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Dear America
A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence
In the journal she receives for her twelfth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence describes the hardships her family and other residents of the "Texas colonies" endure when they decide to face the Mexicans in a fight for their freedom.
201 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1998
21 people are currently reading
2030 people want to read
About the author
Sherry Garland
30 books60 followersSherry Garland is the award-winning author of 30 books for children, teens and adults.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
August 3, 2022
Dear America is a very hit-or-miss series in my experience. Some of the books do an amazing job of taking you to a different place and time...whereas others waste too much space and are shoddily written.
I'm glad to say that this is one of the good ones. Historical fiction fans will likely enjoy Lucinda's fictional diary; I know I did.
I'm glad to say that this is one of the good ones. Historical fiction fans will likely enjoy Lucinda's fictional diary; I know I did.
August 9, 2025
“A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence” by Sherry Garland is a fictional epistolary record of events leading up to, during and after the battle of the Alamo in 1836, Lucinda records in her personal diary her feelings about her family, her friends, the events taking place in the fall of 1835 and the spring of 1836.
Some of the interesting points from Lucinda’s view are the daily life of a family of settlers in south Texas when that territory had just become a part of Mexico; also the difficulty of starting a new life in the West for pioneers coming from other areas, the constant fear of Comanches and Santa Ana’s army, the unruly behavior of the Tennessee Volunteers, the difficulty of planting and harvesting every year and the political uncertainty of living in a country not yet a country. It also describes how settlers in Gonzales, Goliad and San Antonio reacted to the near certainty of having to fight to the death for freedom. As far as I can tell it is historically accurate. The fiction part is Lucinda and her thoughts. The rest is true.
Even though Line in the Sand is mainly for Young Adults, it elucidates what happened in 1836. I picked this up in the “books for sale” section in our Port Washington Library here in New York. I had grown up a couple of miles from where Santa Ana was captured after the Battle of San Jacinto and I spent many of my boyhood days playing “army” along the banks of Vince’s Bayou over which Santa Ana’s army had tried to flee from Sam Houston and his small corps of outnumbered soldiers.
When I was in the fourth grade I read a couple of illustrated books about the Alamo and San Jacinto, which started me on my way to having a great interest in history, learning Spanish, appreciating the culture of Mexico and studying the history of Mexico at the University of Puebla one summer.
I recommend this book for young people who are Texans and for adults who still feel that way. Garland thoroughly researched the background for this book augmented by the fact that she grew up in the area being described. For more about the author, you may refer to http://dearamerica.wikia.com/wiki/She....
Some of the interesting points from Lucinda’s view are the daily life of a family of settlers in south Texas when that territory had just become a part of Mexico; also the difficulty of starting a new life in the West for pioneers coming from other areas, the constant fear of Comanches and Santa Ana’s army, the unruly behavior of the Tennessee Volunteers, the difficulty of planting and harvesting every year and the political uncertainty of living in a country not yet a country. It also describes how settlers in Gonzales, Goliad and San Antonio reacted to the near certainty of having to fight to the death for freedom. As far as I can tell it is historically accurate. The fiction part is Lucinda and her thoughts. The rest is true.
Even though Line in the Sand is mainly for Young Adults, it elucidates what happened in 1836. I picked this up in the “books for sale” section in our Port Washington Library here in New York. I had grown up a couple of miles from where Santa Ana was captured after the Battle of San Jacinto and I spent many of my boyhood days playing “army” along the banks of Vince’s Bayou over which Santa Ana’s army had tried to flee from Sam Houston and his small corps of outnumbered soldiers.
When I was in the fourth grade I read a couple of illustrated books about the Alamo and San Jacinto, which started me on my way to having a great interest in history, learning Spanish, appreciating the culture of Mexico and studying the history of Mexico at the University of Puebla one summer.
I recommend this book for young people who are Texans and for adults who still feel that way. Garland thoroughly researched the background for this book augmented by the fact that she grew up in the area being described. For more about the author, you may refer to http://dearamerica.wikia.com/wiki/She....
