Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield

The Treasure Chest #1

by Ann Hood, Denis Zilber (Illustrator)

While exploring The Treasure Chest, Felix and Maisie are transported to a Massachusetts farm in 1836. Disappointed that they have not landed in their beloved New York City, they wonder why they were brought to Massachusetts to meet a young girl named Clara Barton. Perhaps Clara has a message for the twins? Or maybe they have one for her?

Genres: Time Travel, Fantasy, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2011

About the author

Ann Hood is the editor of Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting and the bestselling author of The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, and An Italian Wife, among other works. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Masie and Felix's parents divorce, the twelve-year-old twins reluctantly move from New York City to Rhode Island with their Mom, who is distracted by a demanding new job. Their new home is a mansion that once belonged to their great aunt but is now owned by the local preservation society. Living in a historic mansion sounds exciting but the family is restricted to the small, hot servant’s quarters. Expecting their new life in Rhode Island to be boring compared to the hustle and bustle of New York, the twins are in for a surprise when they discover a secret room that transports them to the year 1836, where they meet a young Clara Barton. A short epilogue provides an account of Clara Barton’s life and many contributions during the Civil War and after. While Felix and Masie’s visit to the past is a little slow and their reaction to time travel is blasé, the rest of the story moves quickly and keeps the reader’s attention. Ann Hood’s new series will appeal to Magic Tree House fans who are looking for a more challenging read.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of potential and I really enjoyed it; I just found it too short and it took too long to get into the real story. Of course it is meant for mid-graders and not adults, like me. I did love the idea that this series teaches children about people in history, going back to their teenaged years. The name of this series is "The Treasure Chest". This is the kind of cool series I wish I could write.

First in a series: When the Robbins parents get a divorce, twins Maisie and Felix move with their mother to Newport, Rhode Island into the attic of the family palatial mansion, Elm Medora, built by their great-great-grandfather in 1909. Great Aunt Maisie couldn't afford upkeep of the mansion so she sold it to the local preservation society with the stipulation that she could lease the third floor former servant's quarters for $1 a year. Now Aunt Maisie is in a retirement home after suffering a stroke and the Robbins are living in the apartment. Oh, Mr. Robbins is in the middle east (Qatar) managing a museum. Maisie, the elder twin by 7 minutes, is bigger, stronger, and more adventurous than her brother Felix, who is more intelligent. The twins sneak into the museum and find the Treasure Room which contains all sorts of relics from the past that their great-great grandfather Phinneas Pickworth brought home from his many travels. While tugging at a piece of paper, the twins are transported to a Massachusetts farm in 1836 where they meet a young Clara Barton, destined to become a famous Civil War nurse among other things.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across these books very recently at Square Books Jr. The covers could use a bit of work, but the premise and content are actually very interesting. One can sympathize with a parent who wishes they could find specific books for their children, and when they do not, they write them. Michael Chabon famously does this with Summerland. The adventures of Maisie and Felix in "The Treasure Chest" series are certain to delight those with an interest in magic, time travel, mystery, and history. Traveling back in time first to meet Clara Barton as well as other lesser-known but important historical figures when they were young themselves (before they did great things) is both original and highlights periods of history that should get more attention. I love Hood's detail in imagining what a colonial blueberry would taste like as well as other foods untainted by our genetic engineering, mass production, and pollution. Even the textual elements that mark the tops of the chapter--red cross crosses for Barton--are a great touch. A wonderful series to help children to see the passionate individuals who shaped the American past without seeming dry and dusty and boring. That they come out in paperback to start makes them quite affordable to those on a book budget. Looking forward to reading the rest!

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Impression:
I love Ann Hood and was excited to see a middle grade series coming out authored by her.

While Reading:
Felix and Maisie are going through a tough time. Their father has left, their mother uprooted them and dragged them to live upstairs a house turned into a museum. One that they aren't allowed to explore on their own, but only through a tour. However, children will be children and they find a way to explore through the old rooms, set up for daily tours and find The Treasure Chest.

However, there is more to this room and as they fight over a list of names, they are transported back in time. There, they meet Clara Barton and they have to live life as she does until they can find a way back home. There is something that has to be solved before they can do so. Will they be able to figure out what it is? Will they ever end up back home?

