Karleen Bradford

This book was one of my all time favourites when I was younger - it had adventure, a sassy heroine, an interesting historical setting, and just a touch of romance, so it really hit all the marks back then. Reading the book now, there’s still a lot of appeal here, even if the language and narrative is simplified for a younger audience. Bradford gets her readers into the thick of one of history’s most important events, the People’s Crusade, alongside protagonist Ursula, a young German show more girl who travels alongside her father who has been hired to act as Count Emil’s personal healer. Ursula’s father is swept up in the holy mania of the Crusade, but his choice to go along is also to save Ursula’s life; she has been accused and found guilty of witchcraft for practising her father’s healing arts, and going on the Crusade to Jerusalem will cleanse her of her perceived sins. To modern readers, the concept of these holy wars seems kind of insane, considering that we know in hindsight that the Crusades did very little to “save” the Holy Lands, so we automatically sympathize with Ursula’s viewpoint that religious mania should at least be questioned, but Bradford makes an effort to show us how religion really was a driving factor in the lives of the general population at the time. Some, like Ursula and her father, went along not just to fulfill a religious obligation, but also as a practical means to an end to support themselves - or were just thrown into the situation, as can happen. While Bradford’s narrative was a bit choppy at times, I found the characters well-developed and believable, which goes a long way to opening up historical stories. show less

A riveting tale of a brave family's last bid for freedom, and the price they pay to find it.Julia May and her family have done the unthinkable. They have fled from their life of slavery on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, and are making their way north, on foot, where they have heard that slaves can live free. Their story, told through Julia May's journal entries, is gruelling. Their journey takes them through swamps, travelling by night and hiding by day. It is a harrowing, terrifying show more experience, but determination to find a new life in Canada keeps them going.The diary that Julia May keeps is another act of bravery. Learning to read and write alongside her mistress at the plantation was her own secret, and strictly forbidden for a slave girl. Now as she records her fears and the extraordinary things she sees during her journey, she is deeply afraid that she'll be found out and suffer the consequences. But her journal keeps her going through the hard times until they are finally free. Readers will be moved as they follow her family's trek north . . . but even here old prejudices die hard. show less

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

This book made me obsessed with Lady Jane Grey. HOWEVER there is hardly any literature out there about her. I've even tried to write about her for papers, but there isn't even a whole lot of academic research out there about her. WHY? Her story is so unique. I would love to read more fiction about her. If you know of any good ones, please let me know. As for this book, I loved this whole series (even if the books are not technically related to one another). They were definitely some of my show more favorites and made me begin to love historical fiction. show less