the presence of God and thus, opens opportunities for you to talk to your students about both death, and living with such a loss.  

The books are about a spunky girl, but most boys will like them too since there is lots of adventure, and Sarah is an optimistic person with a lot of initiative. I read these aloud with my boys 10 and 12 and they stayed interested in the story line and action. Older students will enjoy reading this book independantly and perhaps researching more about the period before the Civil War in the United States. Younger students can listen and learn too!

The lovely drawing above is Sarah, as depicted by Ruth Rawlings of Augusta, Kansas.

The book, “Sarah’s Wish” is available from the author, at this link for only $9.99 with free shipping and handling: http://www.sarahbooks.net/index.html

The copy of the book that I received free to review also came with a free download of the audio book as well (what a nice surprise!) and it is really good. It is read by an expressive young lady who “does the voices” very well J This 4 CD set is also available from the author for just $16.99 at the link above.

I just want to say, that I really liked the book, as much as the kids did. I think it was because of all the discussions that ensued! You may not have an many “talkers” in your family as we do, but the story and the history of antebellum times, really struck a note of interest with the kids. Exploring the author’s wonderful website was just as educational as reading his book!

 You can check out information on the history of Sarah’s era here: http://www.sarahbooks.net/ugrr.html

 You can also read more about the author, the other books in his series and even sign up for a “Sarah” e-newsletter like we did!  

http://www.sarahbooks.net/the_author.html

BTW: I received this book at no charge from the author, so that I could give my candid opinion of the product based on personal use with my family in my Home Education Program. No other compensation was received and I am not an employee of TOS nor am I affiliated with any of the companies whose products I am asked to review. I just do this for fun, and for the chance to let you know about some of the really creative new products and some good old ones that you might not know about yet!

May God Bless - Merit K