February 23, 2011
Line in the Sand (Alamo) / 0-590-39466-5
I own almost all the Dear America books and, until this one, I hadn't read a single one that I didn't instantly love. By every measure, this book is dreadful.
The good news is that there is some history here, which salvages a single star. The author has managed to get historical details right, and in the correct order. I also liked that for awhile the issue is presented as complicated: the author points out that the Mexicans are being aggressive, but the Texans are being deliberately provocative by refusing to follow the laws of the land. Unfortunately, that even-handedness disappears after the first 80 pages or so, and we are left with bad writing, bad character development, and enough racism to make a reader sick.
There is so much wrong with this book that I cannot believe that the Dear America name was stamped on it. I've checked all my Dear America books and can confirm that this particular author did not author any other Dear America or Royal Diary book that I own, so maybe even the editors realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to ask her back for another book. I'll try to list just all the things that are bad here.
1) Bad Writing: The author simply does not know how to write in a convincing diary format. Here's an event in a typical Dear America book: there's a huge event that the heroine has been looking forward to, and she goes and enjoys herself, but the happiness is cut short by a tragic, unforeseen event. Here's how a good author relays those events in diary format: Write about the huge interrupting event, with a quick note that the wonderful, planned event really was wonderful, and note that the narrator will "write later" about the good event after things have settled down, and then follow up.
However, in THIS book, the author insists on putting everything down in the diary in chronological fashion, so you literally get entries where the writer tells all about the planned event, every little detail, and THEN notes at the end that, oh yeah, the town had to suddenly evacuate because the entire Mexican army interrupted the planned event to show up suddenly, impossibly on their doorsteps and thus the diarist has been packing all night and has to go to bed now. What just happened there? A huge emergency is taking place, as we "speak", and yet she had time to write about the party then and there, down to the smallest detail? I guess the color of her dress and the name of the guy she danced with couldn't have waited a day or two to go into the diary?
Even more amusing is the diary entry that states, almost verbatim, "Mother woke up today and did the following mundane chores...oh, and Father's fever broke in the evening so it turns out that he won't die and we won't have to amputate the leg as we all feared." Yeah, that seems like a postscript to me, too.
This nonsense occurs almost every entry and is very jarring. One more example: the diarist routinely copies letters and pronouncements word-for-word into the diary after a single, casual reading of the letter. In other words, the entry will say, "Mr. Bob came into town with a pronouncement that I read aloud for everyone and then he left with it, on his way to the next town. Here is the pronouncement, word-for-word, from my memory." I literally laughed out loud, however, when another announcement - the Texas Declaration of Independence - is NOT recited in the diary, even though the diarist spent all day transcribing the declaration onto dozens of letters and declares that she will remember it word-for-word until her dying day. Yet I guess she was too tired to record it in her diary at that point.
2) Bad Character Development: For the first fifty pages of the book, I could not tell the difference between the diarist's three brothers, and by the time that I could tell them apart, I didn't care anymore. The author made the diarist and her family so stupid and idiotic that I found myself comforted by the hope that maybe *they* would die at the Alamo. Faced with a necessary plot development - family must stay in San Antonio until the last moment to enhance dramatic tension - the author takes the bold ploy of just having a family of sick women, newborns, and other vulnerable persons simply declare that they don't "believe" Santa Anna is really coming. No broken axles or debilitating sicknesses need apply here - the plot device of choice for advancing the action is flat out stupidity.
When finally faced with the realization that they must flee or die, the family packs up all their belongings, leaves their mules tied out in the yard, and goes to sleep about an hour before the sun comes up. Why didn't they set out right then and there, knowing every moment counts? This way, the next morning they can be absolutely astonished that the cleverer of the refugees have left early...and have helped themselves to the family's transportation. What a shock.
When the plot demands it, the characters will also exhibit random changes in values and beliefs. The strangest example of this is the fervent joy the diarist expresses when the Texans hold a counsel and declare independence. This joy is unusual because, (a) earlier she had expressed similar joy over a decision to NOT declare independence and she has apparently changed her mind between then and now and we didn't need to hear about it, (b) the declaration will not make the war less bloody and will likely make it far worse in the short term, so the reasonable emotion here should be "worry" not "joy", (c) and her two brothers and two uncles are, as she writes, being slaughtered in various cities nearby and would surely be of more interest to her than a functionally meaningless declaration of independence which is not worth the paper it is written on unless some military victories occur soon.
