Dear Ellen Bee: A Scrapbook of the Civil War

by Mary E. Lyons and Muriel Branch

Book Overview

A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, Miss Bet, who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689823797
• ISBN13: 9780689823794
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 161 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Dear Ellen Bee

Dear Ellen Bee is a very exciting story. It contains a lot of action and suspense. I enjoyed this book very much. I liked it a lot. I like reading books about the Civil War. Anyone who likes action reading with a personal touch would LOVE this book.

Great Historical Novel on the Civil War

Liza, a freed slave, hates having her life all planned out for her. She thanks Miss Bet for freeing her but she doesn't want Miss Bet to plan her life for her. After returning from school in Phildelphia and after getting married to a free black call Wilson she finally gets to live her own life. So when Miss Bet comes up to her to plee for her help in the fight against the Rebels in Richmond she is hesitant. Working at the rebel's president's house is going to be one hard thing for Liza to do. However her decision is finally made up when she sees how the Rebels treat her husband Wilson. When he finally escapes to the North and joins the Union army Liza begins her spying in the President's Residence. Through secret codes and letters she and Miss Bet use the code name Ellen Bee to communicate.Written in diary from with drawing and scrapes from hear and there this book was really a very good book that gave great insight into the minds of two Union spies. I recommend anyone who likes this book to read the Dear America Series which is also historical novels written in diary form about different girl's lives in different parts of history.

Dear Ellen Bee

Dear Ellen Bee is a woundful book. They'er two Union spies in the Confederate stats. Then they are trying to save the Union people.Liza and Miss Bet write notes about what they are doing. They all so write letter so they now how they are doing. If you are go to read Dear Ellen Bee it is a good book. If you like the cival war and diary's read Dear Ellen Bee.

Dear Ellen Bee

Hi I am a 5th grade student. I am going to tell you about the book that I read called Dear Ellen Bee. I liked the book because it is about a little girl named Liza and a teacher named Miss Bet. In the book it talks about two union spies. If you read this book you wuold think it is worth 5 stars. Well I think it is worth 5 stars. I think you would like to read this book. Me and my group made a poster and gave it 5 stars. It was realy FUN to read this book!!!

Great for fans of "Dear America."

Told through fictional letters and diary entries, this book is based on the true story of two women living in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War, who worked together to spy for the Union. Many readers will have heard of Elizabeth Van Lew, an abolitionist who is well known to have pretended to be "crazy" so she would not be suspected of being a spy. But few will have heard of Mary Elizabeth Bowser, the daughter of two former slaves that Van Lew set free. Liza, as she is called in this story, is sent North by "Miss Bet," as she calls Miss Van Lew, to get an education. She returns to Richmond at age fifteen with her new husband. When her husband heads north to join the black Union regiments, Liza agrees to pose as a slave in the home of Jefferson Davis so she can listen and learn, and maybe help the Union cause. Although both are in danger because of their actions, they continue with their work because of their fierce loyalty to their country. The diary format will appeal to readers of the "Dear America" series, and the story will appeal to many fans of historical fiction, particuarly girls ages eleven and up, who will enjoy reading about the strong female characters.