Lone Star Journals

The howls got nearer and nearer . . . . We could see the pack prowling the edges of our campsite. We were surrounded by wolves and water. Late in 1835, the Mexican Army surrendered San Antonio and...

More than a century later, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 is still the largest natural disaster in American history. Pounding most of the historic island city to rubble, and claiming perhaps as many as eight thousand lives, the storm stranded Galveston’s stunned survivors without a bridge to the mainland. When the bridge was rebuilt, amazingly in eleven days, only the most stalwart—like fictive young diarist J. T. King—would choose to stay. When the hurricane hits, brave and compassionate J. T. is poised to weather and record for all time the greatest storm any American has ever survived. Extensive primary-source research forms the backbone of J. T.’s thrilling authentic and richly detailed diary. The historical appendix, complete with photos and map, is invaluable to young readers and teachers alike.

It’s spring of 1878 on the Rockin’ W, and Hallie Lou Wells is as cross as any fourteen-year-old redhead has a right to be. Roundup is over; Hallie’s father will soon drive the cattle to Dodge City—and only boys are allowed! But in country where anything can happen, something does. When Mr. Wells learns that Mrs. Wells is having another baby, he decides to stay home. Hallie persuades him to let her take his place on the drive. Hallie’s Chisholm Trail diary, rich with depictions of ranch and trail life, is filled with adventures to engage any preteen reader, girl or boy.

As any social studies or reading teacher will tell you, instilling in middle readers the ardent realization that they have stories of their own to record–that their day-to-day lives are history, too–is...