Michaela MacColl

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Writing Links
    • Links for Kids
    • Historical Fiction Link
  • Books
    • View from Pagoda Hill
    • Prisoners In The Palace
    • Promise The Night
    • Author Mysteries
      • Secrets in the Snow
      • The Revelation of Louisa May
      • Always Emily
      • Nobody’s Secret
    • Hidden Histories
      • The Lost Ones
      • Freedom’s Price
      • Rory’s Promise
  • About Me
    • About Me
    • Press Kit
  • News
  • Blog
  • School Visits

Blog

Booklist thinks Eliza is Savvy!

November 7th, 2015, 9:43 am

I am a sucker for the word “savvy” — and I was before Pirates of the Carribbean!  Booklist just gave Freedom’s Price a lovely review.  Here it is:

It’s 1849 and Eliza and her family live in a St. Louis jail while the court ponders their status as free or slave. Her father is Dred Scott, whose bid for freedom will culminate in the famous Supreme Court decision years later. Eliza fumes, secretly learns to read, and longs for a future in a more just world. MacColl and Nichols paint a vivid picture of slavery’s brutal yoke. Nowhere is this more sharply etched than in the tension between daughter and parents as Eliza tries to live in the world and spread her wings. Mother Harriet knows her teen daughter, even with free status, could be kidnapped by unscrupulous slave traders. As if the slavery crisis were not burdensome enough, a cholera outbreak and then a large fire steeps the city and its people in more misery. Expect a savvy, energetic fighter in Eliza, and suspenseful plotting in this fine piece of historical fiction from the Hidden Histories series.— Anne O’Malley

Categories: Blog, Books, Freedoms Price, Reviews

Middle-Grade Minded hosts the Freedom’s Price blogtour

October 20th, 2015, 8:29 am

Check out my interview at the fascinating Middle-Grade Minded blog.

Categories: Blog, Freedoms Price, Interviews

All About the Books with Janet Squires: Writers Wednesday

October 16th, 2015, 10:36 am

Please join me for the second stop of the Freedoms Price Blog tour at All about the Books!

 

Source: All About the Books with Janet Squires: Writers Wednesday

Categories: Blog, Freedoms Price, Uncategorized

FREEDOM’S PRICE the Dred Scott decision | The Pirate Tree

October 12th, 2015, 5:22 pm

Check out this amazing review for Freedom’s Price from The Pirate Tree.

Source: FREEDOM’S PRICE the Dred Scott decision | The Pirate Tree

Categories: Blog, Freedoms Price, Reviews, Uncategorized

Happy Release Day for Freedom’s Price – And the Blogtour begins!

October 12th, 2015, 11:17 am

The blog tour starts with Reading the Past. I’ve done a guest post telling the story behind the story of Freedom’s Price!

 

Categories: Blog, Freedoms Price, Uncategorized

Do you know me?

October 4th, 2015, 9:43 pm

I belong to a writers’ group on Facebook and one day the topic was “Google Alerts.” I had noticed that my alerts seemed to have gotten less and less effective. Someone mentioned Mention.com.  I tried it out for free and found all sorts of things I’d missed about myself. This lovely site is called Women You Should know and it thinks everyone should get to know me!

Categories: News

Honorary Mention for the Grateful American Book Prize for The Revelation of Louisa May

September 30th, 2015, 12:05 pm

I was so pleased that Louisa May was selected for the Grateful American Book Prize. This is an interesting award to reward excellence in children’s fiction – and for getting kids intrigued by history. Check out the link for the press releases.

 

Source: Grateful American Book Prize will be awarded to author Kathy Cannon Wiechman for “Like a River: A Civil War Novel” | The Grateful American | David Bruce Smith Publications

Categories: Revelation of Louisa May

Am Grateful to the Grateful American Book Prize

September 28th, 2015, 2:45 pm

I just heard that The Revelation of Louisa May has been selected as an Honorable Mention to the very first Grateful American Book Prize. The prize is meant to highlight books that feature American historical protagonists in engaging ways for kids.  I’m definitely pleased about this one!

 

 

Categories: Blog, Events

The Concord Bookshop Welcomes The Revelation of Louisa May

April 23rd, 2015, 11:28 pm

When I was researching The Revelation of Louisa May, I spent a lot of time in Concord. The Concord Bookshop was a delightful place to visit and a useful place for me to do research.  I can’t wait to visit on Sunday, April 26th at 3:00. I’ll be reading a bit from The Revelation of Louisa May and signing. Please join me!

Categories: Appearances, Blog

School Library Journal Likes Louisa!

April 23rd, 2015, 11:00 pm

School Library Journal/February 2015

“A page-turner that satisfies.”—School Library Journal

Readers are immediately drawn into Louisa’s 19th-century world as her mother departs for work in the city and Louisa discovers a runaway slave, named George, hiding outside the Alcott home. The teen capably manages the various conflicts in the novel: money struggles, her relationship with her father, George’s safety, and romantic tensions between her and her distant cousin, Fred. Unsavory characters like Fitch, who is a slave catcher, and a disreputable woman named Miss Whittington, bring additional tension to this plot-driven novel. As she did with Always Emily (Chronicle, 2014), MacColl creates a strong sense of place, both in time and with her presentation of the physical environment. Her fluid incorporation of the transcendentalists and their movement aligns well with her attention to the novel’s setting. Although conflict and intrigue ensue, with protecting George and solving a murder, Louisa’s character unfortunately remains static. VERDICT Though light on character development, MacColl has created a page-turner that satisfies.

Categories: Blog, Reviews

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 27
  • Next Page »

View from Pagoda Hill

Latest Posts

  • Representation Matters for Everyone
  • See the Real Neenah through her Life
  • View from Pagoda Hill — Recommended by School Library Connection

Blog Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • May 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010

  • Read my blog
  • Follow me on Facebook
  • Buy my books
  • Follow me on Twitter