"Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn't realize is that the leader of the group, the malicious Ann Putnam, is about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. When Susanna puts the pieces together, she faces a painful choice. She can keep quiet and let the witch-hunt panic continue, or she can 'break charity' with the group—and risk having her family named as witches."
"Though 13-year-old Mary is happy to keep quiet about the secret instruction she receives at Miss Prudence Crandall's private school for the daughters of the richest families in New England, Mary's sister Sarah glories in the fuss she creates when she is openly admitted. When Miss Prudence replaces the school's white students with little misses of color, all sides of the anti-slavery movement want to use the school to further their own agendas-with Mary and Sarah caught in the middle!"
"Claire Louise Corbet has never had trouble making up her mind. She knows what she wants and how to get it. But when the Yankee soldiers shell their town, she begins to discover that decisions are not always black and white, and they are anything but easy. For forty-seven days, the Union army lays siege to the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, forcing Claire Louise and her family to flee their home to live in the safety of a nearby cave. When her beloved brother Landon, a doctor in the Union army, shows up one day with a wounded Confederate soldier named Robert, Claire Louise knows there’s more to the story than she is being told. Eventually she learns that Robert is responsible for allowing an order from Robert E. Lee to fall into Union hands, causing the South to lose the Battle of Antietam. As a captain in the army, Landon is honor-bound to turn Robert over to authorities. But if he does, Robert will most assuredly be tried for treason. This knowledge weighs heavily on Claire Louise as she takes it upon herself to make a difficult choice between family and friend . . . and live with the consequences of her decision."
"Historical fiction writer Ann Rinaldi has received the ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Brooklyn Rose is loosely based on the life of her own grandmother. Rose Frampton is content with life on her family's plantation in South Carolina, but the year 1900 brings many changes for the 15 year-old. She could never imagine that she would marry a Yankee and become the mistress of a New York City estate. Uprooted from the tranquil shores of Saint Helena's Island, she comes to know and love Rene, learns to make her own decisions, and finds an untapped inner strength."
