Dear America is a series of historical fiction novels for children published by Scholastic starting in 1996. By 1998, the series had 12 titles with 3.5 million copies in print.[1] The series was canceled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during important events or time periods in American history. The Dear America series covers a wide range of topics, including: the Pilgrims' journey to the New World, the Salem Witch Trials, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, western expansion, slavery, immigration, nineteenth-century prairie life, the California Gold Rush of 1849, the Great Depression, Native Americans' experiences, racism, coal mining, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the fight for women's suffrage, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Battle of the Alamo, the Vietnam War, and more. The breadth of historical topics covered in these books through fiction makes the Dear America series a favorite teaching device of history schoolteachers around the country. The re-launch series and releases contain a new cover style and different pictures of the main characters than those of the original releases. Originally all the books had a ribbon inserted as a bookmark for the books but were removed in the later releases. Several of the stories were filmed and released on videotape.

Original series

[edit]

There are thirty-six books in the original Dear America series:

2010 Re-launch

[edit]

The Dear America series was relaunched in September 2010 with their first new book since 2004, The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson, set during World War II, as well as re-releases of earlier books. New books for 2011 include Like the Willow Tree, Cannons at Dawn (the sequel to The Winter of Red Snow and the first sequel in the series), With the Might of Angels, Behind the Masks, A City Tossed and Broken, and Down the Rabbit Hole. There have also been new editions of several earlier books released in 2011.

Books in the relaunched Dear America series:

Spin-offs

[edit]

Three other book series, like Dear America, were also published by Scholastic:

Most of the "America" or "Royal" diaries are women and girls experiences.

In addition, several of Scholastic's international divisions have published series inspired by the Dear America series:

Other, Non-Scholastic series, spin-offs include:

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "PW: Breaking Out of Format Formulas". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  2. ^ "Children's Book Review: A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  3. ^ Reese, Debbie. "Authenticity and Sensitivity: Goals for writing and reviewing books with Native American themes". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  4. ^ "Children's Book Review: Dear America: Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  5. ^ THE FENCES BETWEEN US | Kirkus Reviews.
  6. ^ "The Fences Between Us". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  7. ^ LIKE THE WILLOW TREE | Kirkus Reviews.
  8. ^ BEHIND THE MASKS | Kirkus Reviews.
  9. ^ A CITY TOSSED AND BROKEN | Kirkus Reviews.
  10. ^ DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE | Kirkus Reviews.
[edit]
Categories