Carrie's Courage: Battling the Forces of Bigotry

Reviewed by Anne Marie Medema (age 12) for Reader Views (3/08) "Carrie's Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz is another book written for the "Sisters in Time" collection. Lutz is a skilled author who writes historical novels to give knowledge to her readers of specific events or issues in history. She weaves in characters with numerous personality traits to make her point about what life would be like during that time period. Lutz successfully brings characters alive and relates them to young female readers. Lutz uses vivid descriptions to tell her story and makes the reader feel like they are actually where the story takes place. "Carrie's Courage" is about a young girl named Carrie who likes to pretend when she plays. In this story Carrie meets Dvora, a Jewish girl. Carrie helps Dvora get over the fear of going to school because she is new in the neighborhood. Soon after Carrie meets Dvora she finds out that her great Aunt's adopted son is part of the Ku Klux Klan, a group of people who harass others because they are from different nations or religions. Carrie and Dvora quickly become good friends. Dvora is ridiculed because of her Jewish religion. Carrie has to decide if she will stay on Dvora's side and lose her friends or remain with her friends and reject Dvora. Carrie soon finds out that her friends do not care if she plays with Dvora. Carrie's decision is made for her. Later the Ku Klux Klan burn a wooden cross in Dvora's yard. Dvora and the uncle she lives with are obviously scared and upset. Carrie's parents assure them of their safety because the Ku Klux Klan is disliked in the community. Carrie discovers that her friendship with Dvora is so strong that nothing can break them apart. Dvora eventually moves to another neighborhood with Jewish roots. Even this distance between the girls cannot break their friendship. I recommend "Carrie's Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz to girls who are age 9 to 12 who treasure lasting friendships. I like the way Lutz encourages girls my age to build relationships based on what is inside a person's heart. Race or religion should not matter to a relationship because you like the person for who they are. In my own life I related to this story because I have Jewish friends who I am a friend with because of our common interests and personalities. Friendship is not based on religious beliefs. Bring yourself into a wave of friendship with "Carries Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz.

Carrie's Courage is a wonderful book about a ten-year-old girl named Carrie Ruhle who befriends a Jewish girl named Dvora who has just moved into town. Will Carrie be able to stay friends with Dvora though because her best friend Violet absolutely hates Dvora since she is Jewish? Can Carrie save her new friend from the white-robed Ku Klux Klan who is terrorizing the Jews, blacks, and other immigrants in her neighborhood before it's too late? Find out as Carrie and her friends struggle with racism in this fantastic book called Carrie's Courage, which is one of the many books in the spectacular Sisters In Time series. I think that Carrie's Courage is a wonderful faith-based book that kids ages 8-12 will enjoy reading. I loved the short, flowing, and very interesting poems the author added to this amazing book. The characters matched their 1920's time frame very well. I thought that the ending was kind of sad though. If you like American Girl books then I think you will love this brilliant book. I'm hoping to read all of the books in the whole series. Reviewed by a student for Flamingnet Book Reviews www.flamingnet.com Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations

I think that anyone who LOVES SUSPENSE WILL LOVE this book. I promise. I love history and this has a lot of history and excitment. Don't worry about bad books because Carrie's Courage is one you can always count on.