I really enjoyed this first novel in a series. Angel of the Battlefield is full of adventure, history and mischief that really does put the children in quite a pickle. I love the relationship between the twins, one being sensible and careful, the other adventurous and curious.

Verdict:
A must-read for students that love history and fantasy entangled into one. Definitely for younger readers up to middle school ages.

[Paula Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for students in grades 4-6. 12 year old twins become involved in time travel back to historic people. Angel of the Battlefield is about a young Clara Barton. The twins can't return home until they do what they were sent to do. What they are sent to do is part of the mystery they must solve. The items that propel them back in time come from the room called the Treasure Chest. Mystery and history makes a great combination.

[Khadijah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was suspenseful and kept me reading it felt like i was in the book seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling those things. it was so much powerful description and the book gave a very detailed picture drawn on the cover making the characters facile expression stand out, glinting on their faces making them look so real.

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Ann Hood fan, so when I saw she wrote a children's series, I checked out book #1. If I was about 9, I think I'd probably like this book a lot. But there's just not any real depth to offer a mature reader. This is no Harry Potter, perhaps because she's targeting an audience who just hasn't been reading long. Anyway this was quick and painless but probably not worth the time.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by the publisher

Maisie and Felix Robbins' lives are upturned in an instant when their parents announce they are divorcing. Before they know it, they are whisked from New York City to Newport, Rhode Island while their father packs himself off to work at a museum in Qatar! Because an ancestor built Elm Medona, one of the Gilded Age "cottages", and the children's great aunt Maisie can no longer stay in the apartment she is renting for $1 a year from the historical society, the children move in with their mother. They joke that they are being held captive in the attic, but it's quite a nice place to live, and they do get taken on a tour of their opulent new surroundings. While Maisie is not particularly happy about the move, she is intrigued, and when a pricelss Ming vase shatters, she surreptitiously picks up a shard. Things get strange when the vase appears later, fully mended! Felix doesn't think much of it until the two get a chance to see the Treasure Chest, a room full of all sorts of wonderful gifts that had been given to the owners of the home. When the two pick up a piece of paper, reality flickers, and they wonder what secrets the room might hold. Of course, their mother takes the day off, and wants them to visit their great aunt, but they are impatient to get back. When they sneak into the room at night, they manage to time travel! They end up in the country, and assume that the girl they meet in her family's barn, Clara Barton, must be Amish, and think they have traveled to Pennsylvania. When Clara tells them that they are in Massachusetts, and that it's 1836, they are amazed. They spend an interesting day hearing about Clara's brother David, who was sick and had to be nursed for three years, overhear stories that Clara's father tells, and have a hearty country breakfast. It's tricky to get back, and they realize that they have a letter that needs to be delivered to Clara. Once that is done, they head back to modern day Newport to start their new school, and to spend more time listening to their great aunt!
Strengths: If you have not been to Newport to see the mansions there, you should go if you get the chance. They are absolutely fascinating. There's so much history, and the thought of being able to live in an apartment in one of them... wow. I don't know why Maisie complains at all! The reasons for the family's move were solid, and I was glad that both Maisie and Felix saw some value in visiting their aunt and hearing her stories by the end of the book. The historical details about 1836 are good, and meeting a young Clara Barton and hearing about her formative years was interesting. I could use a good historical novel about Barton, now that I think about it. The new covers (this series first was published in 2011) are much better than the old ones.
Weaknesses: Since Clara hasn't done her famous battlefield nursing work yet, this felt more like a Childhood of Famous Americans book than a time travel adventure where children have to rectify some anomaly in the past. Perhaps there will be more reason for the children to travel in the next book. I have to say that I liked Hood's She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah a little better, but that was an especially good book.
What I really think: Asselin and Malone's Art of the Swap also takes place in a Newport mansion and involves time travel, but this has more historic significance. It will be popular with readers of Gutman's Flashback Four, Messner's Ranger in Time, or O'Brien's White House Clubhouse.

