Julie's Journey: 1974

The summer after fourth grade, Julie gets packing. She makes sure to include all of her Little House books alongside a pioneer dress and other stuff. It's 1974, and Julie and her older sister Tracy are getting together with their cousins, aunt, and uncle to take part in the wagon train that's celebrating America's bicentennial. Julie doesn't mind roughing it on the trail. In fact, she's fairly wide-eyed and happy on the journey, writing in her journal and bonding with her sister and her cousin April - that is, until she is thrown from a horse. She's pretty much unharmed, but pretty shaken up. She must build up the courage to literally get back on the horse in order to retrieve a vital piece of history in the making. Julie's Journey is the fifth book about Julie Albright written by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Robert Hunt. Julie is one of the American Girls, books which offer realistic glimpses into America's past through the eyes of young girls. This book acts as a nice bridge between Julie and an earlier American Girl, Felicity, whose stories are set in 1774. Readers can easily compare the two series and discuss the differences between the two time periods.