3) Sickening Racism: I saved the worst for last. I love the Dear America books because they strive to be very sensitive to other races and cultures. Even in the most racist times, the fictional Dear America girls tend to have enough sympathy and empathy to realize that people with different colors and cultures are still people. This book fails, miserably.
The only mention of American Indians in this book are that they are horse thieves and a dire threat to the colonists. No attempt is made to point out that there might be another side to that story. In the epilogue, American Indians are invoked as a Deus Ex Machina to explain why one brother survived the Alamo massacre - he was kidnapped by American Indians on the way there. That would have been a great opportunity to point out that the American Indians were more noble than the "civilized" Mexicans who would have killed the boy on sight or the "civilized" American and Texan armies who would have conscripted him against his will, but why point that out when you can just paint the American Indians as horrible kidnappers?
The author treats African Americans even worse; the diarist writes that she cannot cross a difficult river at one point because, "There are no men among us...except Negroes." Well, everyone knows that a white man is worth ten black men when it comes to fording rivers and other manual labor! Another golden gem is when the diarist catalogs the horrors that Santa Anna will visit on them: murdering Texans and freeing slaves are listed as equally horrific things. Dear America has shown that it is very possible to handle important historical topics with sensitivity, and it was very much NOT necessary for the diarist to have been a racist (many Texan immigrants were abolitionists, in fact) - it was just apparently a personal choice of the author.
I'm disappointed that Dear America published this book. I do not recommend it - beyond all the criticisms I've leveled here, it was also, unforgivably, outright boring.
~ Ana Mardoll
I own almost all the Dear America books and, until this one, I hadn't read a single one that I didn't instantly love. By every measure, this book is dreadful.
The good news is that there is some history here, which salvages a single star. The author has managed to get historical details right, and in the correct order. I also liked that for awhile the issue is presented as complicated: the author points out that the Mexicans are being aggressive, but the Texans are being deliberately provocative by refusing to follow the laws of the land. Unfortunately, that even-handedness disappears after the first 80 pages or so, and we are left with bad writing, bad character development, and enough racism to make a reader sick.
There is so much wrong with this book that I cannot believe that the Dear America name was stamped on it. I've checked all my Dear America books and can confirm that this particular author did not author any other Dear America or Royal Diary book that I own, so maybe even the editors realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to ask her back for another book. I'll try to list just all the things that are bad here.
1) Bad Writing: The author simply does not know how to write in a convincing diary format. Here's an event in a typical Dear America book: there's a huge event that the heroine has been looking forward to, and she goes and enjoys herself, but the happiness is cut short by a tragic, unforeseen event. Here's how a good author relays those events in diary format: Write about the huge interrupting event, with a quick note that the wonderful, planned event really was wonderful, and note that the narrator will "write later" about the good event after things have settled down, and then follow up.
However, in THIS book, the author insists on putting everything down in the diary in chronological fashion, so you literally get entries where the writer tells all about the planned event, every little detail, and THEN notes at the end that, oh yeah, the town had to suddenly evacuate because the entire Mexican army interrupted the planned event to show up suddenly, impossibly on their doorsteps and thus the diarist has been packing all night and has to go to bed now. What just happened there? A huge emergency is taking place, as we "speak", and yet she had time to write about the party then and there, down to the smallest detail? I guess the color of her dress and the name of the guy she danced with couldn't have waited a day or two to go into the diary?
Even more amusing is the diary entry that states, almost verbatim, "Mother woke up today and did the following mundane chores...oh, and Father's fever broke in the evening so it turns out that he won't die and we won't have to amputate the leg as we all feared." Yeah, that seems like a postscript to me, too.
