School's Out Time to Read for Fun!

Summer time and school's out! Time to play, but also time to learn about topics you are interested in with no tests or teacher grading you on essays about the topic. Why not read for fun? Escape into another world of fantasy, science fiction, the past. 

Vote in the poll in the right margin. Do you like to read fiction or non-fiction stories?

Please share your favorite book with us in the comment section. Thank you!

I have compiled a list of books for you to enjoy reading this summer based on suggestions from About.com. Click on the topic to find the entire list of suggested books.

Historical Fiction: All of these works of historical fiction for middle grade readers have been recognized with one or more awards. These awards include the John Newbery Medal, the Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. They represent time periods from the medieval times to the 1970s. 

1. Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page

Candlewick Press

Title: Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page
Author:  Richard Platt
Illustrator:  Chris Riddell
Overview:  With an oversize format and wonderfully detailed illustrations, young readers get a firsthand view of daily life in a medieval castle in 1285 as Tobias Burgess, who is 11 years old, recounts his experiences as a new page.
Awards: Parents’ Choice Awards, Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date:  1999, PB 2001
ISBN: 9780763604899
Read my review of Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page.

2. Johnny Tremain

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Title: Johnny Tremain
Author:  Esther Forbes
Overview:  Set in the 1770s, the story of Johnny Tremain, a 14 year old orphan, is a dramatic one, focusing on his involvement in the Revolutionary War and the impact it has on his life.
Awards: 1944 John Newbery Medal
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date:  1943, 2011
ISBN: 9780547614328
Read the review of Johnny Tremain.

3. Across Five Aprils

Penguin

Title: Across Five Aprils
Author: Irene Hunt
Overview: This novel covers five years in the life of young Jethro Creighton and focuses on how the Civil War impacts life for Jethro, from the age of 9 to 14, and his family on their southern Illinois farm.
Awards: Five, including recognition as a 1965 Newbery Honor Book
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 1964, 2002
ISBN: 9780425182789
Read the review of Across Five Aprils.

4. Dragon's Gate

HarperCollins

Title: Dragon's Gate
Author: Laurence Yep
Overview: Set in and around 1867, this coming-of-age story combines Chinese and United States (particularly California) history in the tale of Otter, a 14-year-old Chinese boy who is forced to flee his country and join his father and uncle in California. There his unrealistic expectations of life in the U.S. come up against the reality of the Chinese immigrants' harsh experiences there.
Awards: 1994 Newbery Honor Book
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 2001
ISBN: 9780064404891
Read the review of Dragon's Gate.

5. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Henry Holt

Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Overview:  Set in Texas in 1899, this is the story of spunky Calpurnia Tate who is more interested in science and nature than in learning to be a lady and her life with her family, which includes six brothers.
Awards:  Newbery Honor Book, several state awards
Publisher:  Henry Holt
Publication Date:  2009
ISBN:  9780805088410
Read the review of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.

Fiction Novels: 

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series
• Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

• Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
• Novels by Sharon Creech
• The Spiderwick Chronicles
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Review: Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt

Historical fiction

Last Friday, Tara Chevrestt was  a guest on the Girls Succeed blog. I invited her to tell us about the true story behind her 1916 story because I enjoyed reading her book so much. You can click on her interesting story which was posted on the Girls Succeed blog at Tara Chevrestt Ride for Rights.

My Review of Ride to Rights:

Ride for Rights follows the fictional adventures of two sisters who are determined to ride motorcycles across America in 1916. Why? Because they are proving women can do it AND to further the early twentieth century women's fight for the right to vote. 

This amazing book, based on a true story, is one that makes the reader stand up and cheer for these young ladies who have a lot of grit and courage. Can you imagine driving a car let alone a bike across 1916 America with no road maps or even roads? I do think the author could have played up the overwhelming obstacles in the way of accomplishing such a feat. I loved the history mixed in with the adventure allowing readers a glimpse of life in the USA in 1916. Very well-written descriptions and dialog make this story a winner.

Ride for Rights is available on MuseItUp, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Author Tara Chevrestt's Ride for Rights

I am pleased to welcome talented author Tara Chevrestt to the Girls Succeed Blog. I read her historical fiction book, Ride for Rights, and loved it so much I invited her to tell us the story behind the inspiration for the story that takes place in 1916.

