Linda Griffin's favorite unforgettable American historical novels featuring young heroines

I’ve read this at least twenty times and still love it, and it still makes me cry.

It’s the first of Thane’s Williamsburg series but easily stands alone. I was about eleven when my mother recommended it and my sister and I began reading it aloud to each other. I loved the characters, led by young Tibby Mawes and Julian Day, the schoolmaster she adores.

I also love the wealth of rich historical detail, including lavish descriptions of clothing and food, and of course, the romantic complications amidst the American Revolution. When I visit Williamsburg, instead of thinking about colonial history, I find myself saying, “Here’s the apothecary shop where Tibby went to buy medicine for Kit,” and “Here’s where Julian picked Tibby up after her arm was broken.”

This is everything I love about pioneer stories, especially after thirteen-year-old Stephanie’s menfolk go off to war.

I was very young the first time I read it, but I could never forget the drama of the apple seed! Here the vivid details are of abundant nature and pioneer skills, and backwoods Kentucky has a different slant on the Revolutionary War than sophisticated Williamsburg.

It was written for children and won a Newbery Honor citation, but it still charmed me when I reread it as an adult. 

I loved the story of sixteen-year-old Lizzie, who married Mister Stonecypher in 1837 because “she wouldn’t have hurt his feelings for the world.”

All of the classic pioneer story elements are here, as backdrop to the tale of Lizzie and Wash coming to know and love each other. I loved the grit and authenticity and the touches of humor. I felt compelled to keep reading, especially during a harrowing journey through a blizzard, and was emotionally engaged from start to finish. 

I loved and identified with Suzanne, an imaginative dreamer in a practical family and greedy for learning.

1850s and ‘60s Iowa history is viewed through a family chronicle and a satisfying slow-burn romance. Song of Years was part of the inspiration for my first (practically unreadable) novel, written in high school with an antagonist named after one of Aldrich’s characters.

The poetic descriptions of nature and the details of food and clothing helped immerse me in that world. 

I loved Wilder’s entire Little House series and read them several times, but this was the most memorable.

I found Laura’s voice thoroughly engaging and identified with her shyness, and the realistic details of pioneer life, and in this case, of survival, fascinated me. I especially appreciated the Ingalls family’s ability to experience the joy of simple pleasures and activities. I had to laugh when Charles lamented their dependence on newfangled inventions like kerosene and railroads.

When I read it most recently, I found it even more meaningful after learning that one of my ancestors also lived in South Dakota during the brutal winter of 1880-81.