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Autumn 2010 Kids' Next List
“Weaving present and past, Giff connects one girl's life to her distance relative's Revolutionary War story. Elizabeth starts this exploration when she is sent to stay with her spinster aunt and she discovers an old drawing that looks just like her. Elizabeth has to learn more than just her genealogy to make it through this difficult stretch, but love works in many ways. Giff brings the past to life, making it as real as the present.”
— Margaret Brennan Neville, The King's English, Salt Lake City, UT
Description
Elizabeth is drawn into a dramatic story from the American Revolution when she discovers a portrait of her ancestor, a girl called Zee, who has a striking resemblance to Elizabeth. The girls' lives intertwine and Elizabeth's present-day story alternates with Zee's. As Elizabeth learns about Zee, and walks where Zee once walked and battles raged, the past becomes as vivid and real as the present.
About the Author
PATRICIA REILLY GIFF is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Several of her novels for older readers have been chosen as ALA-ALSC Notable Books and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. They include The Gift of the Pirate Queen; All the Way Home; Water Street; Nory Ryan's Song, a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction; and the Newbery Honor Books Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Lily's Crossing was also chosen as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book. Her most recent books are Number One Kid, Big Whopper, Flying Feet, Eleven, and Wild Girl.