The Ribbon Book Club

Dear Diary, 

Today we accomplished a true feat by charging through the rest of Patsy's story! Join us as we power through to find out what happens to Patsy and the rest of the freed folk of Davis plantation. 

Will they ever get a teacher? Will Patsy choose her new name? 

Yours Truly, 

Cate and Jen

RibbonBookClubPod.com

@RibbonBookPod on Facebook and Instagram

Edited by Dan...

Dear Diary, 

This week we are cracking open a new book! I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl was written by Joyce Hansen and published in 1997. It was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998, which recognizes "outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that reflect the African American experience."

In this book, we meet Patsy, a 12-year-old girl who uses others' tende...

Dear Diary, 

We have a special extra treat for you! We are here with a further historical note about the Irish Famine with author, Susan Campbell Bartoletti!

Bartoletti is an author and speaker who does not shy away from tough topics in history. We had her on the show to talk about writing history and historical fiction for young readers. We also had a lot of questions for Susan about her book, Black Potatoes: The Great Irish Famin...

Dear Diary, 

This week we got to talk to Ranger Aubrey Brown who works at the Lowell National Historic Park! Aside from becoming instant best friends, we also learned a lot about the real history of Lowell, Massachusetts, and the textile mills that made it famous. 

Tune in to hear about how the city of Lowell was planned, how textile mills worked hard to recruit young women, and how those young women worked hard while pursuing th...

Dear Diary, 

On to the second half of our discussion of So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl! This time, we finally make it to Lowell and the mills! 

Mary catches on quickly to her work in the mills. Thanks, in part, to her new friend, Annie. And aren't they just great gal pals? But life in the mills is hard work. Accidents happen, the hours are long, and the cotton fibers get everywhere. Will Mary join ...

Dear Diary, 

It's new book time! And this one is a fan favorite. We're reading So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl. This is the second book in the series by Barry Denenberg and it was published in 1997. 

The story begins in Skibbereen, Ireland where Mary Driscoll lives with her Ma and Da. Ireland is in the depths of the potato famine, with Skibbereen being hit particularly hard. But hope is on the horiz...

Dear Diary, 

We got to talk to an old friend of Jen's, Chris Carey about his work at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site! Chris had some great facts to share about life on the Oregon Trail and some fresh insight into the story of the Whitman Mission. Chris also had a surprise choose-your-own-adventure game at the end of our conversation! Oregon Trail TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game) anyone? 

Yours Truly, 

Cate and Jen

Dear Diary, 

It's the second half of our recap of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell! We get to find out what happens to the Campbells and their wagon train as it continues along the trail. 

Will Hattie ever get a straight answer about what marriage is like? Will Wade ask Hattie to dance? Will the klepto Mrs. Kenker ever get caught? Tune in to find out! 

Yours Truly, 

Cate and Jen 

Dear Diary, 

We took a nice long break but we're back with another season and a new book! This week we're reading the first half of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell. It was written by Kristiana Gregory and it was published in 1997. This marks our first repeat author! 

In the book, we are introduced to Hattie Campbell, a young girl traveling the Oregon Trail with her family. Hattie lear...

Dear Diary, 

We finished our first season with a great chat with Paul Ringel! Paul is a history professor at High Point University, and an author of books including Commercializing Childhood: Children's Magazines, Urban Gentility, and the Ideal of the Child Consumer in the United States, 1823-1918 and Kid History, Inc.: Selling Children the American Past. 

We talked about Emma and Clotee's stories. What they did well and what they ...

Dear Diary, 

We finished recapping A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. McKissack, and what an incredible story! So much happened: we learned more about the abolitionists and Spicy's history, and Clotee figured out what freedom looked like to her.

An engaging and essential read. Tune in to hear more! 

Yours Truly, 

Cate and Jen 

RibbonBookClubPod.com

@RibbonBookPod on ...

Dear Diary, 

On to a new book, and boy, this one is different than the last! A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl was written by Patricia C. McKissack and was published in 1997. (a very good year!)

Clotee is a clever 12-year-old girl who works in the Big House on a plantation in Virginia and teaches herself how to read and write. She writes candidly about her opinions on slavery and those who participate in it an...

Dear Diary, 

We're back for part 2 of our discussion of When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson written by Barry Denenberg. Is it better than the first half? Wellllll...... on the plus side, there's more action! 

Tune in to find out what's in store for Emma, Tally, and Cousin Rachel. What happens when the Yankees come to town? Most importantly, should we care?

Yours Truly, 

Cate and Jen

Dear Diary, 

We've reached book 3 in the series! And it's... certainly something! Author Barry Denenberg tackles a big topic with When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson. 

We have a lot of thoughts about this book, namely, why did they choose to focus on a slave-owning white girl from the South? Tune in to hear our hot takes, bad southern accents, and odes to Ken Burns' docu-series, The Civil War. 

Yo...

Dear Diary, 

Now that we're done reading The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, we got to talk to a park ranger from Valley Forge National Historical Park! 

Ranger Beth Dhunjisha shared with us some great information about the history of the Continental Army's winter encampment of 1777-1778. We talked about myths versus reality and about teaching history to kids at a national park! 

We hope you...

Dear Diary, 

This week we finished recapping The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart. We learned about Baron Von Steuben training the Continental Army, Elizabeth learned what happened to her bounty coat, and we had a lot of feelings about George Washington and Lucy's parents! 

Tune in to hear all that, and stay tuned until the end for a very special reading of a very real diary. 

Yours Truly,...

Dear Diary, 

On to book two! This week we're recapping the first half of The Winter of Red Snow: The Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart written by Kristiana Gregory and published in 1996.

In Abigail's diary, we learn about the winter encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. We meet George Washington and Abigail's friend, Lucy. Topics of discussion include an 18th-century recipe for egg nog, bounty coats, and historical in...

Dear Diary, 

We had our first guest on the show! Tom Begley from Plimoth Patuxet Museums spoke to us about what he does at the museum, life in the early Plimoth settlement, and writing historical fiction for young readers. We had a lovely conversation, and we hope you enjoy listening to it! 

Yours truly, 

Cate and Jen 

P.S. You can find Plimoth Patuxet online at https://plimoth.org/

and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Dear Diary, 

We were so excited to sit down and talk about the second half of A Journey to the New World! In this half, we learned about the Pilgrim's first winter in Plimoth. We talked about Mem's interactions with the Native Americans and learned about the devastating effects of illness on the fledgling settlement. Spoiler alert, there's a lot that goes wrong when you start a colony in New England in the winter! 

Yours Truly, 

Je...