This nonsense occurs almost every entry and is very jarring. One more example: the diarist routinely copies letters and pronouncements word-for-word into the diary after a single, casual reading of the letter. In other words, the entry will say, "Mr. Bob came into town with a pronouncement that I read aloud for everyone and then he left with it, on his way to the next town. Here is the pronouncement, word-for-word, from my memory." I literally laughed out loud, however, when another announcement - the Texas Declaration of Independence - is NOT recited in the diary, even though the diarist spent all day transcribing the declaration onto dozens of letters and declares that she will remember it word-for-word until her dying day. Yet I guess she was too tired to record it in her diary at that point.
2) Bad Character Development: For the first fifty pages of the book, I could not tell the difference between the diarist's three brothers, and by the time that I could tell them apart, I didn't care anymore. The author made the diarist and her family so stupid and idiotic that I found myself comforted by the hope that maybe *they* would die at the Alamo. Faced with a necessary plot development - family must stay in San Antonio until the last moment to enhance dramatic tension - the author takes the bold ploy of just having a family of sick women, newborns, and other vulnerable persons simply declare that they don't "believe" Santa Anna is really coming. No broken axles or debilitating sicknesses need apply here - the plot device of choice for advancing the action is flat out stupidity.
When finally faced with the realization that they must flee or die, the family packs up all their belongings, leaves their mules tied out in the yard, and goes to sleep about an hour before the sun comes up. Why didn't they set out right then and there, knowing every moment counts? This way, the next morning they can be absolutely astonished that the cleverer of the refugees have left early...and have helped themselves to the family's transportation. What a shock.
When the plot demands it, the characters will also exhibit random changes in values and beliefs. The strangest example of this is the fervent joy the diarist expresses when the Texans hold a counsel and declare independence. This joy is unusual because, (a) earlier she had expressed similar joy over a decision to NOT declare independence and she has apparently changed her mind between then and now and we didn't need to hear about it, (b) the declaration will not make the war less bloody and will likely make it far worse in the short term, so the reasonable emotion here should be "worry" not "joy", (c) and her two brothers and two uncles are, as she writes, being slaughtered in various cities nearby and would surely be of more interest to her than a functionally meaningless declaration of independence which is not worth the paper it is written on unless some military victories occur soon.
3) Sickening Racism: I saved the worst for last. I love the Dear America books because they strive to be very sensitive to other races and cultures. Even in the most racist times, the fictional Dear America girls tend to have enough sympathy and empathy to realize that people with different colors and cultures are still people. This book fails, miserably.
The only mention of American Indians in this book are that they are horse thieves and a dire threat to the colonists. No attempt is made to point out that there might be another side to that story. In the epilogue, American Indians are invoked as a Deus Ex Machina to explain why one brother survived the Alamo massacre - he was kidnapped by American Indians on the way there. That would have been a great opportunity to point out that the American Indians were more noble than the "civilized" Mexicans who would have killed the boy on sight or the "civilized" American and Texan armies who would have conscripted him against his will, but why point that out when you can just paint the American Indians as horrible kidnappers?
The author treats African Americans even worse; the diarist writes that she cannot cross a difficult river at one point because, "There are no men among us...except Negroes." Well, everyone knows that a white man is worth ten black men when it comes to fording rivers and other manual labor! Another golden gem is when the diarist catalogs the horrors that Santa Anna will visit on them: murdering Texans and freeing slaves are listed as equally horrific things. Dear America has shown that it is very possible to handle important historical topics with sensitivity, and it was very much NOT necessary for the diarist to have been a racist (many Texan immigrants were abolitionists, in fact) - it was just apparently a personal choice of the author.
I'm disappointed that Dear America published this book. I do not recommend it - beyond all the criticisms I've leveled here, it was also, unforgivably, outright boring.
~ Ana Mardoll
November 7, 2010
This is probably my all time favorite read-aloud for 4th graders. I have read it to my students for the last 9 years, and I cry every time we find out that Willis and Uncle Issac die in the Alamo. The scene during the Runaway Scrape is powerfully written. The students have a very clear picture of what life was like during the Texas Revolution, and I think the novel does a beautiful job helping build background knowledge about pioneer life. The kids learn about dogtrots, chamber pots, hog-killing, and so much more! I would reccomend this book to all educators who are responsible for teaching 4th grade or 7th grade TEKS.