[Ashley Fitzpatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maisie and Felix are twins who recently moved into the Elm Medona, which is a mansion that has been turned into a museum. Maisie is an adventurous girl who loves to break the rules and Felix on the other hand thrives on following the rules. The twins discover a room in the mansion that can send them back into time. That is when they have the adventure of a lifetime. To be honest I was not a fan of this book, I thought that this book was very slow paced and had way too many details. The book also had no tension or conflicts to propel the story forward. I was not drawn into this story at all, there was not a lot left to the imagination and the adventure itself was not very interesting. This book was also labeled as a science fiction book but to be honest I thought it should fall under the category of historical fiction instead I think that I would recommend this to a student who likes to read about historical things, but I think this book would be too slow paced for most grade school students to enjoy.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two twins are miserable in their new home with their now divorced mom. They are living in the upstairs servant part of their ancestral house. They aren’t too sure how they did it but they travel back in time to see Clara Barton as a teenager. Their Great Aunt seems to have some suspicion they may have done so. At the end is a comment by the author with facts she hadn’t been able to put in the story I found the afterword quite confusing and in need of editing. The story itself was only so-so with no explanation of what was the point in seeing Clara Barton at age 14. The twin went to a library afterward to find out what she did with her life. I can see why this didn’t become a huge series. Perhaps the next one might be better, but I really wasn’t all that impressed.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! Can't wait to read some more from this series. I enjoyed the fresh take on time travel & biographical information; the reader gets to meet Clara Barton as a youth & experience her world through the eyes of the protagonist twins. The impact on the twins of the splitting up of the family through divorce is dealt with realistically yet gently. I also appreciated the character of Great-Aunt Maisie, the elements of old-age & disability, & the varying reactions to these by the twins and how their relationship grows. Great way to introduce young readers to history, heroes, & life challenges wrapped up in mystery, fantasy, and adventure.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This time she went into her room and closed the door, leaving Felix standing there wondering who had that other piece and how in the world his sister had talked him into doing the very thing he had promised he would not do."

Good read. Good characters. Good story line. I like that the author is choosing the important "unknowns" to bring into the books.

[Alicia Mesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absent parenting and annoying twins are just two problems with this book. Once the twins locked their aunt who had a stroke I was done. Also this is a series written back in 2012. I listened to the audiobook which has a 2024 publication date, very misleading. There are better children’s books out there, enjoy those.

[Leah Hartzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids book review! 🤣

I wanted to start a history short chapter series for my 4 year old. I prelistened to this to test it out. I think he probably needs another year.

But overall, the concept was good. Most of the history was at the end after the story giving an overview. I think I would have liked the book better if more history was incorporated throughout when the twins go back in time.

[Abby A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ran across this book at the library as it was on my To-read list and read it. Took me less than an hour, a quick history kid read. Safe and good-unless you are uncomfortable with time travel. :)

[GS Dachslove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Magic Tree House concept, but they go back and visit historical characters. Higher reading level than Magic Tree House, so maybe a good next series for fans?

[Hayden Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[A Book Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

To see my full review:

http://wp.me/p1jhaj-4fN

While I don’t usually seek out and read MG books, I’m really glad that the publisher gave me this novel to read at my leisure. Originally, I wasn’t sure if I would read it for review or not, but since it’s such a quick read, I decided to give it a shot, and I’m happy I did. Though definitely a novel for young readers, the story itself is interesting—with a little bit of drama, lots of snooping around, and time travel, I was hooked almost from the beginning, genuinely interested in the lives of twins Felix and Maisie, especially because they’ve had it so rough as of late. Due to their parents’ divorce, Felix and Maisie find themselves uprooted from their home and moving into the servants quarters of a 70 room mansion—a mansion their great grandfather built, but that his daughter turned over to the preservation society in order to help with its upkeep. Of course, everything is new for the twins, and the loss of their stable home has them rather upset, so it’s easy to connect with them from the start. Hood does a great job fleshing out the twins, and in no time they are exploring their new home, sneaking around the mansion when they know they aren’t supposed to, and a sense of mystery and magic permeates the story as it begins to take flight.

