Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I think this was the result of a random search through the library's juvenile historical fiction. I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. I've been discovering some great reads there!    Title: Nothing Else But Miracles Author: Kate Albus, read by Carrie Coello Publication Info: Tantor Audio, 2023. 7 hours. Hardback published 2023 by Margaret Ferguson Books, 288 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Blurb : Twelve-year-old Dory Byrne lives with her brothers on New York City's Lower East Side, waiting impatiently through the darkest hours of World War II for her pop to come home from fighting Hitler. Legally speaking, Dory's brother, Fish, isn't old enough to be in charge of Dory and her younger brother, Pike, but the neighborhood knows the score and, like Pop always says, "the neighborhoo...

I will admit to being a little mystified here. It appears that this book was originally published (in 1980) as a much longer adult novel. I had been expecting middle-grade, but at the youngest I would call this YA, given a fair number of rather adult incidents, not to mention a morally ambiguous resolution. The version I got was "updated in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic," a central event in the book.     Title: Amanda/Miranda Author: Richard Peck Publication Info: Abridged edition 1999 by Dial Books for Young Readers; Kindle edition by Speak, 2001. 176 pages. Publisher's Blurb: This updated edition of the popular Richard Peck novel, available in time to commemorate the anniversary of the Titanic's fateful voyage in 1912, starts with a chilling prophecy. When Miranda begins her position as maid-servant to the glamorous and selfish Amanda Whitwell, Amanda wastes no time in using Miranda to suit her own cruel purposes. Miranda becomes ...

A flawed but still gripping sequel to I Lived on Butterfly Hill , which I reviewed in 2015 . Title: The Maps of Memory: Return to Butterfly Hill Author: Marjorie Agosín, read by Kyla Garcia Publication Info: Audio Book 2021, Tantor Media. 7hours 47 min. Hardback published 2020 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 368 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: In this inspiring sequel to the Pura Belpré Award–winning, “dazzling and insightful” ( BCCB ) I Lived on Butterfly Hill , thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to a very different Chile and makes it her mission to rebuild her community, and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi’s time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valparaíso, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she’s finally returned home to find the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Celeste is determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill get bac...

It's been a long time since I had a middle-grade review, but I finally picked up a couple of audio books at the library and jumped back in.   Title: Author: Linda Williams Jackson, narrated by Reginald James Publication Info: Source: Publisher's Blurb: Award-winning author Linda Williams Jackson pulls from her own childhood in the Mississippi Delta to tell the story of Ellis Earl, who dreams of a real house, food enough for the whole family—and to be someone. It’s 1967, and eleven-year-old Ellis Earl Brown has big dreams. He’s going to grow up to be a teacher or a lawyer—or maybe both—and live in a big brick house in town. There’ll always be enough food in the icebox, and his mama won’t have to run herself ragged looking for work as a maid in order to support Ellis Earl and his eight siblings and niece, Vera. So Ellis Earl applies himself at school, soaking up the lessons that Mr. Foster teaches his class—particularly those about famous colored people like Mr. Thur...

Sometimes the library really comes through. They got me this March release by Maisie Dobbs author Jacqueline Winspear much faster than I had any reason to expect!     Title: The White Lady Author: Jacqueline Winspear Publication Info: Harper Collins, 2023. 321 pages (hardback or Kindle). Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: The White Lady introduces yet another extraordinary heroine from Jacqueline Winspear, creator of the best-selling Maisie Dobbs series. This heart-stopping novel, set in Post WWII Britain in 1947, follows the coming of age and maturity of former wartime operative Elinor White—veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity—when she is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind. A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The p...

I'm doing a two-fer here, reviewing Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and The Other Side of the River together, since having read the first I went and jumped right into the second.      Title: Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and The Other Side of the River Author: Alda P. Dobbs Publication Info: 2021 and 2022 by Sourcebooks. As ebooks, 264 pages and 242 pages respectively Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb (Barefoot Dreams): It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna's mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left―her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito―until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbor in a world that offers none. Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read....

Title: Sweet Home Alaska Author: Carole Estby Dagg Publication Info: Nancy Paulson Books, 2016. 298 pages, Kindle edition Source: Library digital resources (Overdrive) Publisher's Blurb: Terpsichore can’t wait to follow in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s footsteps . . . now she just has to convince her mom. It’s 1934, and times are tough for their family. To make a fresh start, Terpsichore’s father signs up for President Roosevelt’s Palmer Colony project, uprooting them from Wisconsin to become pioneers in Alaska. Their new home is a bit of a shock—it’s a town still under construction in the middle of the wilderness, where the residents live in tents and share a community outhouse. But Terpsichore’s not about to let first impressions get in the way of this grand adventure. Tackling its many unique challenges with her can-do attitude, she starts making things happen to make Alaska seem more like home. Soon, she and her family are able to start settling in and enjoying their new su...

