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For the 1987 Vietnam war documentary, see Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.

Dear America is a series of historical fiction novels for children published by Scholastic starting in 1996. By 1998, the series had 12 titles with 3.5 million copies in print.[1] The series was canceled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during important events or time periods in American history. The Dear America series covers a wide range of topics, including: the Pilgrims' journey to the New World, the Salem Witch Trials, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, western expansion, slavery, immigration, nineteenth-century prairie life, the California Gold Rush of 1849, the Great Depression, Native Americans' experiences, racism, coal mining, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the fight for women's suffrage, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Battle of the Alamo, the Vietnam War, and more. The breadth of historical topics covered in these books through fiction makes the Dear America series a favorite teaching device of history schoolteachers around the country. The re-launch series and releases contain a new cover style and different pictures of the main characters than those of the original releases. Originally all the books had a ribbon inserted as a bookmark for the books but were removed in the later releases. Several of the stories were filmed and released on videotape.

Original series

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There are thirty-six books in the original Dear America series:

2010 Re-launch

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The Dear America series was relaunched in September 2010 with their first new book since 2004, The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson, set during World War II, as well as re-releases of earlier books. New books for 2011 include Like the Willow Tree, Cannons at Dawn (the sequel to The Winter of Red Snow and the first sequel in the series), With the Might of Angels, Behind the Masks, A City Tossed and Broken, and Down the Rabbit Hole. There have also been new editions of several earlier books released in 2011.

Books in the relaunched Dear America series:

  • A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky (September 2010)
  • The Winter of Red Snow: The Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777 by Kristiana Gregory (September 2010)
  • The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson (September 2010)[5][6]
  • Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White (November 2010)
  • A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 by Patricia McKissack (January 2011)
  • Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918 by Lois Lowry (January 2011)[7]
  • A Light in the Storm: The Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861 by Karen Hesse (March 2011)
  • When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg (April 2011)
  • Cannons at Dawn: The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1779 by Kristiana Gregory (May 2011)
  • Standing in the Light: The Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Pope Osborne (May 2011)
  • I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865 by Joyce Hansen (July 2011)
  • With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia, 1954 by Andrea Davis Pinkney (September 2011)
  • I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (September 2011)
  • Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880 by Susan Patron (January 2012)[8]
  • Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Diary of Hattie Campbell, The Oregon Trail, 1847 by Kristiana Gregory (April 2012)
  • Christmas After All: The Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 by Kathryn Lasky (September 2012)
  • A City Tossed and Broken: The Diary of Minnie Bonner, San Francisco, California, 1906 by Judy Blundell (March 2013)[9]
  • Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose, Chicago, Illinois, 1871 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (March 2013)[10]
  • Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City, 1909 by Deborah Hopkinson (January 2014)

Spin-offs

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Three other book series, like Dear America, were also published by Scholastic:

  • My Name is America, a series of fictional journals of young men during American history
  • My America, a series of fictional diaries of young children during American history
  • The Royal Diaries, a series of fictional journals about the teenage years of famous royal women throughout world history.

Most of the "America" or "Royal" diaries are women and girls experiences.

In addition, several of Scholastic's international divisions have published series inspired by the Dear America series:

  • Dear Canada, published by Scholastic Canada
  • I Am Canada, published by Scholastic Canada
  • My Story published by Scholastic UK. This series re-publishes at least three of the Dear America books: A Journey to the New World (as Mayflower), A Picture of Freedom (as Slave Girl), and Voyage on the Great Titanic.
  • My Australian Story published by Scholastic Australia
  • My Story published by Scholastic New Zealand
  • Dear India and A Princess's Diary published by Scholastic India

Other, Non-Scholastic series, spin-offs include:

  • Diarios Mexicanos published by Planeta (Spanish only)
  • Mon Histoire published by Gallimard jeunesse (French only)

References

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  1. ^ "PW: Breaking Out of Format Formulas". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  2. ^ "Children's Book Review: A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  3. ^ Reese, Debbie. "Authenticity and Sensitivity: Goals for writing and reviewing books with Native American themes". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  4. ^ "Children's Book Review: Dear America: Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  5. ^ THE FENCES BETWEEN US | Kirkus Reviews.
  6. ^ "The Fences Between Us". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  7. ^ LIKE THE WILLOW TREE | Kirkus Reviews.
  8. ^ BEHIND THE MASKS | Kirkus Reviews.
  9. ^ A CITY TOSSED AND BROKEN | Kirkus Reviews.
  10. ^ DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE | Kirkus Reviews.
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