DEAR AMERICA: It's another trail.

I thought I had escaped trails. I forgot about this one. It starts out more interestingly with some stuck on a train travel, but then nope, it's wagon fun time again.

Except it's not really fun.

The story at least is a bit different, because the diary bounces from Teresa to her younger and rather obnoxious sister, so you get two different points of view and two different types of trail experience, because Teresa's saddled to the chores while the spoiled younger one doesn't do much.

There's a budding romance between Teresa and one of the boys on the trail that's more annoying than anything, because he's never presented as a very likeable character.

I think there was a big missed opportunity here, too, because the families on this trip are mostly the...let's say less popular immigrants, the ones who faced more bullshit treatment back in New York or wherever. Yet the author never takes the time to really explore the different types of cultural experiences Teresa would have had on the trip, surrounded by all these families different from her own very Italian one.

It's an all right trail book, but it's another trail book and I'm so tired of those.

DEAR AMERICA: Prairie Teacher

This one is a very fast read. Obviously, because I just did my last review not that long ago tonight.

It's a good story, but the buildup is far too long. Her father's just died a couple months ago and it takes her so many pages to realize he's telling her in her dreams to take his place as the town's teacher. Yeah, it's got a smidge of a supernatural element, too. No real ghosts though.

I found the resistance to Sarah Jane teaching to be a bit ridiculous, because she's got, like, a dozen pupils and no one else is lining up for the job.

The story's rather boring. First, it's her not knowing what to do to earn money, then it's teaching stories and issues between the other boarders at the house she's staying in.

Historical teaching stories are never that interesting to me, because of all the different age groups crammed into one building and the older kids aren't so much always learning as they are helping teach the younger ones.

It's not a horrible book in the series, but it's just kinda there.

MY NAME IS AMERICA: Whaling Ship

This one is quite interesting, because I know nothing of whaling, so while I'm not that into sailing stories, at least there are some aspects that do interest me.

The characters are all decent, if a bit frustrating with the constant fighting.

MY NAME IS AMERICA: Civil War

The next two in the run of Civil War books come from the My Name Is America series.

Rufus Rowe is too weak to join the fighting, but he's on the southern side. Like the cover says, he's a witness to the battle of Fredericksburg.

I didn't find this one interesting and I was glad it was a quick read. The main friend Rufus makes in the book is a black slave, yet he doesn't seem to ever change his position on the war. His thoughts on slavery are barely covered, so I felt that a rather weak point, considering that's, you know, the main point of the war.

The author, Sid Hite, did not contribute any others to the series.

James Edmond Pease, on the other hand, writes an excellent camp record with illustrations and everything. His rise in rank (more than once) is an interesting story contrasted with his own fear and his struggles with self-doubt. He's a much more well-rounded character than some of the underdeveloped journal writers found in this series.

There are a couple uses of the N word if you're not comfortable with that. I don't like it, but of course, these are historical novels, so it's to be expected.

Jim Murphy contributed 2 Dear Americas and 3 My Name Is Americas to the series.

Up next is a Dear Canada about the Underground Railroad, so we've got a bit of a break from the fighting.