I can see how much a 3rd-5th grader would really love this story, but I also think students as old as 9th and 10th grade would enjoy it as well. Hood really has a way with words, and this novel delivers in all the right places. While these wasn’t much in terms of Clara Ba

[Breanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really interesting. It starts off a bit slow, but it picks up later in the book. It is an interesting way to get students in to biographies. It has enough of a fictional story to keep them interested, but enough of the biography to get them to learn about Clara Barton.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read the “Bobbsy Twins” but that was all I could think of when I saw “...the Adventures of the Robbins Twins” on the cover of this complementary teacher’s edition. This edition includes materials for teachers, and along with the newest fad, are aligned with the Common Core.

I wonder why the author spent over a third of the book just setting up the time travel piece. Usually the travel is earlier in the story. By the time I got to reading about their encounter with Clara Barton, I had forgotten we were supposed to meet her. I did enjoy the twins’ exploration of the home, which gave a strong sense of place, and their discovery of the time travel mechanism. The reader is certainly poised to come back to find out which object they will pick up next, and to where it will take them. I wonder if they will start looking around the room a bit more to try to guess where an object would take them.

Maisie seems to lead Felix around, and he gives in way too easily, never thinking for himself. It is predictable that Great Aunt Maisie isn’t as senile as the adults around her think!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the continuing saga of 'I'm reading these books completely out of order!' was this one, finally! Book one! This one wasn't my favorite book in the series that I've read thus far, but that's probably actually good news because it just means the books get better as they go on! I just found Maisie to be really, really annoying. Though I can understand her PoV since she is only 12 and going through a lot of things. I would still recommend this book and this series (now that I finally know how they found the treasure chest and how they ended up at Elm Medona!) 4 out of 5 stars. Still a good, good read and am looking forward to the next one in my pile (which is number 5, Crazy Horse >.>).

[Dona · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK – I’ve been known to read and (insert blushing face here) enjoy young adult literature. This is a child’s book. All it was missing were the illustrations and I would be back in early grade school. I picked this book because I enjoyed Ann Hood’s “The Obituary Writer” so much and my library had a limited number of her books available. For a child’s book it was very good. It kind of made me wish I had a child to read it to. Since I didn’t I whipped through it in record time and learned a valuable lesson – check the section of the library this book will be pulled from.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a STEM book though others in the series may be more so. Painless history, though, involving two kids, an old house and time travel. I like the way this book shows history in a context and links it to the future, well, the future of the past that is, er...you know. I have to read more in the series to see how the subplot of the great-great-aunt plays out: at the start, visiting her in the nursing home is an unpleasant boring duty; by the end, the kids are thinking maybe she has something to say about all this.

[David Rough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first novel for young readers in The Treasure Chest series was a catcher of my imagination. I enjoyed the introduction of Clara Barton and the family mysteries of the twins, Felix and Maisie. The process of getting to Clara was more complex than the actual relationship with the historical hero. The book left many fascinating questions to be answered (as every good series should), so I have placed book #2 on my short list.

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read for upper elementary age students. My son really enjoyed both the time traveling and the historical info. This was the first book in the series and got off to a slow start. The author spent a lot of time on the background of the main characters.
We haven't covered the Civil War in much depth and this was a good introduction.

[Great Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maisie and Felix now live in a seventy room mansion in Rhode Island after their parents' divorce. When the twins sneak into a secret room, "the Treasure Chest," they are whisked back in time to 1836 to meet Clara Barton, angel of the battlefield. Reviewer 21

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parents get divorced kids move to a Newport mansion and find time travel magic and end up meeting a young Clara Barton. Great for Magic Treehouse readers wanting the next step. Believable kid characters, good dialogue, solid, enjoyable historical fiction adventures.

[Lisa Fabiano · Rating 3 out of 5]

After their parents’ divorce, twins Felix and Maisie must move to a mansion in Newport, RI. When they sneak into a secret room, they somehow travel back in time and meet a young Clara Barton. How did they get to 1836, and more importantly, how are they going to get back?

[Caren · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 year old twins, Maisie and Felix move with their newly divorced mother o Rhode Island to an old family mansion
There is a room called, "The Treasure Chest."
They are transported to 1836 and meet Clara Barton.
Old choice for kids who like antic Treehouse. More info in these books.

[Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay for me. It felt like a rip-off of the Magic Treehouse books. It has a little older audience, but was not quite as engaging. I did not buy into the characters as easily. I may give the next on a try, but I am not necessarily sold.