From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-This Civil War tale is based on a true story. Eighteen-year-old Sarah Tracy, a Yankee from Troy, NY, is anxious to escape her family's matchmaking schemes. In 1861, when she hears of an opportunity for employment at Mount Vernon, she jumps at the chance to live and work there. Soon Miss Cunningham, head of the Association that purchased the property from the Washington family, is called home to South Carolina, and the teen is left in the company of the servants-and Mr. Upton Herbert, an eligible bachelor who is the plantation's superintendent. While refurbishing the estate, the two must confront many challenges in seeing it through the war, from privations to threats from the armies. Of course, adversity unites them. This gently told story shows how war impacts noncombatants; it is sure to be popular with Rinaldi fans and lovers of historical fiction.Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TNCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. Like Rinaldi's In My Father's House (1993), this historical novel is set in Virginia during the Civil War and loosely based on a true story. The setting is not a battlefield but a place revered by both the Union and the Confederacy, Mount Vernon. Just before the war breaks out, narrator Sarah Tracy, an 18-year-old from Troy, New York, accepts a position as caretaker at Mount Vernon. The determined, if inexperienced, Sarah faces a series of threats to the house, to Washington's tomb, and to her own reputation and security. From her encounters with neighbors and soldiers and from the curiously anticlimactic scene in which the Mount Vernon slaves are freed, Sarah learns that issues and attitudes are not always simple or predictable. The book highlights the many societal restrictions on eighteenth-century women as it introduces a sympathetic heroine who looks for ways around them. An epilogue, an author's note, and a bibliography are appended. A quiet but involving piece that Rinaldi's many fans will enjoy. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
All my life I have done what my family wanted. I have performed and made them happy. Until now. Now I have broken out on my own Sarah Tracy has spent her entire life under constant supervision, always under the thumb of one older sibling or another. Now, at eighteen it's time for her to get married, so she is sent to dinner parties, plays, teas, soirees, talks, and chaperoned walks -- always accompanied, always watched. Sarah's tired of it -- tired of being shipped around, tired of being reminded that it's time to find a suitable husband. She knows that a husband is definitely not what she wants. But the year is 1861 and it's not proper for girls of Sarah's age to be single or independent. Then Sarah sees an advertisement looking for a young woman to oversee Mount Vernon, the beloved, though now dilapidated, family home of George Washington. Intent on securing the position, she lies to her family and her potential employer, and she becomes mistress of this decaying symbol of American freedom. And then comes the American Civil War. As battles rage around her, Sarah is determined to create a haven of peace at Mount Vernon. With consummate skills, feminine wiles, and a true sense of diplomacy, Sarah single-handedly manages to keep Mount Vernon out of the war. But while she is able to influence generals, soldiers, and even the president, she learns she doesn't hold such sway over her own heart -- as she also discovers true love. Based on a true story, this is the amazing tale of one girl's path to womanhood.


About the Author
Ann Rinaldi is acclaimed for her historical novels, of which eight have been named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Author of more than thirty titles, she sets the standard for the genre in excellence and accuracy with her modern-day classics Wolf by the Ears and In My Father?s House. She lives in New Jersey with her husband.

ANNOTATION

In 1861, eighteen-year-old Sarah Tracy, from New York state, comes to work at Mount Vernon, the historic Virginia home of George Washington, where she tries to protect the safety and neutrality of the site during the Civil War, and where she encounters her future husband, Upton Herbert. Includes historical notes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

All my life I have done what myfamily wanted. I have performed and made them happy. Until now.Now I have broken out on my own

Sarah Tracy has spent her entire life under constant supervision, always under the thumb of one older sibling or another. Now, at eighteen it's time for her to get married, so she is sent to dinner parties, plays, teas, soirees, talks, and chaperoned walks -- always accompanied, always watched.

Sarah's tired of it -- tired of being shipped around, tired of being reminded that it's time to find a suitable husband. She knows that a husband is definitely not what she wants. But the year is 1861 and it's not proper for girls of Sarah's age to be single or independent.

Then Sarah sees an advertisement looking for a young woman to oversee Mount Vernon, the beloved, though now dilapidated, family home of George Washington. Intent on securing the position, she lies to her family and her potential employer, and she becomes mistress of this decaying symbol of American freedom.

