Jane Claypool Miner

Historical fiction is my all-time favorite genre, but in my adult years, I haven't reached for American Civil War novels that much. In the past, I found that the way certain authors handle the topic of slavery and enslaved people can be pretty "cringe" for me.

Thankfully, in our current time, more Black American authors have been getting the chance to present their own perspectives in historical fiction, also shedding light on the fact that there's so much more to the history of Black people show more than slavery.

Even so, I have a variety of tastes, and I still like searching for old books as much as new ones. I recently found out about the Sunfire series of more than 30 standalone young adult historical romances that were published back in the 1980s, and the lovely cover of Corey stood out the most to me.

Yup. The one novel in the series that features a Black heroine. While I didn't take that to be a specific reflection of the author herself, I decided to check the novel out.

Now, there's one issue I ran into early in the book that isn't the biggest deal. But for the sake of today's historical fiction writers and readers, I think it's worth it to address this anyway.

In the opening chapter, a woman who goes by the name "Moses" shows up. Many readers would recognize that she's actually Harriet Tubman, and the narrative repeatedly refers to her as "the old woman." Corey figures that this formerly enslaved woman, who albeit moves "like a teenager," must be in her 60s.

I imagine many Americans today also think of Tubman as fairly old. To her credit, she did live to be somewhere in her 90s. However, she was much younger than her 60s during the Civil War.

Granted, even though people in the United States generally didn't live as long back then as they do now (and life expectancy among Black people was even shorter, due in significant part to slavery conditions), if I were depicting Harriet Tubman in a Civil War novel—especially in a novel for young adults—the narrative wouldn't refer to her as an "old woman." Why? Because Tubman was actually only in her early 40s at the time. Besides, people who fight for social and civil change—revolutionary thinkers and movers—oftentimes start fighting as younger people, not older ones.

For instance, Rosa Parks was only 42 when she sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she'd already been a civil rights activist for over a decade by that time. Martin Luther King, Jr., who delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech when he was only 34, had already been prominent as an activist since his mid-20s. And, yes, Harriet Tubman was also in her 20s when she escaped from slavery and started the work of leading more of her people to freedom.

It can bring quite a shift in perspective on historical events when you don't automatically present or view historical figures as old, and when you also realize that much of America's collective past didn't happen that long ago.

(No, when we talk about the woman "Moses" and the era of American slavery, we aren't talking about ancient history. Tubman was still alive while people were driving cars and when the Titanic sank.)

One more note on the subject of Tubman. See, President Lincoln's ultimate political goal during the war was to keep the Union together, not to abolish slavery, so he didn't take a political stance for the emancipation of all enslaved people. I'm glad that the novel briefly touches on this, but it doesn't mention the fact that Tubman was one of the abolitionists who spoke wisdom on this issue specifically in regard to the president. Saying that the president should set the enslaved people free, Tubman declared, "God won't let Master Lincoln beat the South until he does the right thing." Because Tubman and Lincoln are both in this novel, it would have brought Tubman's Chapter One appearance full circle later on if the author had included at least part of what the abolitionist had to say concerning the president.

Well. I'm saying a lot for a book review. Maybe this is another reason why I don't read many Civil War novels.

Anyhow! As for the art of fiction, I found the unfolding of the plot in this book to be spotty at times. The characters aren't as developed as they could be, and a number of moments would have come alive better if there'd been more emotional flavor added. At certain points in the middle of the read, significant stuff happens, but the story doesn't do much to indicate or show how Corey must feel about all of it.

Moreover, one critical turn of events pops up so late that it makes the novel's ending feel abrupt.

Nevertheless, I imagine "middle school me" would have rather loved this novel if I'd discovered it back then. And still as a longtime lover of historical fiction and old books, I actually had a hard time putting this novel down. I plan to check out more of the books in this series.

Note:
• some relatively brief depictions of war violence
• one appearance of a racial slur, but not the N-word; no other profanity
• the romance doesn't go further than kisses show less

I bought this book because I have heard of the Johnstown flood, but didn't know anything about it except that it happened. I liked that Jennie is a strong character and works hard, but the author also shows that she has some doubts in the decisions she has to make.

This book is about a girl named Jennie who is trying to find her way in the world. She visits her aunts that live a few miles away from where her, her mother and younger brother own a boardinghouse. When she arrives to her aunts' house, she finds one of her aunts to be ill. Her aunt that is ill has to stay away from work to avoid getting worse. The aunts job is a morse code person. Jennie was taught morse code when she was younger and volunteered to take her aunts place. It was easy at first show more but then the flood happened. There were so many reporters who wanted her to send their stories through to their news stations. Jennie gets paid for her work and her aunt lets her stay to work there.
I liked this book because when the town was in the flood and Jennie was going through a lot of hardships, she didn't back away from her responsibilities. Even when she was caught in the flood she managed to stay srong. She saved a baby girl and escaped a burning pile of rubble that many were to trapped in that the were burned alive. Jennie didn't know what happend to her mother and brother, so she stayed awake for days walking around to search for her family. Jane Miner, I think, turned a tragedy into a story of a very adventurous young woman. show less

The novel had less romance than other Sunfires I have read. Veronica has little interaction with either of her suitors throughout the course of the story; however, I greatly enjoyed the descriptions of the Pearl Harbor events as they unfolded, and her growth as a character throughout the catastrophe. Veronica is one fiercely independent and energetic girl.