Letters from the Heart

Bryant, Annie. Letters from the Heart. (Beacon Street Girls, no. 3). New York: Aladdin MIX, 2008.

I read this book because the synopsis mentioned that the students would be involved in a family history project at school. Although I was excited about finding a book for middle school age students about researching their roots, I quickly became disappointed as the details of the girls' everyday existence seemed to play more importance to the narrative than the pursuit of their class project. Although each student finds items relating to their families, there was a lot of missed opportunity in this book to illustrate ways of conducting research. I did like the manner that one student researched the education of African Americans in Boston when she discovered her ancestor had been one of the early African American Boston educators. A lot of the text is gimmicky which would probably be enjoyed more by the intended audience more than by me. This book may work better for some readers than others.  (2 stars)

This is a part of the Friday series on children's books and genealogy.