A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1836

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 reccomend this excellant book, particuarly to fans of the Dear America series.

Among the three Dear America books I have read, this is the best one so far. The author was able to keep me entertained through the whole book. The story was sad, but I won't say when or I'll ruin the story for those who haven't read it yet. Really great!

I think the book, A Line in The Sand, was a very good book because it tells about how life was during the Alamo War. This book was sort of boring at the beginning, then I kept on reading and I didn't want to stop. This book was bad in some ways because Lucinda kept going on and on about one thing. I would recommend this book to people who like to read about what it was like in the olden days and to people who like to read about wars.

This book is really great. Its happy, then becomes sad right in the middle. The Texan war was very sad, and Lucinda was very brave.

For her thirteenth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence's grandmother sends her a diary. Lucinda lives in Gonzales, Texas, when the American settlers were fighting to break free of Mexico, and she writes of many historical events, including the Alamo (where she loses a brother and an uncle), Goliad (where another of her uncles is killed), the Battle of San Jacinto, and the "Runaway Scrape," when the women and children of Texas barely escaped a step ahead of the Mexicans. Lucinda's diary is another wonderful Dear America book and I highly reccomend it.