LeBrisary

Margaret McMullen will be visiting our school in May to speak to the 5th-7th graders.  I just finished two of her books, one set during the Civil War and the other during Reconstruction, ten years later.  Let me tell you a about the latter.

When I Crossed No-Bob is told from the point of view of 12 year old Addy.  When Addy is abandoned by her only parent, her mom, she is taken in by the local school teacher and his new wife. Removed from the brutish world of her clan the O'Donnells, Addy begins to thrive in her new surroundings. Her long missing father unexpectedly returns, and takes her back to No-Bob, the clan's self-proclaimed land.  Addy tries to make the best of her situation but soon realizes that how the O'Donnell's view the world is no longer how she does.  Addy must summon all her inner courage to do the right thing when she comes to fully realize what her father and others are doing.

Set in rural Mississippi, ten years after the ravages of the Civil War are still being felt, the story combines issues of family, race, loyalty and love in a powerful story of growth and integrity.

I thought this book was so good, that I recommended it to Mrs. Tiesse as a possible 7th grade class novel.