AMERICAN SISTERS 1630

American Sisters is a 9-book historical fiction series all by the same author, Laurie Lawlor. The series follows different sets of sisters on different journeys during different times in American history.

As with Dear America and all the other historical series I'm reviewing, I'm going in chronological order not order of publication.

The earliest book is set in 1630, when sisters Abigail and Hannah travel with their father and pregnant stepmother from England to America. They're Saints, so they have strict rules on how to behave.

Hannah is the most often used PoV character. Abigail is seen either through her sister's eyes or in short diary entries.

Hannah is the younger sister and the least like a typical "Saint." She's interested in people different than herself, but doesn't think badly of them, unlike her sister. She befriends a boy on the ship that isn't of their religion, which her sister both dislike for that reason and I think she's a bit jealous, too.

Abigail, the elder sister, is a pious twat. She fills her diary with rambling about religion, but also is obsessed with pretty clothes. She's judgmental of others in a bad way, where Hannah is open-minded.

Abigail's character never got turned around. She landed in the New World still overly pious and not very nice to her younger sister. I don't think she ever apologized for being a rat on the ship and getting Hannah's friend in trouble.

Abigail also bears a secret, one which makes this book quite bizarre. You see, the sisters' young stepmother is pregnant, but it's not by the girls' father, but their older brother! Caleb stayed behind in England and it's never made clear if they were found out by the father and that's why he went off to America, to separate them, or what. I don't think he knew, but I'm not sure. The relationship is very confusing, because the stepmother is an ass throughout the book and Caleb was nice during his short appearance, so I have no idea how they even hooked up. They're about the same age at least. One of the girls noted that early on. Abigail figures out the baby's real father, but ends up burning her diary at the end of the book, making sure no one else can learn the secret through her writing. The baby is stillborn, so that's how that ends up. It was a very bizarre addition to what is otherwise a typical kids' historical fiction book. And it's never really dealt with, which is frustrating. You've got a very adult storyline there and it's just not handled well.

The book was an easy read and I enjoyed the characters of Hannah and her friend Zach, but not the others. It's been a long time since I've read this, so it's going to be fun rereading them. I don't remember much about them at all!