Season of Promise

Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary #3

by Patricia Hermes

In her third and final journal, Elizabeth and her brother, now reunited, grieve the death of their mother, while dramatic changes take place in Jamestown, under the strict leadership of Lord Delaware.

Elizabeth, who is finally reunited with her twin brother Caleb, continues to grieve for the death of her mother in this third and final volume of her diary. And things don't get much easier when the cruel Lord Delaware begins to impose strict new laws on the residents of the Jamestown colony, and her father decides to remarry. But Elizabeth's brave spirit carries her through the hard times and into happier ones, as she and her friends rebuild the colony's church and discover true happiness.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Diary, Historical, Juvenile, Middle Grade

108 pages, Turtleback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten-year-old Elizabeth Barker has been learning to live without her mother, who died during a terrible time of disease and starvation in Jamestown Colony. But now, in the summer of 1610, things are beginning to improve. Elizabeth's twin brother, Caleb, has finally arrived in Jamestown to rejoin the family. But Elizabeth worries that her father wishes to remarry, and that he will choose sour Mistress Whistler. Elizabeth is grateful to Mistress Whistler for nursing her baby sister, Abigail, after their mother died. But she doesn't want the woman, who is rarely nice to her, as her new mother. To make matters worse, the colony's new governor is imposing strict, terrible new laws. It will take all of Elizabeth's spirit and bravery to bring her through these new challenges and help her face the changes in her life. I highly recommend this book to readers who have read Elizabeth's first two diaries in the My America series, and to young readers who enjoy reading historical fiction.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice little conclusion to Lizzie’s story. I felt that the moral was a little heavy handed at times, and the ending was wrapped up much too quickly, but it was nice to see things going alright for the colony after the last book. Lizzie’s voice and personality were the strongest aspects, especially since she has insecurities and mean thoughts like any other child does. I’m looking forward to more My America books in the future, especially if they’re anything like these.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are very good at weaving in little details of life in early Jamestown in a way that kids remember them. I quizzed my 7yo son on events, people and facts from this book and he got every one of them. The short diary entries are great "bite-sized" sections that make it easy for children (and adults, for that matter) to follow what's happening and give the reader natural stopping points.

This third book doesn't have the trauma of the "Starving Time" - much of the conflict is interpersonal and Elizabeth struggling with her own feelings - but it doesn't lose the historical flavor or the reader's interest.

Of all the kids' books on Jamestown I got out of the library (over a dozen), the three books in this series were the ones my son was most interested in and read without complaint.

For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.

[Mary Bronson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. This is the third book in the My America series about 10 year old Elizbeth growing up in the new settlement of Jamestown. She survived the harsh winter but lost her mother. When the second book ends she and her friend Mary saw the supply ship coming to shore. Elizabeth was extra happy because her twin brother Caleb was on that ship. This book was about the happier times that came after the winter but it also presented Elizabeth with some challenges about life and having to grow up.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third book about Elizabeth's living in the Jamestown colony basically deals with the time after the starving time, when other colonists arrived, along with much-needed supplies. People had to re-build their lives after the deaths of so many of the original colonists, so there's a round of marriages as men and women who had lost their original spouses end up marrying again.

There is a problem with the leadership in the colony, though, and some very harsh measures that the main leader has put into effect, and how Elizabeth ends up helping to ease some of these.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elizabeth constantly goes back-and-forth between complaining that people treat her like a child and herself saying “I’m just a child.” The secret code she started using in the previous book is continued and doesn’t do anything for the story.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book of the Elizabeth diaries and i think was my favorite because in the end they are happy, but in a different way from the happiness in the first book.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good end to Elisabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, to the point. Written for a younger audience, elementary school. I would recommend this book, and the whole My America for elementary school readers probably second grade and up, though there are some dark parts dealing with death, so a knowledge of how the intended reader would handle that is important as well.
This does not give much detail of the historical parts, though it does give a pretty good glimpse into the life back in the 1600's in Jamestown. It would be good to pair with lessons about the settling of America, or to get a child interested in that history.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much happened in this book. Again it seemed to have the same ending as the mayflower dear America book. It's cool though to imagine how the first ever settlement came about and grew.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ending to the trilogy.

[Ginger Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

good to learn english and some history

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

our main girl sweet beth really grew up in this one- good luck in jamestown girlie

[Lucy Arrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for kids, showing the growing stability of Jamestown. Quite a bit of creative liberty to explain various aspects of settlement governance, but overall effective.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

That dang nostalgia bug. Keeps biting me.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our oldest has been studying about Jamestown a lot this year and she came upon this series of three
diaries by a character named Elizabeth.

She borrowed all three books from her elementary school library, but gave me the third one first (I have no idea why.) I read more than half of the book aloud to our girls, but our youngest tired of the format. I think this is better as an independent read anyway. So I read this one, followed by book #2, The Starving Time. And I think she will bring home book #1, Our Strange New Land today for me to complete my backward journey through the diaries.

Still, I found the books to be interesting, if not perhaps completely historically accurate. I think that children, especially girls, will be able to relate to the emotions, experiences, and relationships that Elizabeth describes. I found the diary entries to be very readable, although I suppose I would tire of it if the books were much longer.

[Molly]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are reasons to grieve and to rejoice during the summer of 1610. Elizabeth rejoices as her twin brother, Caleb, steps off the ship from England. When Caleb learns that their mother died during last winter's sickness, he and Elizabeth shed tears for her loss. But, they soon learn that despite the continued hardships, they can be happy and feel hope for the future.

[Patrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the Joshua books, there's a lot of senseless death of innocents, which is both historically accurate and rough for a little kid to read. That said, I think this exposes an interesting window into earlier colonial life.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot better then the second book! A happy ending.

[artemis · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME!

[Jacquelyn Arbegast]

This is a great series of books which all explain times in our past, with fictional characters.