This great series is about a young girl growing up in the 1850s. The series starts out with Jane Peck living with her father in Philadelphia and it takes her on a journey to the frontier wilderness of what is now the coast of Washington State.We see Jane making lots of bad choices and decisions while attending Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy in Philadelphia (attending the school in the first place, for example). She goes from her home in the east to the Land of the Chinooks in the west. It is here where the Indians name her Boston Jane.Throughout the three books we cheer Jane on as she grows from the silly girl she once was, to a strong, independent, kind, young woman. It's so much fun to meet her rowdy, noisy, wonderful, free spirited new friends that become her family in the west. It takes her a long time to let go of all the rules she thought were important in her former east coast life and adapt to the new world of the west, with all its beauty, loveliness and injustices.The stories are fun, sad and thrilling and Jane is such a likeable guide and heroine through this highly recommended historical fiction series.
272 pages 978-0375862045 Ages 8-12
The three books in the series are:
Boston Jane: An Adventure 2001Boston Jane: Wilderness Days 2002Boston Jane: The Claim 2004
Read Alikes: Hattie Big Sky, Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson; Bread and Roses by Katherine Paterson; Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell; Lyddie by Katherine Paterson; Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages; White Sands Red Menace by Ellen Klages
Recommended by: Rosemarie Kistenmacher, Maryland USA
