Another book review

The historical novel "Mine Eyes Have Seen" by Ann Rinaldi has proved itself to be one of the most compelling novels I’ve ever read. The story centers around a real historical figure- 15 year old Annie Brown, the daughter of famed abolitionist John Brown. In the story Annie and her sister-in-law Martha travel to Harper’s Ferry to be with her father as he prepares to make a raid on the arsenal in the town. He plans to use the weapons to force the slave holders in the area to free their slaves. Annie hopes to reconcile with her difficult father concerning her actions at the age of three which led to the death of her sister, and so she travels to Harper’s Ferry even though she is in very great danger by doing so. Unfortunately Brown does not seem to want reconciliation. He merely wants Annie to work hard so he can focus on the raid. Annie’s task is to sit on the porch and watch. She is to make sure no one suspects that there are many men in the house planning a raid and thus must sit on the front porch watching for hours at a time. Throughout the summer Annie learns to deal with a peculiar neighbor, learns about courage and bravery, and realizes that after the raid she might never see her father, her friends, or her lover (a young man participating in the raid) ever again.
This story is very well told, and is very accurate in its historical claims. This book could be very upsetting to a younger audience, however, due to the deaths of many of the characters and the hardships of this time. I would not recommend this novel for children under the teen age. It is a very exciting read, however, and very thought provoking. The characters seem to "come alive" in the story and you may become very attached to them. (I sure did). I greatly enjoyed it though I wish it didn’t have such a sad tone about it. Overall I give this book 4 stars out of 5. I highly recommend you read the book for yourself if you haven’t already done so.