MY BROTHER ABE

Well timed to catch the wave of interest that’s likely to rise for the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, this historical tale zeroes in on the personalities of ten-year-old Abe, his mother Nancy and his father Thomas—all as seen through the eyes of his sister Sally, two years his senior. Sally takes center stage as, struggling to find accommodation between her intelligent, headstrong nature and her desire to be as disciplined, loving and industrious as her beloved mother, she recounts her family’s hard trek from Kentucky to the Indiana wilderness, the devastating death of her mother and her slow acceptance of the kindly widow who becomes her stepmother. Mazer is a little hazy on the exact nature of women’s work in this place and time, but he sticks to the (skimpy) historical record for people and events, provides some searching insight into young Abe’s character and endows Sally with a strong, distinctive narrative voice. (Historical fiction. 10-12)