"Five Smooth Stones relates a year’s worth of diary entries by Hope Potter, a nine-year-old girl in a patriot family living in Philadelphia. Hope’s parents are bakers, and she both she and her thirteen-year-old brother Ethan go to school and help with the baking and chores at home. When Hope’s diary begins, their father has been away for several months on a mission for the patriots, and the family is worried about what might have happened to him as the months pass without word. Has he been injured or taken captive? Has he gone over to the Loyalist side and abandoned them? The Potters’ difficulties continue to mount as their neighbor is killed by an accident with rebel ammunition, their bakery business struggles without their father’s labor, and they hear growing rumors of a British invasion.
Hope is a plucky and likable character, and the story moves forward at a brisk pace. The author’s attempts to write in an archaic style of English sometimes come across as stiff, but overall Hope’s voice is a relatable one. An author’s note provides additional information about the Revolutionary War, Philadelphia, and the historical figures that served as inspiration for some of the book’s characters."--from Mary Donovan, Oak Lawn Public Library Youth Services
112 pages 978-0439148276 Ages 7-10
Keywords: historical fiction, diary, girls and women, family life, American Revolution, fathers, trilogy, chapter book, part of a series, 7 year old, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old
