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Home Fronts
Author and teacher Tom Durwood's new installment of richly illustrated historical fiction, The Illustrated Colonials, brings us an unconventional look at the American Revolution. Six wealthy kids from around the globe join the Bostonian cause, finding love and treachery along the path to liberty in three successive novellas of global empirical literature.
BOOK TWO: HOME FRONTS
Our emboldened young Colonials leave their school to face treachery and change in their homelands. They enter the tumultuous landscapes of 1776 ready to fight for their beliefs. Little do they know how high the cost will be.
BOOK TWO: HOME FRONTS
Our emboldened young Colonials leave their school to face treachery and change in their homelands. They enter the tumultuous landscapes of 1776 ready to fight for their beliefs. Little do they know how high the cost will be.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2021
About the author
Tom Durwood
24 books50 followersTom Durwood is a teacher, writer and editor with an interest in history. Tom most recently taught English Composition and Empire and Literature at Valley Forge Military College, where he won the Teacher of the Year Award five times.
Early reader response to Tom’s historical fiction adventures has been promising. “A true pleasure … the richness of the layers of Tom’s novel is compelling,” writes Fatima Sharrafedine in her foreword to “The Illustrated Boatman’s Daughter.”
The Midwest Book Review calls that same adventure “uniformly gripping and educational … pairing action and adventure with social issues.” Adds Prairie Review, “A deeply intriguing, ambitious historical fiction series.”
Tom earned a Masters in English Literature in San Diego, where he also served as Executive Director of San Diego Habitat for Humanity.
Two of Tom’s books, “Kid Lit” and “The Illustrated Boatman’s Daughter,” were selected “Best of the New” by Julie Sara Porter’s Bookworm Book Alert 2021.
His new book, "An Introduction to Higher Math: Five Concepts Taken from the 'Ruby Pi' Stories (Ruby Pi Adventure Series)" is out now on Amazon!
👉 https://amzn.to/3ZyiA4l
Visit the links below for free pdf's to read a sample of each book!
https://www.themathgirls.com
https://www.boatmansdaughter.com
https://www.mycolonials.com
https://www.teddystantrum.com
https://www.kidlitcrit.com
https://www.empirestudies.com
https://www.usginchina.com
Early reader response to Tom’s historical fiction adventures has been promising. “A true pleasure … the richness of the layers of Tom’s novel is compelling,” writes Fatima Sharrafedine in her foreword to “The Illustrated Boatman’s Daughter.”
The Midwest Book Review calls that same adventure “uniformly gripping and educational … pairing action and adventure with social issues.” Adds Prairie Review, “A deeply intriguing, ambitious historical fiction series.”
Tom earned a Masters in English Literature in San Diego, where he also served as Executive Director of San Diego Habitat for Humanity.
Two of Tom’s books, “Kid Lit” and “The Illustrated Boatman’s Daughter,” were selected “Best of the New” by Julie Sara Porter’s Bookworm Book Alert 2021.
His new book, "An Introduction to Higher Math: Five Concepts Taken from the 'Ruby Pi' Stories (Ruby Pi Adventure Series)" is out now on Amazon!
👉 https://amzn.to/3ZyiA4l
Visit the links below for free pdf's to read a sample of each book!
https://www.themathgirls.com
https://www.boatmansdaughter.com
https://www.mycolonials.com
https://www.teddystantrum.com
https://www.kidlitcrit.com
https://www.empirestudies.com
https://www.usginchina.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 2, 2021
The story begins with a bloody battle on American soil. Gilbert fights bravely. Meanwhile, in the eastern provinces of China, Jiayi Mai Ying begins a new journey with her horse, Mazu, determined never to return home. In Constantinople, Prince Mahmoud returns home determined to bring his people the freedoms he learned about at the School of Selestat. He encounters treachery from within and without his own family. He receives a letter calling on him to fulfill the pact which he and his friends made at their school.
This book brings a new level of action to readers. The author in the second book elevates the peaceful plot into surprising events. War begins to embrace the young heroes from the first chapter to the end. Assassinations, political traps, religious beliefs of the colonial age are well-portrayed. Readers are given stories which are both informative and beautifully narrated.
The prose is creative and poetic. Here is a sample:
“Feminine hands reached into the cage. Long, well-manicured fingers wrapped
around the bird’s pale grey wings, with their double black bars, and around his beating heart. The rock pigeon braced himself to fly: It would be a day and a night crossing azure waters before he would rest again.”
