Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare

274 Pages: A French and Indian War Prisoner

The high strung and talented Miriam Willard's journey, from our past, was the interesting story of an indian captive.  This story tells of the hardships captives must go through as they are brought through the wilderness and sold in Montreal, Canada to the french.  Miriam goes through much on her journey and matures as a result of it.  Figuring out who she wants to have as her husband was an accomplishment of hers and you may be surprised who she ends up choosing.  This book was a very colorful and captivating story of a girl's struggle to survive.  It kept me reading it till the end and is great for young readers interested in suspense, indian prisoners, and history.

(This book was part of my Sonlight U.S. History curriculum and I recommend it to other home school families.)

Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

181 Pages: An African Prince who became a slave

The Prince of an African Tribe was Amos's position in life before the slavers came and took him away.  He was then sold in Boston in 1725 after enduring the harsh Middle Passage but never did he forget his dignity.   He clung to the hope of freedom and along the way to his, he bought other people's freedom.  His kind nature and hopeful spirit got him through the rough life in the colonies before blacks were treated as equals.  His story is filled with ups and downs worth reading so we can learn that other people, whatever the skin color, are equals.  This book was a touching story worth your time and perfect for young readers.

(This book was part of my Sonlight U.S. History curriculum and I recommend it to other home school families.)

Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz

179 Pages: An American Revolution General, Hero, and Traitor

The story of Benedict Arnold is interesting indeed.  Many people, including me, think how could anyone ever betray the Patriots?  This book starts off describing his bad childhood in the town of Norwich, Connecticut where he did crazy stunts.  He did these stunts because he liked the feel of adrenaline.  This eventually led him to enlisting in the colonial forces so he could become a great hero.  He was a daring military leader but he made many enemies which made his life hard.  He always wanted money and was greedy for it and you can guess what happened because of that.  This was a very educational and interesting book that I really enjoyed reading.  It's perfect for young readers who love to learn about unusual history figures.

(This book was part of my Sonlight U.S. History curriculum and I recommend it to other home school families.)

Guns For General Washington by Seymour Reit

120 Pages: An American Revolution Story

This book starts off during the stalemate in Boston of the American Revolution.  It's about a courageous man's journey through lakes, forests, hills, and treacherous territory pulling heavy cannons and guns to the colonial headquarters so as to help the patriot cause.  This man was known as Henry Knox and he became the colonel of artillery in the rebel force.  The downside though to this position was that there wasn't any use able artillery anywhere near the headquarters in Cambridge, outside of Boston.  So he came up with a daring plan to bring the cannons captured, earlier in the war, at Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge with the help of his brother Will.  However, their journey is anything but easy as they meet many unforeseen difficulties.  This was very interesting and educational book, great for younger readers.

(This book was part of my Sonlight U.S. History curriculum and I recommend it to other home school families.)

A Suitor For Jenny by Margaret Brownley

This is an amazingly captivating Christian romance novel well written and worth reading.  From the beginning I was intrigued by the interesting plot.  The story is set in Rocky Creek, Texas right after the American Civil War.  It starts with three young ladies arriving in Rocky Creek and the oldest, Jenny, tries to find husbands for her younger sisters.  Her sisters don't end up liking the men she picks for them but they fall in love with bachelors that don't fit Jenny's criteria as potential suitors.  Jenny is also falling for someone but she doesn't think she deserves to be loved, even by God.  Will Jenny let God have the reins or will Jenny's stubborn attitude keep herself from true love?

I really loved this book and could identify with one of the characters which helped me to strengthen my understanding and relationship with God.  I loved this book so much that I read most of it in one day. There are sexual references so I would only recommend it to mature teens and adults.

(This was a book, of my choice, that booksneeze.com sent to me for free if I agreed to read it and review it honestly.  I didn't have to review it positively so the views expressed in this review are of my opinion.)

Green by Ted Dekker

This story is actually a continuation of the circle trilogy making it the Circle Cycle.  It's an awesome book full of suspense, love, treachery, adventure, and action.  The beginning of the book starts right off into the growing conflict.  The circle, that is led by Thomas of Hunter, is starting to shatter at the seams as the end draws near.  It seems that his own son is leading a rebellion against the Circle's nonviolence policies and the growing Horde threat.  His only hope is to try to get back to the other world but his old way of doing so stopped working years ago.  It seems that the other world is heading to it's end of times,as well.  What is to become of these two worlds and Thomas of Hunter's son?  Find out in this awesome book by Ted Dekker!

This story isn't called book zero for nothing.  It really does fit between book one (Black) and book three (White) making the series come "full circle" as Ted Dekker says.  I advise that you start with Black, like I did, even though Ted Dekker says you can do that or start with Green and go on to Black.  Green sorta gives away some things that I wouldn't want to know when reading the orginal trilogy but that is the reader's decision.  Overall this is a great ending and beginning to the Circle Cycle and I would recommend to all Christian Fiction readers.

Where Hearts Are Free by Golden Keyes Parsons

This is good fictional book by a talented christian author that captivated me all the way through.  Perfect for older teens and adults that love romance and suspense.  The story is about a young lady (Bridget) who falls madly love with her family's indentured servant (Phillipe). When she expresses her love for the young man, her parents are outraged. They then find a more suitable partner, for her, with the same station in life and same religion.  What makes matter worse is that Phillipe rejects her setiments and love or does he?  All is not what it seems with the eligible bachelor either.  He has a dirty little secret that none of the characters see coming.  Can the two young lovers ever be together?  Find out in this suspenseful book full of love, romance, courage, forgiveness, and hope.

To me this book was predictable but the suspense of how they were to get from here to there kept my attention.  The book also had a little more sexual content than I usually like but it really did enhance the message.  So the book is probably not appropriate for children and young teens.  The main characters were lovable, The villian was masterfully written, and the message and christian applications are good for all young lovers to learn.  I would recommend this to all mature christian romance lovers of the faith.

(This was a book, of my choice, that booksneeze.com sent to me for free if I agreed to read it and review it honestly.  I didn't have to review it positively so the views expressed in this review are of my opinion.)