Ann Rinaldi Books In Order
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But in the Fall I'm Leaving | (1985) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Good Side of My Heart | (1987) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Quilt Trilogy Books
A Stitch in Time | (1994) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Broken Days | (1995) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Blue Door | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Publication Order of Great Episodes Books
A Ride into Morning | (1991) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Break with Charity | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Fifth of March | (1993) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Keep Smiling Through | (1994) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Finishing Becca | (1994) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Secret of Sarah Revere | (1995) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
An Acquaintance with Darkness | (1997) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Cast Two Shadows | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Captain's Dog | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Coffin Quilt | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Staircase | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Guns for General Washington | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Riddle of Penncroft Farm | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Behind Rebel Lines | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Or Give Me Death | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
An Unlikely Friendship | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Come Juneteenth | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Ever-After Bird | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Letter Writer | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Leigh Ann's Civil War | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
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Publication Order of Dear America Books
When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Winter Of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary Of Abigail Jane Stewart | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865 | (1997) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Picture Of Freedom | (1997) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Early Sunday Morning: the Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941 | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903 | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Stationery Pack | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic 1912 | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory 1868 | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
My Heart is on the Ground | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York 1941 | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York 1938 | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana 1932 | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Valley of the Moon: The Diary of María Rosalía de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta Valley, California, 1846, | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory 1849 | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska 1881 | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
My Secret War : The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C. 1917 | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Where Have All the Flowers Gone? | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas 1935 | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
So Far From Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, An English Girl in Minnesota | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
All the Stars in the Sky | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony 1763 | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City 1909 | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Like the Willow Tree | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Cannons at Dawn | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia, 1954 | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880 | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
Down the Rabbit Hole, Chicago, Illinois, 1871: The Diary of Pringle Rose | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
A City Tossed and Broken: The Diary of Minnie Bonner, San Francisco, California, 1906 | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
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Publication Order of My Name Is America Books
The Journal of James Edmond Pease | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of William Thomas Emerson | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Joshua Loper | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Ben Uchida | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Sean Sullivan | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Otto Peltonen | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Augustus Pelletier | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Biddy Owens | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
On This Long Journey: The Journal of Jesse Smoke | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of C.J. Jackson | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Jedediah Barstow | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Finn Reardon | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Rufus Rowe | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Brian Doyle | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung / Staking a Claim | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
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Ann Rinaldi was a young adult, historical, literature, and fiction author popularly known for her historical fiction books The Last Silk Dress, In My Father’s House, A Break with Charity, and Acquaintance with Darkness.
She wrote over 40 novels, eight of which were notable books by the ALA. Additionally, in 2000 her novel Wolf by the Ears was chosen as one of the best novels preceding 25 years and later selected as one of the best novels preceding 100 years. She was a writer for the Great Episode series, a novel series featuring books set during the American Colonial Era.
Before her death, Ann Rinaldi lived in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, who she married in 1960. Before dedicating her time to full-time writing, she worked as an author for a local newspaper columnist. She continued writing for the newspaper even throughout much of her writing career. Her first book, Term Paper, was published in 1979, and prior to this, she had written four unpolished books, which she termed as “terrible.”
Girl in Blue
the girl in blue by Ann Rinaldi is a story of a girl named Sarah who runs away from her home and disguises herself as a man to join the Union Army during the American Civil War. Upon arriving at the camp, she is assigned to help a surgeon named Hammond. She travels to the local town and gathers food for the injured and sick military men. After spending a while in the camp, she experiences her first battle.
Sarah tries to survive through the battle without firing a single shot or killing anyone but eventually forced to defend herself and shoots a man who later dies. She survives the battle without any injuries, but unfortunately, her identity is soon unraveled by a general, and she is assigned to other tasks.
She is given the role of a spy disguised as a maid for a woman working undercover for the Confederate Army. The woman had a daughter who later became a very close friend to Sarah. The two become so close that the daughter gives Sarah a riddle that, when solved, reveals where her mother’s diary is hidden.
Sarah soon cracks the puzzle and finds the diary under the stairs. As she turns the pages, Sarah can discover how the woman got the messages, but her stay in the woman’s house is short-lived when she falls ill. But soon, a chance encounter with an investigator drags her into a web of intrigue, mystery, and romance. Sarah’s feat is put into the test like never before.
Although the Girl in Blue is a novel that narrates fictional events, it’s wise to say that some of the encounters in this book are things that happened to most soldiers in real life. The story pulls you in immediately and allows you to understand and experience what some spies and soldiers had to do to serve.
As a reader, you can hear our heroine’s thoughts as she experiences her days trying to hide her real identity as a woman. During this time, you can understand and experience some of the fear and emotions she feels. Throughout the story, Sarah becomes more vulnerable and emotional because of her relationships with the people she encounters in the military.
Since the book is set in the 1860s, you are bound to come across some older language that may confuse the younger reader, but that’s not overly done. You should expect some bits of violence since this is a war story, but it doesn’t have too much violence. We watch as Sarah grows into a stronger and more intelligent woman in a time when women were considered less equal to men.
Time Enough for Drums
Ann Rinaldi is an author whose legacy has become a household name in the young adult historical fiction space, and Time Enough for Drums is one of her most acclaimed YA books.
The book is set in 1775, and we meet a teenage girl named Jemima Emerson. she is a headstrong 15-year-old, and while she’s not a bad girl, she is simply a person who doesn’t think before acting, and her tutor Mr. John Reid is determined in transforming her into a responsible lady, but she resists with everything she has.
But war has a way of making a person mature up. Jemima’s brother, Daniel, accomplishes the commission under General Washington. Her father sacrifices everything to supply the army while her mom drafts an essay under a penname that is known across the American colonies. Jemima’s boyfriend, her younger brother, and their servants all leave their homes to fight the war. Her sister relocates and marries a British soldier. All these events around Jem’s have consequences, and soon the dangers of war come starring directly to Jemima’s hometown along with the settling British Army. Meanwhile, the tutor Jemima despises becomes more than he seems.
Time Enough for Drums is a fantastic coming-of-age narrative set during the American revolution. There are different forces at work, so many changes, many players, and so much at stake. It is fascinating to see that Ann Rinaldi did a fantastic job showcasing how all these factors immensely affected Jemima’s family. And the theme of independence is well communicated at both personal and national levels.
The author’s biggest strength is the cast of solid characters she created. The main character, Jem, is a complex girl living in such a tough time, while John Reid is her ideal counterpoint. The interactions between the two will keep you turning pages, even when the least expected happens. The bond between these two characters is strong and serves to highlight the evilness of war. Even in the midst of war, love thrives and beats all the odds.
This novel falls under the young adult category but is highly recommended for readers above the age of 12 years. It is all-encompassing, reminding us that war is terrible and the details in the book are better left for an older audience.
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