History is not everyone’s cup of tea. I admire the effort taken by the author to change the perspective of a new generation looking at the events of the American Revolution. This trilogy provides a good reason for teens to consider History as a subject. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Thank you, Tom Durwood, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The expected arrival date is 6/22/2021. Hope you all enjoy the read.
This book brings a new level of action to readers. The author in the second book elevates the peaceful plot into surprising events. War begins to embrace the young heroes from the first chapter to the end. Assassinations, political traps, religious beliefs of the colonial age are well-portrayed. Readers are given stories which are both informative and beautifully narrated.
The prose is creative and poetic. Here is a sample:
“Feminine hands reached into the cage. Long, well-manicured fingers wrapped
around the bird’s pale grey wings, with their double black bars, and around his beating heart. The rock pigeon braced himself to fly: It would be a day and a night crossing azure waters before he would rest again.”
History is not everyone’s cup of tea. I admire the effort taken by the author to change the perspective of a new generation looking at the events of the American Revolution. This trilogy provides a good reason for teens to consider History as a subject. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Thank you, Tom Durwood, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The expected arrival date is 6/22/2021. Hope you all enjoy the read.
September 15, 2021
Spoilers: On the last exciting episode of Tom Durwood's The Illustrated Colonials,six teens from around the world were recruited to attend the School for Young Monarchs in Alsace-Lorraine. They were Jiayi Mei Ying from China, Prince Mahmoud from the Ottoman Empire, Sheyndil from Russia, Leo from Germany, Will from the Netherlands, and Gilbert du Motier from France. Despite their class and social differences, the sextet learned the school's values of enlightenment, liberty, and equality. They used their talents in commerce, leadership, engineering, military strategy, agriculture, and scholarship research to promote those ideals. Through their education and friendship, they formed a tight bond. In the face of old enemies, they defended each other and formed a pact to always be there for each other. If one is in trouble, the other five will come to their aid.
In the second volume, Home Fronts, we experience their lives before and after their education. One of the characters is examined before they enter the school. Afterwards, the characters return to their homes and are met with suspicion and praise.
Mei Ying's early story fills in some blanks that the previous book left out. In the previous volume, we experience the moment when the other five hear about the school and discover their motives for attending whether by family pressure, patronage, or just looking for something to do. In Mei Ying's introductory chapter, we see her disinherited by her grandfather. But we don't learn about how she knows about the school or what motivates her to attend. In fact when some of the other characters enroll,they already hear about "the girl from China" who is attending.
Mei Ying's section in Home Fronts shows her with all of her arrogance and strength, both of which are detrimental and helpful to her subsequent studies. She is reluctant to cooperate with Westerners. ("Why must I learn to speak German and French?," she complains."When will that become useful?".) At times, she develops a diva-esque attitude such as when after getting in a bad mood, she howls that China does not outlaw moods.
However, Mei Ying shows a lot of courage and strength even before she joins the school. In one chapter, she faces a pack of wolves practically single-handed. (One of my favorite illustrations is an almost anime style drawing of Mei Ying facing against the wolves.) When she learns of an attack on a village by mercenaries, she curses the man who led them there by telling him that his cowardice will be known. This glimpse of Mei Ying's pre-school life reveals a lot about her character and what she needed to learn before being accepted as one of the gang.
Besides Mei Ying's prologue, we also see the kids return to their home countries and try to fit what they learned into the worlds in which they were raised. They quickly learn that it's all well and good to gain new perspectives and to learn new things and put them into practice. But it's hard when the people aren't ready to accept the new way of thinking.
The subsequent return to their home countries is mostly experienced by Prince Mahmoud. He raises many eyebrows when he first arrives. He tells the servants to stop prostrating themselves on the ground. He tells them that they are human and have free will. This is not the spoiled brat from the previous volume who insisted that servants were happy just being servants and would not even think of the word "slaves."
To put his respect for the servants to action and not just hollow words, Mahmoud uses his new found talent in engineering to improve the piping in the servant's quarters so they can enjoy hot baths.
The distance between Mahmoud and his upbringing is painfully illustrated during a conversation between the young Prince and his father, The Sultan. After the Sultan asks what he learned among the "Franks."(Westerners), he goes into a well worn tirade about his kingdom that Mahmoud heard many times before. However, the Prince realizes that his father is shaped by Ottoman Anti-Western views that he has held onto without really wondering, reading about, or questioning them. Where once Mahmoud may have thought of those words as wise, he now sees them as trite. Where he once saw his father as a heroic man beyond reproach, he now sees a man who if not wrong is certainly misguided.
Mahmoud sees that he changed but the world around him has not and he is uncertain about what he should do about it.
As for the others, well they also learn some new things which challenge their former roles in society. Sheyndil was once a meek peasant who believed that she was not permitted to have a voice. Now she is willing to physically fight and verbally spar against assailants, including Russian soldiers who would in the past would have bullied her without a second thought.
Will was once the much derided second son passed over in the family business for his older brother, Casper. However, the business acumen that he learned and the contacts that he made (particularly with a certain Ottoman Prince and a Chinese woman whose family practically owns the Yunhe canals and harbor), he is able to save his family from trade routes being cut off and potential bankruptcy.
As for the pact that they had made, well one of their own gets in trouble. The final pages show that soon it will be time for the other five to spring into action and honor that vow.
Home Fronts builds on the concepts that began in the first book and shows how the characters evolved. It also shows a world that is on the brink of evolving with those characters, whether it is ready or not.
In the second volume, Home Fronts, we experience their lives before and after their education. One of the characters is examined before they enter the school. Afterwards, the characters return to their homes and are met with suspicion and praise.
Mei Ying's early story fills in some blanks that the previous book left out. In the previous volume, we experience the moment when the other five hear about the school and discover their motives for attending whether by family pressure, patronage, or just looking for something to do. In Mei Ying's introductory chapter, we see her disinherited by her grandfather. But we don't learn about how she knows about the school or what motivates her to attend. In fact when some of the other characters enroll,they already hear about "the girl from China" who is attending.
Mei Ying's section in Home Fronts shows her with all of her arrogance and strength, both of which are detrimental and helpful to her subsequent studies. She is reluctant to cooperate with Westerners. ("Why must I learn to speak German and French?," she complains."When will that become useful?".) At times, she develops a diva-esque attitude such as when after getting in a bad mood, she howls that China does not outlaw moods.
However, Mei Ying shows a lot of courage and strength even before she joins the school. In one chapter, she faces a pack of wolves practically single-handed. (One of my favorite illustrations is an almost anime style drawing of Mei Ying facing against the wolves.) When she learns of an attack on a village by mercenaries, she curses the man who led them there by telling him that his cowardice will be known. This glimpse of Mei Ying's pre-school life reveals a lot about her character and what she needed to learn before being accepted as one of the gang.
Besides Mei Ying's prologue, we also see the kids return to their home countries and try to fit what they learned into the worlds in which they were raised. They quickly learn that it's all well and good to gain new perspectives and to learn new things and put them into practice. But it's hard when the people aren't ready to accept the new way of thinking.
The subsequent return to their home countries is mostly experienced by Prince Mahmoud. He raises many eyebrows when he first arrives. He tells the servants to stop prostrating themselves on the ground. He tells them that they are human and have free will. This is not the spoiled brat from the previous volume who insisted that servants were happy just being servants and would not even think of the word "slaves."
To put his respect for the servants to action and not just hollow words, Mahmoud uses his new found talent in engineering to improve the piping in the servant's quarters so they can enjoy hot baths.
The distance between Mahmoud and his upbringing is painfully illustrated during a conversation between the young Prince and his father, The Sultan. After the Sultan asks what he learned among the "Franks."(Westerners), he goes into a well worn tirade about his kingdom that Mahmoud heard many times before. However, the Prince realizes that his father is shaped by Ottoman Anti-Western views that he has held onto without really wondering, reading about, or questioning them. Where once Mahmoud may have thought of those words as wise, he now sees them as trite. Where he once saw his father as a heroic man beyond reproach, he now sees a man who if not wrong is certainly misguided.
Mahmoud sees that he changed but the world around him has not and he is uncertain about what he should do about it.
As for the others, well they also learn some new things which challenge their former roles in society. Sheyndil was once a meek peasant who believed that she was not permitted to have a voice. Now she is willing to physically fight and verbally spar against assailants, including Russian soldiers who would in the past would have bullied her without a second thought.
