Mary E. Lyons

A collection of fictional letters retells the life of Harriet Ann Jacobs, a young slave who escaped in the 1840s and became a published author.

The Story of Harriet Jacobs

Letters from a Slave Girl

Muriel Miller Branch

Based on a true story, two women, an abolitionist and a daughter of a freed slave, work together on an undercover project for the Union cause during the Civil War.

A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies

Dear Ellen Bee

The Story of Joseph Jacobs

Letters from a Slave Boy

William Fash

The Student Study Guides are important and unique components that are available for each of the books in The World in Ancient Times series. Each of the Student Study Guides is designed to be used with the main text at school or sent home for homework assignments. The activities in the Student Study guide will help students get the most out of their history books. Each student study guide includes a chapter-by-chapter two-page lesson that uses a variety of interesting activities to help a student master history and develop important reading and study skills.

Student Study Guide to The Ancient American World

Fooled you! Bruh Rabbit is always playing tricks. He tricks Bruh Bear out of bed and eats his fish. He tricks Bruh Wolf out of the butter from his butter tree--then he proves that it was Wolf who ate it. He even serves oven-fried wolf to his children. But sometimes Bruh Rabbit gets fooled too. Retelling six authentic Bruh Rabbit stories that were recorded in Beaufort County and Murrells Inlet in South Carolina, author Mary Lyons has captured their madcap spirit. A longtime reading teacher and librarian, she uses simple, strong words that allow first readers to make their own way through Bruh Rabbit's (mis)adventures. Mireille Vautier's explosion of primary colors, and her sly, knowing rabbit, add a second smile to every story.

Tales Of Bruh Rabbit

The Butter Tree

The true story of the construction of the historic Crozet railroad tunnel—as seen through the eyes of three Irish immigrant families who helped build it. In one of the greatest engineering feats of the time, Claudius Crozet led the completion of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Tunnel in 1858. More than a century and a half later, the tunnel stands as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, but the stories and lives of those who built it are the true lasting triumph. Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Hunger poured into America resolved to find something to call their own. They would persevere through life in overcrowded shanties and years of blasting through rock to see the tunnel to completion. In this intriguing history, Mary E. Lyons follows three Irish families in their struggle to build Crozet’s famed tunnel—and their American dream. Includes photos and illustrations

A Remarkable Engineering Feat in Antebellum Virginia

The Blue Ridge Tunnel

William Leonard Fash

Middle schoolers never had it so good! Complete your ancient history collection with this series for students in grades 6 -8. A unique and engrossing collaboration between scholars and young adult fiction writers, The World in Ancient Times covers the ancient world from India to Greece, America to China. Each chapter is filled to the brim with the widest possible range of primary sources, giving each history lesson the texture missing from many general introductions.

The Ancient American World

Fifteen black and African-American tales of the supernatural from various states and several Caribbean countries. Includes commentary on black folklore in the New World.

African-American Tales of the Supernatural

Raw Head, Bloody Bones

Describes the life and work of the prolific black author who wrote stories, plays, essays, and articles, recorded black folklore, and was involved in the Harlem Renaissance.

The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston

Sorrow's Kitchen

Like his mother and grandmother before him, Joseph Jacobs was born into slavery. Joseph lives with his grandmother and sister in North Carolina, but he has not seen his mother for more than seven years. Unbeknownst to Joseph, his mother, Harriet, has been hiding from her owner in the attic of the house that Joseph lives in. But when Harriet’s hiding place is in danger of being revealed, she is forced to flee north to safety only moments after being reunited with her family. Devastated by losing his mother for the second time, Joseph begins to ponder the nature of the world he lives in. Soon Joseph, seeking freedom and a place where he can be himself, follows his mother north. As he searches for answers, Joseph experiences life in Massachusetts, California, Australia, and aboard a whaling ship—but there’s no place where Joseph feels that he can truly be free. In this companion novel to Letters from a Slave Girl, Joseph’s stirring quest for freedom and identity is told through letters imagined by the author. Based on the real-life stories of Harriet and Joseph Jacobs, Letters from a Slave Boy is set against the backdrop of some of the most exciting and turbulent times in American history.

Mary E. Lyons

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