Product Description

Just as Summer MacCleary's long years as an indentured servant are about to end, the young mistress she thought was her friend accuses her of stealing. Can Summer find the courage and resourcefulness to salvage the freedom for which she has worked so hard?.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1804832 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 144 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-While working as an indentured servant for a wealthy Virginia family, 13-year-old Summer is accused by her master's daughter of stealing a ring. Summer must clear her name and recover the valuable item before her master decides to sell her to another family. The story works as a simple mystery but lacks depth and exploration of characters and motivations behind the theft. There are actually two mysteries going on: the disappearance of the ring and of Summer's precious journal. The protagonist has redeeming qualities of strength and courage, while the secondary players are weak, one-dimensional caricatures. One exception is Paris, a slave who takes an interest in Summer. The story's success lies in Duey's ability to capture the lives of an indentured servant and plantation slave, describing the hardships and turmoil. Readers may become confused by the large number of minor characters and grow exasperated at the lengthiness of plot development, but once the mystery is solved, they will be satisfied. Shortcomings aside, this is a good novel, complete with the usual twists and suspects common to the genre.
Janet Gillen, Great Neck Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

An Irish lass comes to America.
Summer has arrived from Ireland as an indentured servant. She has conflicts with one of her new owner's children. Summer is afraid that her contract will be sold to a new owner. After she helps solve a mystery, she feels that her life will be better. This is a very good historical book and I highly recommend it to students 5th through the 8th grades, and for teachers, as well.

One of my favorite American Diaries!
Thirteen-year-old Summer MacCleary is an indentured servant. Although she misses her parents that died and the aunt and sisters she left behind in London, she works hard for the day seven years into the future when she will have at last earned her freedom. But strange events start to threaten Summer's future. Why did her master's daughter, Letty, appear one night, distraught and weeping? Why is Letty accusing Summer of stealing a valuable ring that has dissapeared? Summer doesn't know why, but she does know that she must find the thief and expose him or her before her master gets angry enough to sell her to a master that could be truly awful. But can Summer find the courage to do this?

The story of an indentured servant girl in colonial Virginia
After her parents died, seven-year-old Summer MacCleary left her home in London to become an indentured servant in the Virginia colony. Six years have gone by, and Summer is now thirteen. She counts the days until her twentieth birthday, when she will be free to leave. But although she longs for freedom, she has a fairly good position that she is grateful for - she cares for her master's infant son, and does some household chores. But her position is in jeopardy when her master's daughter, Letty, accuses Summer of stealing a valuable ring. If Summer is to avoid having her contract sold, she must discover what really happened to the ring. This was a highly enjoyable story about a resourceful young girl determined to clear her name, and in addition, it was filled with many details of colonial life.