GIVE ME LIBERTY

When 13-year-old Nathaniel Dunn apprentices to a carriage maker in Williamsburg and is befriended by Basil, an elderly schoolmaster, he finds himself in the midst of the early excitement over conflicts with England. Calm and cautious Peyton Randolph is becoming known as the “Father of American Liberty,” Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson are perhaps too radical and George Washington isn’t as influential as he is destined to be. Readers who stick with this hefty volume will learn much history, though too much of the dialogue reads like history lessons, and the bibliography contains too few sources to guide young readers further. Still, it’s a lively account of the times with a likable narrator and solid action. As Nathaniel gets involved in the war itself and wonders about fighting for freedom and independence in a land where so many are not free, readers will be prompted to ponder the contradictions of their nation’s past. Elliott takes her readers seriously, and her author’s note tells more about characters and ideas. (chronology, acknowledgments) (Fiction. 9-13)