American diaries

Twelve-year-old Emma receives unexpected friendship from a Black roustabout and a Union soldier during an explosion on the steamboat Sultana in 1865.

When her wounded brother returns from battle, twelve-year-old Mary must get help for him without telling her father, a wealthy Tory, who has disowned his son for joining General Washington's Continental Army.

In Texas in 1886, Ellen finds her desire to be a cattle rancher discouraged by family members who do not think it a proper choice for a girl, but she proves her worth when drought threatens the ranch.

While working as an indentured servant on a plantation in Virginia in 1749, thirteen-year-old Summer must prove her innocence when her master's daughter accuses her of stealing.

When thirteen-year-old Amelina saves the life of a young Yankee spy found injured near her Louisiana home in 1863, the orphaned girl creates a dangerous situation for herself and her uncle.

Big changes in the Hollywood of 1928 threaten Rosa Moreno's dream of becoming a movie star.

Nell Dunne and her family hope to escape the poverty they have always known in Ireland and try their luck in a new land across the sea, but Nell worries that Granny Rose will be turned back at Ellis Island, and Nell will have to go back to Ireland to take care of her grandmother.