November 10, 2014
I can seriously rattle off facts about the Alamo after reading this book! And it was enjoyable too. That's an amazing combination. ;-)
July 20, 2013
I enjoyed this book, but towards the end, all the action occurred in the last fifty pages, where as all that in the middle and beginning? But besides that, a wonderful, adventurous book that made me aware of how hard young girls had to work then.
Please comment if you politely disagree, I will not take offense.
Please comment if you politely disagree, I will not take offense.
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June 13, 2017it was ok
December 12, 2011
(Popular Series)
This book is a part of the classic popular Dear America Series of books! This book is written in diary format through the voice of Lucinda Lawrence a young woman who lived in the Texas colonies during the 1800's. Lucinda's family lived in the colonies during the war for Texan Independance. Each diary entry includes a date and a story of what is happened through the words of Lucinda. Some of the entries are as short as just a few sentences and some are pages long. Through the entries the reader feels the emotions running through Lucinda's body. These diary entries provide the reader with a personal connection to Lucinda and her family. When Lucinda writes about being fearful, worried, happy or sad the reader stumbles upon those same emotions through the reading of Lucinda's words. At one point Lucienda wrote about a man who informed their traveling group that the "Mexicans had been defeated" and everyone in Lucinda's group celebrated, at that moment as a reader I felt a sudden burst of excitement for Lucinda and those with her. There are many diary entries in this book such as this one that connect the reader with emotions that Lucinda portrays through her writing. There are some cool features that come with the book alongside the diary entries. The book comes with a ribbon bookmark so that he book actually looks more like a diary. Also included are photographs of the people,their housing,their clothing,pictures of war scenes as well as two maps. One is a modern map of the US showing the approximate location of Gonzalez, Texas where majority of the diary entries take place during the year 1836. The other map is of the cities and rivers that played an important role in Texas history. I would recommend this book for children grades 2-4. This book and many other Dear America Series books pair well with history lessons. Children can learn as much about history thorough these diary entries as they could from reading a textbook. And although the Dear America series books are written by female narrators these books are appropriate for male readers as well!
This book is a part of the classic popular Dear America Series of books! This book is written in diary format through the voice of Lucinda Lawrence a young woman who lived in the Texas colonies during the 1800's. Lucinda's family lived in the colonies during the war for Texan Independance. Each diary entry includes a date and a story of what is happened through the words of Lucinda. Some of the entries are as short as just a few sentences and some are pages long. Through the entries the reader feels the emotions running through Lucinda's body. These diary entries provide the reader with a personal connection to Lucinda and her family. When Lucinda writes about being fearful, worried, happy or sad the reader stumbles upon those same emotions through the reading of Lucinda's words. At one point Lucienda wrote about a man who informed their traveling group that the "Mexicans had been defeated" and everyone in Lucinda's group celebrated, at that moment as a reader I felt a sudden burst of excitement for Lucinda and those with her. There are many diary entries in this book such as this one that connect the reader with emotions that Lucinda portrays through her writing. There are some cool features that come with the book alongside the diary entries. The book comes with a ribbon bookmark so that he book actually looks more like a diary. Also included are photographs of the people,their housing,their clothing,pictures of war scenes as well as two maps. One is a modern map of the US showing the approximate location of Gonzalez, Texas where majority of the diary entries take place during the year 1836. The other map is of the cities and rivers that played an important role in Texas history. I would recommend this book for children grades 2-4. This book and many other Dear America Series books pair well with history lessons. Children can learn as much about history thorough these diary entries as they could from reading a textbook. And although the Dear America series books are written by female narrators these books are appropriate for male readers as well!
March 27, 2010
Living in the tiny, remote settlement of Gonzales, Texas, in 1835, pioneer farm girl Lucinda Lawrence has just celebrated her thirteenth birthday. Her father is against war with Mexico - he learned the horrors of war firsthand during the War of 1812. Lucinda's brothers find the idea of war glorious - her oldest brother, Willis, is eager to fight against the oppresive Mexicans. Lucinda's mother just doesn't want to lose anymore children - her youngest, a baby girl, died during the journey from Missouri to Texas years earlier. Lucinda's friend, Mittie Roe, wants her father to come home safely from his trading expedition. And Lucinda herself isn't sure what she wants - the Mexicans are treating the American settlers badly, but she fears the war will go poorly for the outnumbered, ragtag settler army.
