The Tamarack Tree - Hardcover

Clapp, Patricia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688028527 ISBN 13: 9780688028527

Publisher: HarperTeen, 1986

Synopsis

Orphaned at thirteen, Rosemary Leigh was transplanted from England to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1859. Four years later, to distract her from her fear as cannonballs batter the besieged city, Rosemary writes about what she has been through.

While she has been growing up, enjoying the social pleasures of a Southern young lady, the tensions between North and South have developed into civil war. Because she is English, Rosemary brings an outsider's perspective to the issues that sparked the conflict, but nonetheless she is torn between her sense of outrage at the very idea of slavery and her feelings for the Southerners she has come to love. For Rosemary, her brother Derek, and their American friends -- old and young, white and black -- the disastrous siege of Vicksburg comes as a crucial test of courage and the will to survive.

Once again, Patricia Clapp has created a heroine of wit, charm, and indomitable spirit in a vividly evoked historical setting.

About this title

About the Author

Patricia Clapp was born in Boston and attended the Columbia University School of Journalism. Her first novel, Constance: A Story of Early Plymouth, was a runner-up for the 1969 National Book Award for Children's Literature. Her other books include, I'm Deborah Sampson, King of the Dollhouse, Dr. Elizabeth, and Jane-Emily. She describes herself as primarily "a theatre person"; she has worked with her community theatre for over forty years and still writes and directs plays for children. The grandmother of ten and great-grandmother of one, Ms. Clapp lives in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9 Rosemary Leigh has come to America from England to join her brother in Vicksburg just before the start of the Civil War. She is thus caught up in the war and its causes as well as deeply involved in the seige of Vicksburg. Although at times the book reads like a history text, especially when causes of the war are explained, readers will be caught up in fate of the characters. Romantic interest is provided by a Northern artist, with whom Rosemary fights about the war, and a Southern boy who cannot, in the end, face the fighting after first greeting the war with humor and elan. Occasionally the historical events overshadow the character development, and characters are stereotypes, but aspects of life in a city under seige come through clearly, especially the hunger and the fear of shelling. Throughout the book the horrors of war are made clear. Since readers see the story through the eyes of a person with no ties to either side, they receive an unbiased view. There is a bibliography which includes a diary kept during the seige and published in 1885. Margaret C. Howell, Capitol Hill Day Sch . Lib . , Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0688028527
• ISBN 13: 9780688028527
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224