Wednesday 11 October 2017

A Discovering Diamonds review of: The Portsmouth Alarm & Chelsea Creek to Bunker Hill by Terri A. DeMitchell



Amazon UK £6.43 £9.00
Amazon US $8.34 $16.95
Amazon CA $15.47



Chelsea Creek to Bunker Hill
Amazon UK £3.32 £9.00
Amazon US $4.30 $12.95
Amazon CA $15.28

Young Adult (10-16)
1774-5
American War of Independence

Being a Brit, I admit to never really having been interested in this period of history. I have heard of the Boston Tea Party and a guy called Paul Revere. And that's about it. So when the first two books of a series arrived on my doorstep, I wasn't too enthusiastic. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the adventures of Andrew Beckett, Jack Cochran and Joseph Reed in these two stories, both of which can be read as stand alone, but obviously better read in order of sequence.

All three are boys of around fifteen or sixteen, all students at a Latin School in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. All three have different perspectives: Jack is the son of the commander of the British fort, Joseph is a passionate supporter of the 'rebels' and Andrew – well poor Andrew doesn't know where he stands. Thus it is Andrew who is the main character here and all he really wants is to pass his entrant's exam to Harvard University.

The events portrayed actually happened – with the usual disclaimer that some events may have been manipulated slightly to fit in with the story – and are told in a style which is eminently suitable for the age group that it is aimed at.

There were one or two examples of repetition which might grate on the older reader, and I would have liked to have seen a map in the first book – fortunately one does appear in the second. Because of the subject matter, I don't think it will appeal to many here in the UK, but for youngsters starting to learn about the period in the US (or anywhere else) I can thoroughly recommend the easy style, likeable characters and the human dilemmas that face Andrew.

© Richard Tearle



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