But like it or not, over the next few months, Lucinda and all her family and friends will be swept up in the war for Texas independence. Some of them will survive, and some of them will not. But through it all, Lucinda matures from a girl to a young woman who knows where she stands and what is worth fighting for. I highly recommend this excellent book, particuarly to fans of the Dear America series.
But like it or not, over the next few months, Lucinda and all her family and friends will be swept up in the war for Texas independence. Some of them will survive, and some of them will not. But through it all, Lucinda matures from a girl to a young woman who knows where she stands and what is worth fighting for. I highly recommend this excellent book, particuarly to fans of the Dear America series.
October 3, 2015
This was a really good installment. It had me near in tears close to the end (No, I don't think I'm spoiling anything there; anybody who knows what happened at the Alamo should be able to guess that much). Characters were very enjoyable, and there was great dramatic tension throughout. In fact, if I had any one particular complaint about this book, it's that it's maybe a little too polished. A little too much description and direct dialogue that makes it a little tricky to hold suspension of disbelief that it was the diary of a 13 year old girl. But that's a relatively mild complaint in the grand scheme of things, and one that comes with its own pluses to boot (It was much easier to visualize the scenes in this book than some of the others).
January 12, 2019
All the action going on around Lucinda kept the plot fresh and exciting. The characters were easy to connect with and I could empathize with Lucinda throughout. There was one instance where Garland confused a couple of characters and it wasn't always consistent with using Missouri and Missoura, but other than that the writing was great. Didn't quite agree with the statement in the historical note that when the U.S. acquired California, it opened up the West. People had been settling in large numbers in Oregon Territory before then.
September 2, 2013
A wonderfully written and informative look into life in Texas during the battle of the Alamo. I didn't learn much about this time period in school so it was a great lesson. I loved the Lawrence family and Lucinda was a great and relatable character. Halfway through the book I couldn't put it down until I finished it; the writing was vivid and brought the battle to life that I had to see it to the end! Definitely in my top 3 favorites in this great 'Dear America' series!
March 29, 2010
This was a very good book. I can't remember every detail, but it is a good book.
I Love this book it is the best! I read this book in fifth grade, I absolutely loved it. I want to reread it but have not found it since I read it in fifth grade. I recommend it to everyone that is in fifth grade or higher. That’s all for now.
I Love this book it is the best! I read this book in fifth grade, I absolutely loved it. I want to reread it but have not found it since I read it in fifth grade. I recommend it to everyone that is in fifth grade or higher. That’s all for now.
February 17, 2017
Is it sad that this is all I really know about the Alamo other than the Davy Crocket thing? I am a history nerd, but this is a huge blind spot in my knowledge. I always enjoy the Dear America books, and this one was no different. Recommended!
December 23, 2012
This was a decent read, perfect for children that are trying to move from chapter books to novels. Lucy is a great main character, despite the fact that she seems very far removed from the action going on in the novel.
February 24, 2014
This is the book that got me started on the Dear America books. I absolutely loved reading it when I was younger. The introduction to history that all of the Dear America books provide is fantastic for young readers that enjoy history too.
April 5, 2017
I really enjoyed reading about Lucinda's day to day experiences in Gonzales, Texas in 1836. I reread this book for the third time. I admired Lucinda's bravery. Everyone during this time worked really hard to survive and help out their family.
March 26, 2017
I think it was a really good book. I like the details and how the book kind of makes you feel like you are there with them.
July 19, 2023
3.25
This is one of the ones I have read before and it’s fine. Like honestly this part of history doesn’t interest me that much, but I still liked learning about it. This also made me cry which is odd, but I think that was mostly me and not the book really. I do have to say that the friendship between the main character and her best friend was so annoying. Like I know I’m a grown woman, but to read about this girl rubbing stuff in and kissing her friends crush was annoying and then everyone saying the main character had to cut her slack because her father was missing/dead. I don’t think that’s a good message to send. Like acknowledge the hard times, but say it’s bothering you. Anyways that’s petty, but it was annoying me. It’s hard to believe that this stuff happened and this is how people lived. It really makes you appreciate life.
