Sarah's Ground

Informationen zum Autor Ann Rinaldi is acclaimed for her historical novels, of which eight have been named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Author of more than thirty titles, she sets the standard for the genre in excellence and accuracy with her modern-day classics Wolf by the Ears and In My Father’s House. She lives in New Jersey with her husband. Klappentext All my life I have done what myfamily wanted. I have performedand made them happy. Until now. Now I have broken out on my ownSarah Tracy has spent her entire life under constant supervision, always under the thumb of one older sibling or another. Now, at eighteen it's time for her to get married, so she is sent to dinner parties, plays, teas, soirees, talks, and chaperoned walks -- always accompanied, always watched.Sarah's tired of it -- tired of being shipped around, tired of being reminded that it's time to find a suitable husband. She knows that a husband is definitely not what she wants. But the year is 1861 and it's not proper for girls of Sarah's age to be single or independent.Then Sarah sees an advertisement looking for a young woman to oversee Mount Vernon, the beloved, though now dilapidated, family home of George Washington. Intent on securing the position, she lies to her family and her potential employer, and she becomes mistress of this decaying symbol of American freedom.And then comes the American Civil War. As battles rage around her, Sarah is determined to create a haven of peace at Mount Vernon. With consummate skills, feminine wiles, and a true sense of diplomacy, Sarah single-handedly manages to keep Mount Vernon out of the war. But while she is able to influence generals, soldiers, and even the president, she learns she doesn't hold such sway over her own heart -- as she also discovers true love.Based on a true story, this is the amazing tale of one girl's path to womanhood. Chapter One My older sister, Fanny, put me in a closet once when we were children. She, being the elder, had her reasons, I suppose. I can think of half a dozen reasons right now why she may have done it. I was always a plague to Fanny. Like the time I stole her pearl hair comb when she was going to a party where Herman Melville was to be guest of honor. Mr. Melville came from Troy, New York, where I come from. We have both a small farm and a town house in Troy, across from the Hart-Cluett mansion. Life there was not dull. But it was confining. Before I made the decision to come to Washington City, my life was like I was in a closet. Always I was watched. Always I was under someone else's supervision. If it wasn't Fanny's, it was that of one of my older brothers or sisters-in-law, who were, in their own words, "taking the problem away from my parents." Or it was the teachers at Troy Female Seminary. That was on Mount Ida, above the city, where in the rarified air I learned how to stand straight, play the pianoforte, and stitch a fine seam, to say nothing of science, mathematics, French and philosophy, deportment and dancing. Always I failed deportment. "Face your problems head-on, girls. Stare them in the eye," Miss Semple used to say. She was the headmistress, and when she was not telling us to face our problems, she was telling us to express our opinions, but never to be pushy. Pushy girls were the worst sinners in her book. They were to be abhorred. She would not tolerate pushy girls at Troy Female Seminary. She never explained to us how we were supposed to face our problems head-on without being pushy. I supposed it was a secret we would all learn someday. Oh, how often I wanted to run away! If it had been sixty years earlier, I might have dressed like a man and run for a pirate ship. In George Washington's time I'd have donned breeches and a rifle frock, taken up a musket, and joined a regiment to fight the British. Or gone west, over the S...

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Ann Rinaldi
• Verlag: Simon & Schuster USA
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erschienen: 06.10.2012
• EAN: 9781442481077
• ISBN: 978-1-4424-8107-7
• Seiten: 192
• Serie: SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS YOU
• Thema: Kinder- und Jugendbücher