In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In the ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor, The Crucible mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s.
Samuel, 13, spends his days in the forest, hunting for food for his family. He has grown up on the frontier of a British colony, America. Far from any town, or news of the war against the King that American patriots have begun near Boston.
The young soldiers at Valley Forge are suffering from hunger, cold, and the threat of the British army. Their newly forged bonds of friendship might be enough to help them survive. But the chains of Curzon's past threaten to shackle him again.
This young adult novel, which successfully captures the pain of the Revolutionary War, is a fine example of historical fiction. The American Revolution was a war that divided families (English loyalists versus eager Patriots) and one of the families being torn apart is the Meeker family.
Curriculum ideas centered around the Portrait of a Colonial Silversmith by John Singleton Copley, housed at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. Teachers will have to wade through some repetitive info and the occasional broken link to find useful ideas, but the concept fits perfectly within the 4th grade Interdependent Roles in Colonial Times Module.
