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Recommended books placed during the Revolutionary War
The Columbus Metropolitan Library has thousands of books on any subject you can imagine. To honor the brave men and women serving in the military, here are a few recommended books set during the Revolutionary War. “Chains” Isabel is a young, orphaned slave who is denied freedom when she, and her five-year-old sister, Ruth, are sold to a cruel loyalist family. They are shipped from their quiet farm to New York City during the early days of the American Revolution. Both her loyalist family and the patriots she spies for have promised her freedom, and both have betrayed her. Isabel is an intelligent young woman, determined to stay true to herself and fight for her, and her sister’s, freedom in any way she can. “Silence and Lily” In 1773, Silence and her family fear the war will come to Boston. All Silence wants is the chance to spend time with her horse, Lily. Then, in the days leading up to Boston Tea Party, Silence learns someone has been taking Lily at night to secret meetings. Where men talk of overthrowing the king. Silence is angry that Lily is being put in danger, but, even worse, she learns her entire family is in danger. She resolves to do something drastic, or she could lose Lily forever. “Fever 1793” Fourteen-year-old Mattie Cooke lives with her widowed mother and her grandfather over the coffehouse they run in Philadelphia in 1793. Rumors of disease hit close to home when the serving girl dies of yellow fever. Soon churchbells are ringing daily for the dead. Residents are panicked as it becomes clear that no one is immune to the disease. This begins Mattie’s journey of coping and survival as the disease decimates the city, turning it into a ghost town and Mattie into an orphan. “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing” Octavian is a young, black slave living in a Boston household of radical scientists and philosophers calling themselves, The Novanglian College of Lucidity. He and his mother, an African princess, are kept isolated from everyone on the estate. As he grows older he realizes, that, although, he is well dressed, well fed, and well educated he is a captive. His guardians are using him as part of a psychological study designed to learn whether Africans are “a separate and distinct species” from Europeans. This Revolution-era novel is powerful and well written covering issues such as slavery, human rights, racism and free will. “1776” Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough’s offers fresh insights into the suffering and misfortune of the Continental Army. Rather than focus on an individual, McCullough focuses on the year 1776 and the fight for independence. This meticulously researched book is history writing at its best. “Johnny One Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution” John Stocking has grown up in a brothel in New York City. His mother is Gert, who runs the bordello. His father is unknown. John is a double agent who saves Benedict Arnold from death, consoles George Washington and befriends British commanders. Well-written, humorous and a little naughty, Charyn paints a vivid picture of this tumultuous era. These books and many others can be checked out at the Hilltop Library, 511 S. Hague Ave., or at a Columbus Metropolitan Library branch closest to you. Wendy Morano is the teen services librarian at the Hilltop Library.
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