This is one of the ones I have read before and it’s fine. Like honestly this part of history doesn’t interest me that much, but I still liked learning about it. This also made me cry which is odd, but I think that was mostly me and not the book really. I do have to say that the friendship between the main character and her best friend was so annoying. Like I know I’m a grown woman, but to read about this girl rubbing stuff in and kissing her friends crush was annoying and then everyone saying the main character had to cut her slack because her father was missing/dead. I don’t think that’s a good message to send. Like acknowledge the hard times, but say it’s bothering you. Anyways that’s petty, but it was annoying me. It’s hard to believe that this stuff happened and this is how people lived. It really makes you appreciate life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2020
Fantastic! Reminded me of another outstanding Dear America, Seeds of Hope. It didn't shy away from the difficulties of frontier life in Texas while also painting a picture of how beautiful the land and culture were during that time period.
It was so cool to read a Dear America book set in my home state. I was absolutely captivated by the descriptions of San Antonio and other familiar cities in Texas, as well as historical characters like Sam Houston, James Bowie, Davy Crockett and others. At times, reading this book felt like I was back in 7th grade Texas history class, but in the best way possible.
I highly recommend this book!
It was so cool to read a Dear America book set in my home state. I was absolutely captivated by the descriptions of San Antonio and other familiar cities in Texas, as well as historical characters like Sam Houston, James Bowie, Davy Crockett and others. At times, reading this book felt like I was back in 7th grade Texas history class, but in the best way possible.
I highly recommend this book!
May 26, 2025
This was a 2 star read for me and a very boring installment in the dear america series. But I finished it so it gets a 2!
November 3, 2023
Amazing! Worth the read!
February 3, 2016
Lucinda is a young girl living in the area now known as Texas, not far from the Alamo. Her life is pretty much average until trouble starts between General Santa Anna and his troops vs. the people in Texas who want Texas to be an independent state.
At the time, Texas was not American; the area belonged to Mexico. They had opened the area to settlement by people from America then tried to close the door when more people showed up then they expected. The people in the area ended up being divided into those who wanted to stay loyal to Mexico and those who wanted to gain some form of independence from Mexican rule.
The book goes on about various battles that were fought in the area, then covers the most famous of all of the battles, the fight at the Alamo. The book points out that Santa Anna fought under the "no quarters" rule, meaning that his soldiers were not to take any prisoners. Indeed, some men that had surrounded at another area were taken out and executed (something seen in World War II, being done by the Nazis in particular.)
The men at the Alamo never stood a chance, of course. They were vastly outnumbered and outgunned.
The book also points out, interestingly enough, that some of the volunteers that were arriving to fight the Mexicans in the various battles were not necessarily the nicest of people themselves, to put in mildly.
Davy Crockett, of course, is in the novel, along with Jim Bowie and William Travis.
As always, there is a historical section to help put the events in the novel in some sort of perspective. This is another good book in the series, especially in showing that not everyone supported Texan independence and that the war that was fought was conducted under conditions that would (supposedly) not be allowed today.
At the time, Texas was not American; the area belonged to Mexico. They had opened the area to settlement by people from America then tried to close the door when more people showed up then they expected. The people in the area ended up being divided into those who wanted to stay loyal to Mexico and those who wanted to gain some form of independence from Mexican rule.
The book goes on about various battles that were fought in the area, then covers the most famous of all of the battles, the fight at the Alamo. The book points out that Santa Anna fought under the "no quarters" rule, meaning that his soldiers were not to take any prisoners. Indeed, some men that had surrounded at another area were taken out and executed (something seen in World War II, being done by the Nazis in particular.)
The men at the Alamo never stood a chance, of course. They were vastly outnumbered and outgunned.
The book also points out, interestingly enough, that some of the volunteers that were arriving to fight the Mexicans in the various battles were not necessarily the nicest of people themselves, to put in mildly.