Historical fiction

Back Cover:

In the summer of 1916 women do not have the right to vote, let alone be motorcycle dispatch riders. Two sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson are determined to prove to the world that not only are women capable of riding motorbikes, but they can ride motorbikes across the United States. Alone.

From a dance hall in Chicago to a jail cell in Dodge City, love and trouble both follow Angeline and Adelaide on the dirt roads across the United States. The sisters shout their triumph from Pike’s Peak only to end up lost in the Salt Lake desert.

Will they make it to their goal of Los Angeles or will too many mishaps prevent them from reaching their destination and thus, hinder their desire to prove that women can do it?

The Story Behind the Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt

In the fall of 2010, my husband and I took a vacation to South Dakota and of course, we had to hit the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. (My husband is a biker through and through.)

  

Adeline VanBuren

While browsing this ultra cool museum (that I originally didn't want to go to as I wanted to walk thru a Victorian house instead!), I came across some information about two fascinating "biker chics" in American history, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren. Here is their website: Van Buren Sisters Website

 In 1916, these remarkable sisters decided to ride their motorbikes from New York to Los Angeles. Keep in mind, the highway system had not yet been built... They donned trousers, jumped on their Indians, and they rode to prove that women could be motorcycle dispatch riders.

The real-life women went from Buffalo to Chicago to Omaha to Denver, up Pike's Peak, to Salt Lake, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

I was excited by this information and I rushed to find my husband and I said to him, "I am gonna find a book on them as soon as I get back to my laptop!" And I did search for a book on them and much to my dismay, I didn't find one. And so I said, "I'm gonna write one!" This is how Ride was born.

Augusta VanBuren

In Ride for Rights, a fiction novel loosely based on the amazing Van Buren sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson undergo a similar journey (with different twists and turns) as they travel from Buffalo to Detroit... to Chicago where they are dance hall girls for a night... to Peoria, Illinois... to St. Louis where they join a touring Suffrage movement to Kansas City where they have a run in with some unfriendly fellows. From Kansas City, the Hanson's head to Dodge and they have problems with the local sheriff. See, women didn't wear trousers much back then....

Like the real Van Burens, Angeline and Adelaide summit Pike's Peak. The real sisters did this ride only weeks after the road was opened.

Glen Eyrie Castle

The Ride for Rights sisters spend some down time in a castle called Glen Eyrie and then head on to the Salt Lake desert where they get lost... and oh somebody finds them... but is it really a rescuer??

I don't wish to reveal too much of the story so I'm stopping here, but I cannot stress to everyone enough...check out the real Van Buren sisters’ website. It's truly amazing what the real women accomplished. They are now in the AMA Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.

Bob Van Buren, a descendant of the Van Buren sisters, says, "Although Ms. Chevrestt’s creative tale of these two women is purely fictional, she has accurately captured the spirit and challenges that the Van Buren sisters experienced in their journey in 1916."

I can't possibly express my joy and gratitude to have a descendant of those amazing women say something like that about my work.

Please note once again that Ride is a work of fiction and though I used the real life sisters' ride as a basis, everything that happens to the Hansons is a figment of my imagination. An author's note in the back of the novel separates all facts from fiction.

Ride for Rights is available on MuseItUp, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Blurb:

In the summer of 1916 women do not have the right to vote, let alone be motorcycle dispatch riders. Two sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson are determined to prove to the world that not only are women capable of riding motorbikes, but they can ride motorbikes across the United States. Alone.

From a dance hall in Chicago to a jail cell in Dodge City, love and trouble both follow Angeline and Adelaide on the dirt roads across the United States. The sisters shout their triumph from Pike’s Peak only to end up lost in the Salt Lake desert.

Will they make it to their goal of Los Angeles or will too many mishaps prevent them from reaching their destination and thus, hinder their desire to prove that women can do it?

***

Tara Chevrestt is a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, dog mom, writer, and editor. You’ll never see her without her Kindle or a book within reach. As a child, she would often take a flashlight under the covers to finish the recent Nancy Drew novel when she was supposed to be sleeping.

Tara is addicted to Law & Order: SVU, has a crush on Cary Grant, laughs at her own jokes, and is constantly modifying
recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. She writes about strong women facing obstacles—in the military, with their handicaps, or just learning to accept themselves. Her heroines can stand alone and take care of themselves, but they often find love in the process.