And then comes the American Civil War. As battles rage around her, Sarah is determined to create a haven of peace at Mount Vernon. With consummate skills, feminine wiles, and a true sense of diplomacy, Sarah single-handedly manages to keep Mount Vernon out of the war. But while she is able to influence generals, soldiers, and even the president, she learns she doesn't hold such sway over her own heart -- as she also discovers true love.

Based on a true story, this is the amazing tale of one girl's path to womanhood.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Jennifer Chambliss

The year is 1861, the United States is divided and war is brewing. Eighteen-year old Sarah Tracy is tired of the pressure on her to find a suitable husband and the constant supervision of her older sister. When she is offered a position as a caretaker for Mount Vernon she jumps at the opportunity. As the Civil War begins, Sarah uses her smarts to influence powerful generals—even President Lincoln—in order to protect Mount Vernon and keep it the only neutral ground during the war. Along the way, Sarah manages to find a suitable husband too. This fictional novel is based on a Sarah Tracy who really did exist and live at Mount Vernon during the Civil War. This book will make the time period come alive for readers and would be a great complement to lessons on the Civil War. 2004, Simon & Schuster, Ages 12 up.

VOYA - Elaine McGuire

Sarah Tracy, a very Katherine Hepburn-like steadfast young woman, is the caretaker of Mount Vernon as a representative of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. In 1861, her greatest challenge is keeping George Washington's home sacred and neutral in the midst of civil war. Sarah has assistance from capable Upton Herbert in this endeavor, but he is a South Carolina native who envies his brothers' Confederate uniforms. Also at Mount Vernon are the unpaid servants who are descendants of Washington's own slaves. Sarah's maneuverings are complex and fascinating. Limitations of the geography, her gender, her Yankee attitudes, and her family's apparent disapproval of her living arrangement are seen as challenges to face head on. Necessary trips from Virginia to Washington City are allowed only with passes from generals whose positions come and go. When haughty General McClellan refuses her a pass, she goes to President Lincoln himself, who not only writes her pass personally but also offers her a piece of his apple. The high point of the book is this scene that sums up the politics of war and the ties between the legacy she is protecting and the new world Lincoln is creating. Readers unfamiliar with details of American history will be periodically confused by all the political players, but the overall story of Mount Vernon as a bastion of peace caught in the midst of war makes for a great read. VOYA Codes: 4Q 2P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Simon & Schuster, 192p., Ages 11 to 18.

KLIATT - Claire Rosser

Every few months, it seems, Rinaldi gives us another historical novel. This one is an unusual situation, based on a true story. It takes place during the Civil War. The main character, Sarah, is from the North, but she has taken on the job of caretaker at Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington, which lies in Confederate territory, outside of Washington, D.C., in Virginia. She shares the job with a young man from Virginia, whose sympathies are with the Confederacy, but they determine to make Mt. Vernon neutral ground, and succeed in doing so. Of course, there is some tension as the two are attracted to each other, but they put their job of preserving Mt. Vernon above their personal lives for the duration of the war. There are some attempts to get chaperones, but generally they rely on the help and loyalty of the ex-slaves who have lived at Mt. Vernon for generations. These servants are no longer slaves because Sarah insists from the beginning on paying them wages. Most of the money that comes to Mt. Vernon is in the form of donations from soldiers visiting Washington's tomb-soldiers from both sides in the Civil War honoring the father of the country. In the course of Sarah's quests for permits, she meets Union generals and even President Lincoln himself. More interesting, however, are her day treks from Mt. Vernon into Alexandria and D.C., to sell produce raised at Mt. Vernon, all the while a witness to the confusion and chaos of northern Virginia during the war. KLIATT Codes: JS-Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Simon & Schuster, 176p., Ages 12 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-This Civil War tale is based on a true story. Eighteen-year-old Sarah Tracy, a Yankee from Troy, NY, is anxious to escape her family's matchmaking schemes. In 1861, when she hears of an opportunity for employment at Mount Vernon, she jumps at the chance to live and work there. Soon Miss Cunningham, head of the Association that purchased the property from the Washington family, is called home to South Carolina, and the teen is left in the company of the servants-and Mr. Upton Herbert, an eligible bachelor who is the plantation's superintendent. While refurbishing the estate, the two must confront many challenges in seeing it through the war, from privations to threats from the armies. Of course, adversity unites them. This gently told story shows how war impacts noncombatants; it is sure to be popular with Rinaldi fans and lovers of historical fiction.-Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews