New Hampshire Books

All ten-year-old Rebecca Percy and her younger sister Selinda could do was watch in horror from their hiding place as Abenaki Indians captured their parents and baby brother and burned their New Hampshire frontier home to the ground one dark night in 1752. Two years later, the sisters live with the kind Widow Tyler at a nearby fort. Rebecca helps with chores, and Selinda has hired herself out as a maid to the cruel Cutter family. At the same time that the sisters learn that the Cutters plan to return to civilization before Selinda's contract is up, and plan to take Selinda with them, the soldiers bring a boy rescued from captivity among the Abenaki to the fort. Widow Tyler takes the boy, Isaac, in. But after spending most of his childhood in captivity, Isaac is more Indian than English, and seems to want to return to the Abenaki family that adopted him after he was captured. Rebecca doesn't understand how Isaac, torn from his home to live among the people who killed his family, would chose to remain with his captors rather than return to the society he was born into. After a series of thefts in the fort, Rebecca is quick to suspect Isaac, especially after the one thing that she may be able to sell to buy back Selinda's contract is stolen. To find out what happens next, and to discover who the real thief is, and to find out if Rebecca can save Selinda, read this book! It's a wonderful new book from the History Mysteries series that I recommend to readers who enjoy historical fiction. In fact, it is one of my favorites from the series.

ENEMY IN THE FORT provides a vivid glimpse of life on the New England frontier during the French and Indian War. The action begins in 1752, when Rebecca and Selinda are left homeless after an Indian raid on their family's farm. Their parents and baby brother are taken captive and their home is burned down. The girls are taken in by a sickly widow who lives inside the nearby fort. By 1754, Selinda has become indentured to another family living in the fort. At this time, the widow takes in Isaac, a settler boy who has been recaptured after being raised by the Indians. As the story develops, the family Selinda is indentured to decides to move to Connecticut. They insist on taking Selinda with them. Further, things have been disappearing from settler homes inside the fort, and some of the settlers are openly hostile towards Isaac. Rebecca's effort to prevent her sister from being taken away becomes entangled in the series of thefts. Is Isaac responsible for the thefts? Can Rebecca keep Selinda from being separated from her?

As with other tales in the "History Mystery" series, the reader is drawn into a genuine historical setting. The problems faced by the young protagonists are real and their resolution requires courage and resolve. This particular story also has a rather involved plot and requires the main character to re-examine some deeply held feelings and beliefs. In short, there's plenty here to hold your attention.

I read this book with my daughter. She pushed to keep reading, so I know it caught and held her interest. When we finished it, however, her comment was that she didn't like it as much as some other books in the series, mostly because she didn't like the ending. I can understand her feelings. Some aspects of the story aren't tied up as neatly as a young reader might wish. For example, no immediate price is paid for the theft of Rebecca's spoons, nor does she recover them. The outcome is realistic, given the circumstances, but not entirely satisfying. I, on the other hand, thought the involved plot, complex characterization, and realistic ending made this one of the best books in the "History Mystery" series. You be the judge. At the least, I think you'll find this story isn't easy to put down.

This was a truly wonderful and accessible book about Native American educational achievment. The story of Dartmouth College and its relationship to Native American education is captivating. The honesty of the students is at time heartbreaking and yet is continually inspiring.

Garrod & Larimore's First Person, First Peoples is a fine collection of personal accounts of leaving home. The stories are at once unique and universal. They are expressive of an experience to which Native Americans can truly relate, and yet, set on the campus of one of America's most selective colleges, the stories are from a elite few who may be speaking of an experience that is virtually impossible to share. This is valuable as an oral history, and perhaps more importantly, as a voice of the Native American which remains too infrequently captured. Still, we must find those voices which are seldom heard, rather than continuing the habit of letting the elite culture speak for us all.

Good source of information, but...has absolutely no photos! It's pretty hard to want to travel somewhere when you have no idea what the place looks like. Still, while traveling this book is quite useful.

i believe this book to be very useful. it not only gives you a variety of accomodations but many price ranges as well. the list of attractions is always accurate and explained very well. i recommend this book to anyone traveling anywhere! i have also used this good for Europe and it was fabulous. dates and times that sights were open was very accurate which made planning my trip very easy.

We have just returned from our trip to the 3 states and we found the guide helpful, more in the planning than in the actual trip itself. I would suggest this and one of the other guides, like Froemmer, as well as searching the net for options. One negative-the map that is included in not of a scale that is helpful to the driver. Too many missing roads. The maps in the sections, as well as the numbering system for attractions, are a plus. They also left a few note pages in the back, thoughtfully, so you may keep them with the book easily.

FODOR'S MAINE, VERMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 10TH EDITION is a great book about New England's northern section. In addition to where the best lodging, shopping, and dining are, it also describes plenty of outdoor activity ideas for anyone trying to look good for their significant other and/or their favorite celebrity. If any of those things are important to you, you need this book.

I checked this out from the library and my 3 year old son LOVES this book! I have found myself pulling it out to read to my 6 month old because it is so much fun to real aloud. The language is "downhome" and I can hear my Texan drawl come out as I read about Lil Fella to my children. My three year old smiles and doesn't take his eyes off the pages. Wonderful illustrations, although Ruby is a bit odd.

Folks who like this book will also like MORE, MORE, MORE by Vera B. Williams, which has the same kind of nurturing flow to it.

The pictures in this book were pretty good. And the text was OK. They worked well together. I had a little trouble keeping the names of the five sisters straight. And the concept of a "granite baby" threw me for a loop for a bit. I expected the granite baby to be like a statue. Instead this one moved and cried a lot. There are 16 scenes in this book, almost all of which are two pages wide.

The story is a Paul Bunyan type tall tale set in Paul Bunyan land (upper New England). It is about 5 giant sisters who decide to create a son out of rock. The story is about how they learn to take care of their son.

I would have liked the book better if one of the sisters had given birth to the kid. And I would have liked it better if the illustrations had been done in a different style so I could have remembered the names of the sisters more easily. 4 stars!

I started using these cards last year when my husband and I wanted inspiration for hikes in the nearby Whites. I'm often giving other hikers bits of information off of the cards about views of nearby mtns and lakes, climbing distances between different points etc. When they see how well the cards are designed, they always want a set of their own.

These are the coolest. I hope she does some more sets.

I'm a beginner when it comes to hiking in the White Mountains, so this package of cards and recommendations has come in very handy. We just sit around in the morning in our camp, I read through the cards, and we vote on where to go. I put the guide card in my pocket and we take off, with very detailed descriptions to keep us from getting lost (and as a beginner this is always a problem). The cards contain information and descriptions of various hikes--from easy to difficult--including miles, time, shorter routes, longer routes, and general warnings such as "don't go near ledge--slippery when wet." This book has provided some wonderful hikes for my family--I just wish there were more guides like this. You can easily do all the hikes in one or two seasons.

Dr. William Child was my Great-Great-Great Grandfather. I have read his regimental many times throughout my life. This book is THE history of the Fifth....it is well written and complete in detail.
"Great Grandfather" Child, as he has always been known to me, was a wonderful writer. During his time at war, he also wrote over 160 letters to his wife Carrie, back at home in Bath New Hampshire. All of his letters have reciently been published in a new book titled "Letters from a Civil War Surgeon".

Here's a description of the new book:
"The letters of Dr. William Child, of the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers, are now published for the first time. With 176 halftones including over 150 pictures of the original letters next to the text transcribed by Dr. Child's descendents, the entire collection is here.

The compassionate strength that gets him through the war makes Dr. Child a writer of wit, humor, candor, understanding, emotion and fact. His writings take us into the war, into his time, as we relive most of the major battles, the struggles, and are given special insights into the politics of his time. His words and honest assessment of the war give us an understanding that can help heal the wounds that still divide us, for he unites the country with letters that have balanced insights. As a witness to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, he writes an eyewitness account that leaves you speechless."

"Letters from a Civil War Surgeon" is also an excellent read!

The 5th New Hampshire Volunteers sustained the greatest loss in battle of any infantry or cavalry unit in the American Civil War. Follow their trials and obsticles in the Seven Days Campaign, Antietam and Fredericksburg, to their glorious victories at Gettysberg, Petersberg and Appomattox. Several photo's, complete roster and muster rolls. A most for any serious Civil War student.

Arcadia press has a great formula taking historic photos and captions to create local history books. It was interesting seeing the early buildings and people and events of Milton in New Hampshire. The captions supplement the photos but are a bit limited in their information in this Arcadia book. It was arranged in a topical fashion rather than chronologically.

This book gives an excellent overview of early small town history. The author gives us insight into the lives of Miltons residents and takes us on a visual tour of our hometown. It's wonderful to see how "our" houses have changed over the past century. The chapter on The New hampshire Farm Museum made me want to tour this amazing set of early farm buildings again, with new eyes. Miss Ricker made me feel like I knew Emma Jones. Excellent book, Highly recommend.

If you are interested in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont history,then this book is for you. It was fun to see some of the places listed and know where the name came from.

This is a spare but informative little volume that will inform you about the origin of many place names in the nation's three northeasternmost states. Originally published in 1909, the book begins with a preface respectful of the region's aborigines and an introduction that discusses the principal tribes of the area; these are articulate and thoughtful, and a real pleasure to read. There are chapters for each state (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) with brief, alphabetically-arranged entries of Native American names, many translated, for cities, towns, rivers, streams, lakes, waterfalls and islands.

The book concludes with a list and short descriptions of the regional tribes, a list of Abnaki words and a bibliography.

The absence of Lisa Carver is a glaring and disappointing omission in this otherwise fine book. She is easily one of the most creative, intelligent and influential artists to come from New Hampshire (Dover, to be exact)in the last century. If you are unfamiliar with her, she recently penned a memoir called "Drugs Are Nice: A Post-Punk Memoir." Read it and discover an incontestable New Hampshire talent!

This is a treasure of interesting stories about the colorful people of New Hampshire.