Product Description

Traveling by covered wagon, young Rachel and her family follow the Oregon Trail from Illinois all the way to California. The terrain is rough and the seven-month trip is filled with adventure. Rachel's own handwritten journal chronicles every detail and features cherished "pasted-in" mementos gathered along the way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82574 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 56 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780152021689
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Marissa Moss, author of the popular Amelia's Notebook series, moves into new territory with Rachel's Journal, the story of a spirited 10-year-old pioneer girl who must leave her childhood home in Illinois and travel by covered wagon to the wilds of California. Rachel is entrusted by her grandfather to chronicle the long journey in the form of a handwritten journal. Through her journal entries, we are transported into a world of new adventures and fearsome challenges as Rachel's family and the others in their wagon train make their way along the Oregon Trail in search of a homestead in the Sacramento Valley.

Rachel is refreshingly unconventional: she dons her brother's shirt and britches when one of the oxen makes "a nice meal" of her only wool dress, learns to crack a whip, and makes friends with a young American Indian brave. Children will delight in the day-to-day accounts of life on the trail, enhanced by the notes and colorful drawings Rachel has added to the journal's margins. Based on real diaries kept by courageous pioneers between 1846 and 1868, Rachel's Journal is an excellent choice for third graders and older, and can also be successfully read aloud to younger children, who will enjoy imagining themselves as pioneering adventurers. An intimate look at a momentous journey, this book will not fail to move and inspire readers of all ages. --Aimée Damman

From Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW called Rachel's Journal, one of two entries in the Young American Voices series now in paperback, set on the Oregon Trail in 1850 "a solidly researched and wholly captivating illustrated diary." Ages 8-12. (May)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-Ten-year-old Rachel records her family's trip west from Illinois to California in 1850. The girl's voice is fresh and enthusiastic; for her, the journey is filled with exciting new experiences. She learns to drive the wagon and crack the whip, climbs Courthouse Rock and views the sunset, and even cuts off her long red braids and trades them for an Indian pony. She does have occasional moments of contemplation, thinking about faraway relatives and friends. Overall, however, her journal paints a rosy picture of this dangerous voyage: there are some injuries but no serious illnesses or deaths, encounters with different Native Americans are all friendly, and Rachel's new baby sister arrives safely at the end. An author's note explains that the narrative is based on numerous children's diaries from the period, and that many of the writers viewed the trek as "one long adventure." The hand-lettered script and yellowed, lined-paper background create the look of a diary. Watercolor illustrations and notes in the margins add to the personal look of the book and often provide helpful supplementary information. Rachel's Journal is a good choice for those readers not quite ready to tackle the "Dear America" series (Scholastic) and for Laura Ingalls Wilder fans who want to read more about pioneer life.
Robin L. Gibson, Muskingum County Library System, Zanesville, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

It's like an old, handwritten journal!
Moss brings to this book a thoroughly delightful 'hand written' format along with marginal and textual illustrations to dramatize the effect that it is the actual journal of Rachel, a young girl who records her thoughts and observations along the trail. This book should be on the shelves of any family whose proud heritage goes back to those who ventured West to take up roots in the Great American frontier of the nineteenth century. Moss draws her readers into an excitement filled, seven month journey along the famed Oregon trail. The subject has enormous appeal to a wide range of young readers, especially when we approach the years 2004 - 2006, the 200th anniversary of the famed corps of discovery, which started the Westward movement.
Such a book would be a keepsake to pass on to succeeding generations, who often times fail to completely grasp the hardships ancestors had to endure so that they could have a more comfortable life. Part of the author's extensive research included examinations of the unpublished journals collection, covering the years 1846 through 1868, forming part of the collection of Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.
She succeeded admirably in accomplishing her goal to weave in documented episodes of travel and its dangers along the famed Oregon trail. And others will surely get the flavor of the pioneer spirit within the pages of this truly wonderful keepsake.

An Adventure...
This book was quite interesting. It is a story of a young girl, Rachel who is traveling by covered wagon from Illinois to California with her family in the 1850's. She keeps a journal/scrapbook of their adventures/disasters. Her illustrations or "doodles" in this journal were very well done. They clearly defined a great deal of what life was like for any family back then and the courage that they had in order to seek what they thought was going to "better" their way of living.

Loved this Book!
Just like Marissa Moss' "Amelia" books, this was a hand-written, journal-style book, with lots of pictures. It is the journal of ten-year-old Rachel, who travels with her family of pioneers from Illinois to California in search of a better place to live. In her journal, she records the trip and there are many details! It has humor thrown in, great pictures, and a nice journal format. I've enjoyed reading this book, and I can't wait to read all of Marissa Moss' other historical journals.