Uncommon Faith

" 'What I hate most in this world,' she said, 'are all the things folks believe that just aren't true...Like saying that teaching a girl's like trying to get a mule to dance.' " "Dainty as a Dresden statue, gentle as a Jersey cow,Smooth as silk, gives cream and milkLearn to coo, learn to mooThat's what you do to be a lady, now."--Peggy Seeger, I'm Gonna Be An Engineer, 1970 UNCOMMON FAITH tells the story of Faith Common, a smart and feisty fourteen year-old preacher's daughter who struggles--in a manner perceived as unladylike--to free herself and her town's other females, young and old, from the constraints of nineteenth century sexism. Set in 1837 in Millbrook, Massachusetts--a decade prior to Seneca Falls, and a quarter-century before the Emancipation Proclamation--and narrated in alternating chapters by Faith's brother and nine of her neighbors, it is a captivating snapshot of patriarchal America in the early years of the long (and ongoing) struggle to make things fair for all folks who live in the "Land of the Free." " 'Why shouldn't girls want to learn about something that's interesting?'" Even Celia Tanner picked up her head to listen." 'Well, they just can't, Miss Fisher. It's just not done,' Amos Read said, dismissing Betsy." 'Well, why not?' asked Faith. She moved close to Amos, thrusting her face right up to his, right next to the glasses and the milky blue eyes."Amos Read cleared his throat. 'You see, Faith,' he said, parading before the boys. 'Studying geometry requires logical deduction."Now Amos waved an arrogant finger in the air. 'One must be able to see that one thing leads to another. From a plane figure, say, to a quadrilateral and then to a square or a rhombus. And so forth. Geometry's logical. It makes sense." 'So why can't girls learn to make use of its good sense, too?'"Amos turned sharply to face Faith. His spectacles glinted harshly against the light. The master was growing angry." 'Everybody knows why not,' he said haughtily, backing away from Faith and nodding at the boys. 'Women are flighty. Illogical. Everybody knows they haven't the logical capacities.'"Faith bristled. 'Everybody knows? I hate those words. Can "everybody" prove that girls don't have this logical capacity?'" 'Well, they don't have to prove it. You don't have to prove things that everybody knows!' Now Master Read stamped his foot. I knew what the stamp meant: Amos was dismissing her. 'Obviously it's quite impossible for girls to study geometry,' he said, warming to his own words. 'Completely impossible, in fact. Besides,' Amos added with authority, 'the kind of learning you are asking to acquire is even forbidden by the Bible. The prohibition is in First Timothy.' " Faith's grandfather is a retired Congregationalist minister, her father a Methodist minister. An important aspect of the story is the effect that Faith's activism has on her mother. Emma Common is an Everywoman character. She is caught on one side by love and obedience for her father and h

Trudy Krisher has uniquely told the story of a New England town in the 1830s through the voices of the townspeople. It is a marvelous story with such complexities. --finely crafted -- Each character seemed to find their own voice in the entries. I found myself anxious to read the entries of John Common,Ellen Gordon, and Celia Tanner -- they really were all wonderful. This seems like a perfect book for 7th graders who are in the midst of this period in their American history classes -- It delves into women's rights, slavery, patriarchal society -- but also issues that are relevant to every teenager -- search for identity, love, etc.