Historical fiction has probably been my favorite genre ever since I was a little girl. We were given a copy of Sarah’s Wish by Jim Baumgardner for review as part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew. It is a delightful story about a girl, Sarah, who’s faced with a tragic situation with the death of her mother set in 1858. She must decide what to do about a secret she made to her mother and decide who she can trust with that secret.
In the context of Sarah’s Wish you learn many things about life in 1858. Before the first chapter begins a glossary of terms is given. I learned some things from these, for instance, did you know “cut shines” means trying to trick someone or “Mudsills” are uneducated or lower class people. Besides these expressions words that may be familiar to some of us, like apothecary, are defined as well. I love books that can entertain and teach at the same time!
Her secret has to do with the underground railroad and this would be an excellent addition to your studies of slavery, prejudice and/or civil war. Sarah's Wish reads very easily. To check out an excerpt for yourself visit their site.
With the book comes a code in the back to download to free audio version of the novel. We downloaded it and burned it to disk so that my daughter can listen to it while doing the dishes. She listens to audio’s over and over while she does this and this is one I don’t mind her repeating! In our reading I didn't notice anything that I thought might be offensive to anyone. The audio does use different voices rather than just a narrator and fits on 4 80 minute disks (80minutes was what we had on hand.)
Sarah Book website also has a homeschool page and a newsletter you can sign up for. The newsletter contains vocabulary, historical facts, questions and answer, mail and even naming contests. It’s a nice little addition to the books your kids might find fun. Of course all of it pertains to the themes and historical events of the books.
We have really enjoyed Sarah’s Wish and in fact have asked our local library to purchase the series (there are two more in the series.) I hope you’ll check it out and enjoy it as much as we have. It would be a great read aloud for the whole family or a read alone from probably about 5th grade and up.
The cost on this is $9.99 (shipping included) but they have many options to buy the set, audio versions and more so check it out!
