Hattie's Story

by Susan Kirby

Book Overview

A family, like a quilt, can be pieced together in many ways. And a quilt, like a family, is rich with stories. Lacey's great-grandmother has a trunkful of family quilts, and stories, she loves to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689809700
• ISBN13: 9780689809705
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

American Quilts: Hattie's Story

The second book in the American Quilts series, this book lives up to the excitment in the first. Lacey's great-grandmother brings us into the life of her great-grandmother, and teaches us our history in a fun way. It also shows us the importance of family, friendships, and doing what you think is right, no matter what might happen. This book involves a few deaths, and horrible acidents, which may upset some of the younger readers, and one chapter towards the end is extremely confusing. Other than that, I enjoyed it so much that I read it in two days because of the suspense in the plot!

Excellent continuation of the American Quilts series.

Eleven-year-old Hattie Crosby, daughter of Ellen Tandy from the first American Quilts book, is growing up on the Illinois prairie in 1856, at a time when the issue of slavery has already begun to tear the nation apart. Hattie's parents are abolitionists, especially her New Englander father, but Hattie's best friend, Dora June, is the daughter of the local constable, whose job lately has been to capture runaway slaves. Dora June's father forbids her to play with Hattie because he suspects Mr. Crosby is helping runaways. Hattie herself begins to wonder if her father could be involved in the Underground Railroad. What she discovers - he is indeed helping runaways - changes everything. Suddenly Hattie is aware of times when she suspected strange things were going on. And now all the Crosbys must be extra-careful, what with the constable being extra suspicious. As the months go by, Hattie dares to hope - that the runaways will go undetected, that the baby her mother is expecting will be born healthy, and that her father will forget his longing to move the family to "bleeding Kansas." But nothing can prepare the Crosbys for the tragedy that awaits their little town. Like the first American Quilts book, this was very much a family story, but it was also a story about what happens when people allow suspicion and hatred to overwhelm them, and as such, it delivers a powerful message. Highly recommended to girls ages ten and up who enjoy books such as the "Dear America" series.