HER STORY SERIES

The Her Story historical fiction series was written by Dorothy Hoobler in two parts. Aloha Means Come Back (Pearl Harbor), Treasure in the Stream (Gold Rush), Next Stop: Freedom (Underground Railroad) and The Sign-Painter's Secret were written in 1991, followed by The Summer of Dreams (Chicago World's Fair), The Trail on Which They Wept (Trail of Tears), A Promise at the Alamo, and And Now A Word from Our Sponsor (20s) in 1992. These first eight books were all in the same style. They featured several black and white illustrations from different artists and had a few pages in the back devoted to a story-specific craft. They're quick reads at less than 60 pages each. In 1997, the series was revived for another four books. These featured the girls' names as the main part the titles: Sally Bradford (Civil War), Priscilla Foster (Salem), Florence Robinson (Jazz Age) and Julie Meyer (wagon train). All were larger at around 120 pages each and featured glossy pages, color illustrations and supposedly a free bookmark (none of my used copies has that intact). Florence's book has a different illustrator, but the other three girls all share theirs.

The simpler books were just that, very simple. But they were pretty enjoyable. My favorites were The Summer of Dreams (my fave from the whole series), And Now A Word from Our Sponsor, The Trail on Which They Wept and Aloha Means Come Back. A Promise at the Alamo was also good, but seemed a bit more farfetched what with the main character being super close pals with Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. The longer books have an American Girl-ish feel about them, but not quite the same charm. Florence's was the only more original story. The others seem like I've read them all before. Girl plays heroine during the Civil War, girl's family goes to Oregon via wagon, and the Salem witch trials. I fucking HATE the Salem witch trials. I hate reading about them, but I do it for the sake of series completion.

I'd recommend this series to someone like me that's got a taste for children's historical fiction, but has already read the better series offerings (Dear America, AG, etc.). It's not the worst, but it's far from the best.