Davy Crockett, of course, is in the novel, along with Jim Bowie and William Travis.
As always, there is a historical section to help put the events in the novel in some sort of perspective. This is another good book in the series, especially in showing that not everyone supported Texan independence and that the war that was fought was conducted under conditions that would (supposedly) not be allowed today.
February 3, 2014
Ahhh the Alamo...
Ludinda Lawrence was a teen living in Gonzales, Texas. Her father is against war with Mexico, and her oldest brother, Willis, has strong war sentiments. She loses him and 2 of her uncles, at the hands of Santa Anna. We know, the "no quarter" flag went up before fighting began at the Alamo, but few of us realized Santa Anna flew that flag at every Fort. He was bent on killing all Indians, Mexicans, and anyone who could be in rebelllion with Mexico.
Grim Facts:
182 men in Alamo *** siege lasted 13 days
6000 soldiers in Santa Anna's army
near Goliad, Tx, 400 unarmed men executed by Mexican forces
Thoughts:
Spanish explorers first saw Texas in 1519, named Tejas (Indian for friend)
Ignored land for 150 yrs., until France's LaSalle claimed it
Spain establishes 36 missions, 1690 - 1793
1821 Mexico declares independance from Spain
Mexico allows Americans to colonize, as a buffer to protect Mexican settlements from Comanches
*must be of good character
*agree to be Mexican citizens, obey Mexican Constitution
*settle and improve land in specified time
*become Catholic
Steve Austin led first group
Ludinda Lawrence was a teen living in Gonzales, Texas. Her father is against war with Mexico, and her oldest brother, Willis, has strong war sentiments. She loses him and 2 of her uncles, at the hands of Santa Anna. We know, the "no quarter" flag went up before fighting began at the Alamo, but few of us realized Santa Anna flew that flag at every Fort. He was bent on killing all Indians, Mexicans, and anyone who could be in rebelllion with Mexico.
Grim Facts:
182 men in Alamo *** siege lasted 13 days
6000 soldiers in Santa Anna's army
near Goliad, Tx, 400 unarmed men executed by Mexican forces
Thoughts:
Spanish explorers first saw Texas in 1519, named Tejas (Indian for friend)
Ignored land for 150 yrs., until France's LaSalle claimed it
Spain establishes 36 missions, 1690 - 1793
1821 Mexico declares independance from Spain
Mexico allows Americans to colonize, as a buffer to protect Mexican settlements from Comanches
*must be of good character
*agree to be Mexican citizens, obey Mexican Constitution
*settle and improve land in specified time
*become Catholic
Steve Austin led first group
July 28, 2013
I was a little disappointed in this book and so far has been my least favorite of this series. I love books written in the diary format but the author clearly doesn't know how to write in this format. Needless to say the writing was really bad. The characters are poorly developed and the plot is seriously lacking. The other thing that I didn't care for was the racism :( The only thing that saves the book is the history. Highly NOT recommended. Compared to the other books in this series, this one is an EPIC FAIL
November 12, 2012
This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.
April 8, 2009
what i think about this book is that you can really understand it if you really read it.sometimes in social studies we learn about william B. Travis in class and my teacher thinks that he is so brave and she concludes if he was still alive she would marrie him and have a great future. i know right my teacher is crazy but she is a great teacher fun and without a word wonderful and i will never forget that 4th grade teacher.
October 5, 2008
The book is a historical fiction account of the fall of the Alamo. It is from the point of view of a girl named Lucinda Lawrence. She goes through everyday things like being excited about a new set of pencils.
It's a good book to have in the southwest cause it gives a historical look at the area.
It's a good book to have in the southwest cause it gives a historical look at the area.
October 20, 2010
Since I'm not from Texas I don't really know anything about Texas history. This book helped me understand a lot more about Texas and why they have the ability to leave the United States. What a sad tale. It was a fine book in the series, though.
August 14, 2012
A fictional story of a little girl with close ties to the battle of the Alamo. The author tells the story in the way a little girl can relate. Very interesting and engaging! I love that they include the true facts about the battle of the Alamo at the end.
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