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Torchlight
Charlotte was a Yankee and Maggie was Irish. In 1850’s Westfield their budding friendship was a problem. Charlotte listened as suppertime conversations became heated debates. Even her Aunt Lucy and her brother Zach were full of venom toward the Irish. As tensions between the two communities rose, rumors began to fly, and fists soon followed.
Author Carol Otis Hurst captures...more
Author Carol Otis Hurst captures...more
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published
October 23rd 2006
by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
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Based on a true story from Westfield, Massachusetts, Torchlight recounts the tensions that led to the attempted arson of an Irish Catholic church by a mob of Yankee Protestants, as seen through the eyes of two young girls. Maggie, an Irish girl and Charlotte, a Yankee orphan being raised by her well to do Aunt and Uncle, form an unlikely friendship while attending Westfield’s first integrated (Yankee and Irish) school. The narrative is told partially through dialogue between the two girls, and p...more
Disappointingly, the story ends very abruptly. We all know how it ends because it's based on history, but the characters themselves were invented, so why not work out an actual ending for them?
This was a good one! I never knew about the Yankee/Irish segregation in early America ... Enjoyed this.
Oct 10, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
read-childrens-books,
read-historical-fiction
While the subject (anti-Irish prejudice in New England) was
interesting, the book was a disappointing read. I think it was too short-- the story needed more fleshing out. Based on a true incident.
interesting, the book was a disappointing read. I think it was too short-- the story needed more fleshing out. Based on a true incident.
Mar 27, 2013
Paige Langless
marked it as to-read
Jan 10, 2013
Pam
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Jun 16, 2011
Robert Lewis
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Feb 16, 2011
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Nov 08, 2010
Kelli
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Apr 01, 2008
Stacy
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Apr 01, 2008
Angie
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Mar 06, 2008
Shelly
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