What do you think?
Rate this book
American Adventure #31
The New Citizen
History comes alive for eight-to-twelve year olds in this close-up, fun-to-read, multi-generational story of a fictional family spanning three centuries of actual historical events. God's hand is seen at work in people's lives and in the events that shaped our nation.
Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
About the author
Veda Boyd Jones
93 books27 followersVeda Boyd Jones enjoys the challenge of writing for diverse readers. She is the author of forty-two books: five children's historical novels, twenty-one children's biographies, three children's nonfiction books, three picture books, nine romance novels, and a coloring book. Other published works include over 400 articles and stories in children's and adult magazines (Cricket, Highlights, Humpty Dumpty, The Writer, Writer's Digest, Woman's World, etc.), articles in reference books, and five romance novellas. Veda has taught writing at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri, and currently teaches for the Institute of Children's Literature. She and her husband, Jimmie, an architect, have three sons, Landon, Morgan, and Marshall.
Veda is a previous winner of the Writer's Digest Writing Competition in the articles division for a children's profile of Rachel Carson. Her romance novel Callie's Mountain was voted best contemporary in the annual readers' poll by Heartsong Presents a few years ago. Among her awards through the years from the Missouri Writer's Guild are Best Magazine Article, Best Historical Article, Best Adult Fiction, Best Children's Fiction, Best Children's Book, and Best Romance Novel.
Joe's Ghost is now available on Amazon Kindle.
Veda is a previous winner of the Writer's Digest Writing Competition in the articles division for a children's profile of Rachel Carson. Her romance novel Callie's Mountain was voted best contemporary in the annual readers' poll by Heartsong Presents a few years ago. Among her awards through the years from the Missouri Writer's Guild are Best Magazine Article, Best Historical Article, Best Adult Fiction, Best Children's Fiction, Best Children's Book, and Best Romance Novel.
Joe's Ghost is now available on Amazon Kindle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 11, 2016
This book was a who done it! Very good read!
The "Note to Readers " says that the Morgan & Stevenson families are fictional, but the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt to Minneapolis happened. Automobiles were expensive because Henry Ford hadn't yet invented the assembly line, & it was much easier for immigrants to become citizens.
The story begins with things changing in Maureen O'Callaghan Stevenson 's life. She was walking along the creek with her adopted cousin, Mark Morgan, when she tried to get the thing caught on a log. Mark asked what she was doing. Mark reached it with a branch. After the ice cracked, the force of the purse coming loose knocked them over! Since men didn't carry handbags, there were only 100,000 people in Minneapolis who it might belong to! One of the papers in the bag had Mrs. Franklin Figg's name on it. She was said to be eccentric since her husband had died , so they decided to go together to return the bag. But why would she harm them? When they got to the door they discussed who should knock. Maureen felt she understood the woman because both had had a death in the family. When Mrs. Figg greeted them, Maureen realized she was Irish because she sounded like her mama had. Mrs. Figg led them to a large room. After taking the bag, she asked their names & Maureen introduced herself & her cousin. Mrs. Figg asked where in Ireland Maureen was from & they exchanged Irish info. Maureen told about coming to America & the death of her parents. As she had mourned, her mama's employer, Elise Stevenson, told her she would start legal proceedings to adopt her. Mrs. Figg had stayed away from others for the 2 years since her husband's death, and Maureen told her she should start getting out. Telling about her mama had helped her and she was sure it would help Mrs. Figg. Ruthie, Mrs. Figg's parrot, came in the room saying "Put your hands up!", which they did, making Mrs. Figg laugh. Before they left, Mrs. Figg invited them back to discuss the reward for returning her purse.
The "Note to Readers " says that the Morgan & Stevenson families are fictional, but the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt to Minneapolis happened. Automobiles were expensive because Henry Ford hadn't yet invented the assembly line, & it was much easier for immigrants to become citizens.
The story begins with things changing in Maureen O'Callaghan Stevenson 's life. She was walking along the creek with her adopted cousin, Mark Morgan, when she tried to get the thing caught on a log. Mark asked what she was doing. Mark reached it with a branch. After the ice cracked, the force of the purse coming loose knocked them over! Since men didn't carry handbags, there were only 100,000 people in Minneapolis who it might belong to! One of the papers in the bag had Mrs. Franklin Figg's name on it. She was said to be eccentric since her husband had died , so they decided to go together to return the bag. But why would she harm them? When they got to the door they discussed who should knock. Maureen felt she understood the woman because both had had a death in the family. When Mrs. Figg greeted them, Maureen realized she was Irish because she sounded like her mama had. Mrs. Figg led them to a large room. After taking the bag, she asked their names & Maureen introduced herself & her cousin. Mrs. Figg asked where in Ireland Maureen was from & they exchanged Irish info. Maureen told about coming to America & the death of her parents. As she had mourned, her mama's employer, Elise Stevenson, told her she would start legal proceedings to adopt her. Mrs. Figg had stayed away from others for the 2 years since her husband's death, and Maureen told her she should start getting out. Telling about her mama had helped her and she was sure it would help Mrs. Figg. Ruthie, Mrs. Figg's parrot, came in the room saying "Put your hands up!", which they did, making Mrs. Figg laugh. Before they left, Mrs. Figg invited them back to discuss the reward for returning her purse.
Displaying 1 of 1 review