Will was once the much derided second son passed over in the family business for his older brother, Casper. However, the business acumen that he learned and the contacts that he made (particularly with a certain Ottoman Prince and a Chinese woman whose family practically owns the Yunhe canals and harbor), he is able to save his family from trade routes being cut off and potential bankruptcy.
As for the pact that they had made, well one of their own gets in trouble. The final pages show that soon it will be time for the other five to spring into action and honor that vow.
Home Fronts builds on the concepts that began in the first book and shows how the characters evolved. It also shows a world that is on the brink of evolving with those characters, whether it is ready or not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2021
“Home Fronts” is the second book in The Illustrated Colonials series by Tom Durwood. In this story, the six main characters, Mei Ying, Glibert, Sheyndil, Leo, Mahmoud, and Will, scatter across the globe to spread the American ideal of freedom; in addition, some of the young heroes try to improve the infrastructure of their homelands using what they learned in school. Gilbert finds himself in America participating in the Battle of Brandywine while Leo is making friends with the colonials and sharing his idea for advanced weapons. Mei Ying goes home only to be banished to the foothills of Jinan. She decides to use her travels to spread the word of the American ideal of freedom of religion. Along the way she meets French Missionaries, Hessian despots, and a slew of other characters who try to impede her way.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud builds canals at the palace in hopes that he might eventually be able to bring running water to the working class. Knowing he is not smart enough to build the canals properly, Mahmoud places himself as an apprentice, doing the lowliest of jobs, to learn more to help his people. Then his father, the Sultan, betrays his son and heir. When he receives a letter calling him to fulfill the pact made in book one, Mahmoud leaves to help his friends. The readers find Mei Ying travelling across the county incognito still on her mission for Catherine the Great, while Will is finding his footing in the Dutch trade industry. All of the main characters have faced various types of danger, but there is more danger brewing for the young heroes. In the meantime, the American Ambassador, Benjamin Franklin, makes an appeal to the French King, Louis XVI for help. The war in America is not going as planned, and America needs allies.
In Home Fronts, the main characters leave their beloved school to share what they learned and to help the Colonials in America. Once again, the author skillfully embeds the main characters into the Revolutionary War, which gives this war a contemporary awakening. The international perspectives each of the characters bring to this historic event are both inventive and unconventional. They draw in a younger audience to what is sometimes perceived by this generation as another boring event in American history.
This reader’s favorite scene is early in the story where Mei Ying encounters the French Missionaries. The rapid-fire dialog is interesting and funny. That bit of humor, for an otherwise serious subject, shows how knowledgeable Mr. Durwood is about his feisty character and the circumstance that she faces. In addition to the different perspectives and the dialog, the illustrations that accompany the storylines further engage those readers who may not choose historical fiction as their “go to” genre. Therefore, “Home Fronts” is recommended for audiences from age 10 to adulthood who enjoy a good adventure with a twist of history.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud builds canals at the palace in hopes that he might eventually be able to bring running water to the working class. Knowing he is not smart enough to build the canals properly, Mahmoud places himself as an apprentice, doing the lowliest of jobs, to learn more to help his people. Then his father, the Sultan, betrays his son and heir. When he receives a letter calling him to fulfill the pact made in book one, Mahmoud leaves to help his friends. The readers find Mei Ying travelling across the county incognito still on her mission for Catherine the Great, while Will is finding his footing in the Dutch trade industry. All of the main characters have faced various types of danger, but there is more danger brewing for the young heroes. In the meantime, the American Ambassador, Benjamin Franklin, makes an appeal to the French King, Louis XVI for help. The war in America is not going as planned, and America needs allies.
In Home Fronts, the main characters leave their beloved school to share what they learned and to help the Colonials in America. Once again, the author skillfully embeds the main characters into the Revolutionary War, which gives this war a contemporary awakening. The international perspectives each of the characters bring to this historic event are both inventive and unconventional. They draw in a younger audience to what is sometimes perceived by this generation as another boring event in American history.
This reader’s favorite scene is early in the story where Mei Ying encounters the French Missionaries. The rapid-fire dialog is interesting and funny. That bit of humor, for an otherwise serious subject, shows how knowledgeable Mr. Durwood is about his feisty character and the circumstance that she faces. In addition to the different perspectives and the dialog, the illustrations that accompany the storylines further engage those readers who may not choose historical fiction as their “go to” genre. Therefore, “Home Fronts” is recommended for audiences from age 10 to adulthood who enjoy a good adventure with a twist of history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews