"Five Smooth Stones"

This book is historical fiction. It takes place during the Revolutionary War between the Tories and the the Patriots. Hope, who is the main character, misses her father. She feels bad for her neighbor, Mrs. Quinn, whose husband was in an accident while guarding cannons and gunpowder for General Washington. She later becomes a widow, but gladly helps Hope's mother after she gives birth to another baby. Hope also has a brother, named Ethan, who is thirteen and a good friend named Polly. Ethan is expected to do things that their father did, since he is away. However, he wonders if his father is no longer a Patriot, but a Tory who supports King George and this is a factor in him running away. Polly and Hope sell baked goods at the markets together. A gentleman takes Polly's room, so that Polly's family can earn some extra money by giving him meals and a place to live. Polly and Hope have a quarrel, but they reconcile. The gentleman who is staying at their house talks about the men who are meeting in the Continental Congress all day long. Mr. Dean, the gentleman, gives Hope five smooth stones that he found in the creek. He relates it to the story of David and Goliath. Polly, Hope, and her mother, hear the letter to King George, the Declaration of Independence. Polly and Hope recite one section to one another. Ethan regrets leaving home. He was captured by the Tories. Hope gets a new baby sister, named Faith. Her family moves temporarily to their cousins home, since it would be safer there if the redcoats come. Hope ends her entry by admitting that she knows in her heart that Ethan and her papa will return. What causes her to feel this way is the news of the capture of the enemy.

I would ask students to find actual facts from this book and possibly do it as a rad-aloud while they are learning about the Revolutionary War.