Books with author Susan Provost Beller

Fourteen year old Hannah Scholten has a problem. The problem is her father who refuses to recognize she is growing up. Yes, she is afraid of everything. Yes, she couldn’t even stay in the room when her baby brother was born and help the midwife. But Papa is the problem, and with her older brother off at war, he is punishing her by making her do all the farm chores. But then the family gets a telegram. Hannah’s brother, Jacob, has been shot in a battle right here in Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg. Of course Mama and Papa will want to go care for Jacob and she will be able to prove how mature she is by handling the farm. But it is too soon for Mama to travel. And Papa is cruel in his comments: “Do you think I’d trust you to take care of the farm while I was gone?” In a moment of anger, Hannah finds her courage and runs away from home to care for her older brother. . Arriving at Gettysburg, that courage deserts her when she confronts the stench of rotting, unburied horses on the battlefield, the scavengers picking over the bodies and the horrible smells of the hospital tents. But she manages to control her stomach (most of the time) and take care of her brother. Circumstances finally force her to grow up when she meets a wounded Confederate soldier and becomes his friend. Hannah is changing in spite of herself, learning that the world is more complicated than she had thought. But will that be enough to make her face Papa?

Roots for Kids is based on a twelve-week course the author developed for her fourth grade class. While the book is suitable for adoption by teachers seeking to supplement their middle school social studies curriculum with material on family history, its principal use will be by and with individual young people. The author moves slowly and carefully, as she takes young readers through an introduction to genealogy, to discussions of their families and their parents families . . . learning how to ask questions (oral history) . . . researching local, state and national records . . . using libraries and historical societies . . . much more. In short, Roots for Kids will teach youngsters how to create a simple family tree and give them both the tools and appetite to learn more about their roots and to uncover the stories and events that make them and their families unique.