“Adolescents can read social studies
and history texts to learn ‘facts’—events that have shaped the nation and the
world. However, much is lost when young adults learn historical events yet fail
to perceive the human perspectives surrounding the events. Reading historical
fiction, the reader becomes involved in the events and the lives of the people
in the story” (Bucher &
Hinton, 2009, p. 222).
Shannon Hitchcock’s book The
Ballad of Jessie Pearl achieves the goal stated above. I felt I
was in 1922-1924 rural North Carolina alongside Jessie. I grew up in rural NC
and witnessed similar experiences such as
- the love and warmth of a
tight-knit community that helped each other harvest crops;
- the difficult work of “putting up
tobacco;”
- the amusement of attending church
services with everyone you know;
- canning food;
- using an iron pot to clean
clothes;
- survival via home
remedies; and
- sacrificing for family.
This novel helps the reader see what life might have
been like for a young farm girl with dreams that have to be put on hold when
her sisters contract tuberculosis. Today, young readers might have a difficult
time understanding fourteen-year-old Jessie’s decision to remain home to work
on the farm and raise her nephew instead
of completing eighth grade and going off to college. Though there were times
when Jessie and her former teacher made statements that might be viewed as
anachronistic, overall Hitchcock does a superb job of situating Jessie within
her era and describing what life was like for women.
Hitchcock’s style reminded me of Sheila P. Moses and
Lois Lenski. “[H]istorical fiction is ideal for use in an integrated curriculum
and with literature-based approaches across the disciplines” (Bucher & Hinton,
2009, p. 223). The Ballad of Jessie Pearl is
a book that English, history, and even health teachers might embrace. However, the
cover might discourage some adolescents from opening the book. Tell teens about
Jessie’s dilemma mentioned above, and throw in information about her love
interest J.T. and rival Liza, and hand the book to them anyway.
They will thank you later.
The author has a web site, and there is a teacher’s guide aligned
with the Common Core State Standards available for free.
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