What if, in order to be a heroine, you had to lay
aside everything you thought was most important? In her young adult novel Boston Jane, author Jennifer L. Holm
presents her readers with a protagonist as feisty as she is unique.
Running amok on the streets
of 19th-century Philadelphia, doted on by an affectionate father, Jane
Peck has always considered herself to be the luckiest girl in the world – that
is, until she runs afoul of Sally Biddle, the resident mean girl, who mocks
Jane’s tomboy habits and makes it her mission to cause Jane all kinds of
misery. Her father’s apprentice, the handsome William, encourages Jane to
attend finishing school, and she quickly embraces the task of becoming a proper
young lady as being the solution to her troubles. When William leaves for the
Washington Territory to make his fortune and subsequently writes to Jane,
asking for her hand in marriage, Jane eagerly sets out on the hazardous sea
voyage to join her fiancee. But what place can her refined accomplishments find
on board a smelly ship and among the unwashed, uncouth, decidedly male
population of Shoalwater Bay? Also, her beloved etiquette handbook says nothing
about the propriety of falling in love with a sailor…
Jane
is an uncompromisingly loveable heroine: endearingly bullheaded, determined to
always behave as if she were in a Boston parlor, yet constantly surprising
herself with her resourcefulness and grit. This book admirably confronts the
question of what constitutes manners, good breeding, and ultimately being
successful; Jane must decide which of the values she learned at Miss
Hepplewhite’s Ladies Academy are superficial, and which are truly necessary for
being an accomplished young woman. The secondary characters are both well-drawn
and riotously funny, and many are based on real people who lived in the
Washington Territory during this time period. Thanks to her extensive research
and captivating storytelling, Holm provides a fascinating glimpse into a
little-known chapter of American history that also explores issues such as
American Indian culture, discrimination, and the necessity of living in harmony
to promote the good of society. Jane’s adventures continue in Boston Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim. Read them all –
they are way too good to miss!
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