Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy (Dear America)

Patron, Susan   Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy (Dear America) Scholastic/Grolier/Childrens Press/Watts 2012      293p  $12.99      978-0-545-30437-5 ms     VG     Historical fiction     

Part of the Dear America series, this novel incorporates the real history of Bodie, a California mining town of the 1880s, and some of its actual inhabitants into its plot.  Patron tells the story of Angeline Reddy, daughter of the town’s preeminent lawyer, who is informed that her father had been murdered.   Neither she nor her mother believes it.  Angeline is determined to discover what really happened to her father, and she enlists the help of her friends Eleanor and Ling Loi to solve the mystery.  The daily life of a Wild West mining town is carefully depicted in all of its "glory", from ordinary school days to the saloon brawls, the wild miners, the vigilantes and corrupt lawmen, the narrow-minded social mores, the houses of prostitution, and the Chinese community that is relegated to the outskirts of town.  There is also a subplot involving a ghost child.  Well-written and exciting, the book ends with a description of life in the actual town of Bodie during the time of the novel, mini-discussions of the real Reddy family and others, the place of the Chinese people in the West, and black-and-white period photographs of the town and its inhabitants.  It will be a very good supplement to classroom studies.

The Dear America series presents historical fiction that incorporates real people, places, and events into its stories.  They are very good supplements to the social studies curriculum and classroom studies.   

VG    Susan Ogintz      Frontier and pioneer life