The Secret Soldier

Fülszöveg

When "Robert Shurtliff' enlists as a com-mon soldier in the Continental army, no one suspects there is anything unusual about him.
The new soldier serves bravely for a year and a half. It is not until he is hospi-talized with fever that his secret is dis-covered. Priváté Shurtliff is really a woman—23-year-old Deborah Sampson!
Because her mother was too poor to take care of her, Deborah had been sent away from home at an early age. For ten years, she was a servant for the Deacon Thomas family in the Massachusetts Bay Colony town of Middleborough, looking after four growing children and doing chores. Deborah was too busy even to go to school. Besides, in the late 1700s peo-ple didn't think schoo!:was important for girls—girls co ikia't t .'en learn a trade as men could.
(Continued on back flap)
( Continued frotn front flap)
Deborah longs for a life of her own. When she leaves the Thomas family at the age of eighteen, she is nőt ready to settle down and get married. She wants... Tovább

Fülszöveg

When "Robert Shurtliff' enlists as a com-mon soldier in the Continental army, no one suspects there is anything unusual about him.
The new soldier serves bravely for a year and a half. It is not until he is hospi-talized with fever that his secret is dis-covered. Priváté Shurtliff is really a woman—23-year-old Deborah Sampson!
Because her mother was too poor to take care of her, Deborah had been sent away from home at an early age. For ten years, she was a servant for the Deacon Thomas family in the Massachusetts Bay Colony town of Middleborough, looking after four growing children and doing chores. Deborah was too busy even to go to school. Besides, in the late 1700s peo-ple didn't think schoo!:was important for girls—girls co ikia't t .'en learn a trade as men could.
(Continued on back flap)
( Continued frotn front flap)
Deborah longs for a life of her own. When she leaves the Thomas family at the age of eighteen, she is nőt ready to settle down and get married. She wants to see a bit of the world first—to travel to big cities üke Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. If she were a man, she could find adventure by joining the army.
How Deborah keeps her identity a secret during long, exhausting marches and bloody raids against the Tories, and how her bravery wins the admiration of her fellow soldiers, her commanding generál, and finally her country, makes excit-ing, suspenseful reading.
The story of this daring woman is true. The author's easy-to-read text brings Deborah Sampson and the Revolutionary War period in which she lived vividly to life.
Ann McGovern has written many highly acclaimed books for young readers, including Sharks, Night Dive, and Eggs on Your Nose. She and her husband divide their time between Pleasantville, New York, and New York City.
Ann Grifalconi was an art teacher for ten years before turning full-time to book illustration. She has illustrated many books for children, including The fazz Man and The Midnight Fox. She lives in New York City. Vissza