Title: Girl Waits with Gun Author: Amy Stewart, read by Christina Moore Publication Info: Recorded Books, 2015, 11 hours. Original Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 408 pages Source: Library Digital Resources Publisher's Blurb: In 1914, collisions between motor cars and horse-drawn carriages are an everyday occurrence on the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. But when an out-of-control driver smashes into a buggy driven by Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp, their lives change forever. Constance, the oldest, demands payment for the damages, but quickly realizes that she is dealing with a madman - Henry Kaufman, a silk manufacturer with a drinking problem and a dangerous group of associates. Soon the Kopp home is under siege. The sisters face threats of arson, kidnapping and white slavery. Bricks come flying through their windows, and shots are fired at their house late at night.  Even the sheriff can't solve the case on his own. He issues revolvers to the Kopp sisters...

  Title: Echo Mountain Author: Lauren Wolk Publication Info: Listening Library, 2020. 9 hours 14 min. Hardback published 2020, Dutton Books for Young Readers, 356 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: When the Great Depression takes almost everything they own, Ellie's family is forced to leave their home in town and start over in the untamed forests of nearby Echo Mountain. Ellie has found a welcome freedom, and a love of the natural world, in her new life on the mountain. But there is little joy, even for Ellie, as her family struggles with the aftermath of an accident that has left her father in a coma. An accident unfairly blamed on Ellie. Determined to help her father, Ellie will make her way to the top of the mountain in search of the healing secrets of a woman known only as "the hag." But the hag, and the mountain, still have many untold stories left to reveal and, with them, a fresh chance at happiness. Echo Mountain is celebra...

This is a lousy cover, but is the cover my audiobook had. I'll share a couple of better ones at the end of the post. Title: Lyddie Author: Katherine Paterson, read by Alyssa Bresnahan Publication Info: Recorded Books, Inc., 1993. Originally by Dutton Juvenile, 1991 Source: Library digital resources Blurb (via Overdrive): Lyddie Worthen is only 13 when her family is split up and she is forced to hire herself out at Cutler's tavern. Far from home, she despairs of ever seeing her loved ones again. Desperate, Lyddie makes her way to Concord, Massachusetts where she becomes a factory girl, working as a weaver in a textile mill.  Six days a week Lyddie struggles at the back-breaking looms. In spite of the deafening noise of the machines, the sweltering heat, and the choking air thick with lint and dust, Lyddie holds onto her dream: to save enough money to pay off the family debts and bring everyone back home-together. But as Lyddie earns a reputation for being a hard and thr...

The latest in Rhys Bowen's fun "Royal Spyness" mystery series.   Title: Author:  Publication Info: Source: Publisher's Blurb: Georgie is excited for her first Christmas as a married woman in her lovely new home. She suggests to her dashing husband, Darcy, that they have a little house party, but when Darcy receives a letter from his aunt Ermintrude, there is an abrupt change in plans. She has moved to a house on the edge of the Sandringham estate, near the royal family, and wants to invite Darcy and his new bride for Christmas. Aunt Ermintrude hints that the queen would like Georgie nearby. Georgie had not known that Aunt Ermintrude was a former lady-in-waiting and close confidante of her royal highness. The letter is therefore almost a royal request, so Georgie, Darcy, and their Christmas guests: Mummy, Grandad, Fig, and Binky all head to Sandringham. Georgie soon learns that the notorious Mrs. Simpson, mistress to the Prince of Wales, will also be in att...

Title: Northwind Author: Gary Paulsen Publication Info: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2022. 256 pages Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: When a deadly plague reaches the small fish camp where he lives, an orphan named Leif is forced to take to the water in a cedar canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, navigating from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. But the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer he comes to his truest self as he connects to "the heartbeat of the ocean . . . the pulse of the sea." With hints of Nordic mythology and an irresistible narrative pull, Northwind is Gary Paulsen at his captivating, adventuresome best.   My Review: When I saw this on the library web site last fall, I had to put myself on the holds list, and was lucky to get a copy as soon as it came out. It is Gary Paulsen's last book, but as he says in the afterword, he has been writing it all his life. I think it feels l...

Title: A Place to Hang the Moon Author: Kate Albus. Read by Polly Lee Publication Info: Tantor Media, 2021. Original Margaret Ferguson, 2021, 309 pages Source: Library Publisher’s Blurb: It is 1940 and Anna, 9, Edmund, 11, and William, 12, have just lost their grandmother. Unfortunately, she left no provision for their guardianship in her will. Her solicitor comes up with a preposterous plan: he will arrange for the children to join a group of schoolchildren who are being evacuated to a village in the country, where they will live with families for the duration of the war. He also hopes that whoever takes the children on might end up willing to adopt them and become their new family--providing, of course, that the children can agree on the choice. Moving from one family to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets, and the hollowness of empty tummies. They seek comfort in the village lending library, whose kind...

  Title: Maud and Addie Author: Maureen Buchanan Jones Publication Info: May 2021 Fitzroy Books. Paperback is 240 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: In 1910, the two sisters, eleven- and twelve-year-old Maud and Addie, are eagerly anticipating their Summer Social in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. However, the event does not quite go according to plan, and the two girls are swept out to sea as they are rowing home at the day’s end. They find themselves adrift in the unforgiving North Atlantic with only the contents of a picnic hamper to sustain them and a carriage blanket to keep them warm. Finding their way through stormy seas, the girls finally make landfall on a deserted island. With string and a jackknife recovered from Maud’s pockets and a parasol and novel contributed by Addie, the girls create a world for themselves among the island dunes, keeping company with sea birds and other sea creatures. Their ensuing adventures test their wits and, in th...