Books in Living History series

Mystery surrounds the young peasant boy known as Big John. Raised during the strife-filled days of the reign of King John of England, his life is one day changed when a knight says, in passing, “You remind me of someone—someone I once knew and loved.” It is from “Old Marm,” the herb woman, that John understands that injustice has been done his family. Though never telling him the family name lest he unwittingly betray himself, she does all she can to prepare him to one day reclaim his name and family honor. Then Old Marm dies, and John is left without a clue to his identity. In the next years John’s unusual size and strength and the knowledge he has gained of letters and of the art of healing earn him a place as page to an earl organizing the 5th Crusade. In the Holy Land John searches for a father he hopes is living still. Amidst battle, capture and setbacks, John—now a squire to a Knight Hospitaller—encounters Francis of Assisi, who had come to the Holy Land just at this time to preach the Gospel to the Saracens. It is another meeting that changes the course of Big John’s life. .

Friendship springs up between a boy who has lost his voice and his mother at the same tragic moment, and an ailing albino deer sent from China as a gift to the King of Spain. It is Lalo's task to nurture the deer back to health so that he will be well enough for the voyage to Spain. This story of Mexico in 1630 follows young Lalo on his journey back to the Mountain of the Sleeping Lady. By the Newbery Award-winning author of My Heart Lies South. Ages 9 and up

*** Child Study Association Book of the Year Award Winner ***An epic historical adventure that takes young readers from The Boston Massacre to the Battle of Bunker Hill...The year is 1769, and wealthy merchant John Treegate is a solid citizen of Boston, who is loyal to his British King. John has taught his eleven-year-old son Peter to be loyal too, and wanting nothing more than his father's approval, Peter always does as told.But when his father is called back to England on business, Peter is left behind and apprenticed to a maker of barrel staves. Alone and feeling abandoned, Peter experiences the hardships of Boston's working class citizens for the first time.When Peter is framed for murder and with no father at home to protect him, Peter is forced to flee Boston on a smuggler's brig, sending him on a series of adventures on the high seas and across the untamed lands of the Carolinas that will challenge everything his father ever taught him to believe about England, America, and the impending Revolutionary War..."Of all the wars of which I have knowledge, I believe that none was as important for the Western World as the War of the American Revolution. Indeed, I regard it as the most important struggle in the history of Western Man."--Leonard WibberleyJohn Treegate's Musket is the first in a seven-book series, which makes a great companion to study the Revolutionary War era.Recommended reading in the Seton Home Study Guide for Grade 8.THE TREEGATE BOOK SERIES:Book 1: John Treegate's MusketBook 2: Peter Treegate's WarBook 3: Sea Captain from SalemBook 4: Treegate's RaidersBook 5: Leopard's PreyBook 6: Manly Treegate Frontiersman (formerly titled Red Pawns)Book 7: The Last BattleEach book in the series is complete to itself and can be enjoyed if read in any order. However, for greatest reading pleasure, it's recommended that the books be read in sequence.The acclaimed seven-book series chronicling the adventures of the generations of the Treegate family from the birth of the Revolutionary War through the War of 1812, ending at the Battle of New Orleans is also available in a 7-Book Bundle exclusively on Kindle.