The Ribbon Book Club

Dear Diary,    This week we got to talk to Ranger Aubrey Brown who works at the Lowell National Historic Park ! Aside from becoming instant best friends, we also learned a lot about the real history of Lowell, Massachusetts, and the textile mills that made it famous.  Tune in to hear about how the city of Lowell was planned, how textile mills worked hard to recruit young women, and how those young...

Dear Diary,  On to the second half of our discussion of So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl! This time, we finally make it to Lowell and the mills!  Mary catches on quickly to her work in the mills. Thanks, in part, to her new friend, Annie. And aren't they just great gal pals? But life in the mills is hard work. Accidents happen, the hours are long, and the cotton fib...

Dear Diary,  It's new book time! And this one is a fan favorite. We're reading So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl. This is the second book in the series by Barry Denenberg and it was published in 1997.  The story begins in Skibbereen, Ireland where Mary Driscoll lives with her Ma and Da. Ireland is in the depths of the potato famine, with Skibbereen being hit particul...

Dear Diary,  We got to talk to an old friend of Jen's, Chris Carey about his work at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site ! Chris had some great facts to share about life on the Oregon Trail and some fresh insight into the story of the Whitman Mission. Chris also had a surprise choose-your-own-adventure game at the end of our conversation! Oregon Trail TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game) anyo...

Dear Diary,  It's the second half of our recap of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell! We get to find out what happens to the Campbells and their wagon train as it continues along the trail.  Will Hattie ever get a straight answer about what marriage is like? Will Wade ask Hattie to dance? Will the klepto Mrs. Kenker ever get caught? Tune in to find out!...

Dear Diary,  We took a nice long break but we're back with another season and a new book! This week we're reading the first half of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell. It was written by Kristiana Gregory and it was published in 1997. This marks our first repeat author!  In the book, we are introduced to Hattie Campbell, a young girl traveling the Oregon...

Dear Diary,  We finished our first season with a great chat with Paul Ringel! Paul is a history professor at High Point University, and an author of books including Commercializing Childhood: Children's Magazines, Urban Gentility, and the Ideal of the Child Consumer in the United States, 1823-1918 and Kid History, Inc.: Selling Children the American Past.  We talked about Emma and Clotee's stories...

Dear Diary,  We finished recapping A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. McKissack, and what an incredible story! So much happened: we learned more about the abolitionists and Spicy's history, and Clotee figured out what freedom looked like to her. An engaging and essential read. Tune in to hear more!  Yours Truly,  Cate and Jen    RibbonBookClubPod.com @RibbonBook...

Dear Diary,  On to a new book, and boy, this one is different than the last! A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl was written by Patricia C. McKissack and was published in 1997. (a very good year!) Clotee is a clever 12-year-old girl who works in the Big House on a plantation in Virginia and teaches herself how to read and write. She writes candidly about her opinions on slavery...

Dear Diary,  We're back for part 2 of our discussion of When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson written by Barry Denenberg. Is it better than the first half? Wellllll...... on the plus side, there's more action!  Tune in to find out what's in store for Emma, Tally, and Cousin Rachel. What happens when the Yankees come to town? Most importantly, should we care? Yours...

Dear Diary,  We've reached book 3 in the series! And it's... certainly something! Author Barry Denenberg tackles a big topic with When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson.  We have a lot of thoughts about this book, namely, why did they choose to focus on a slave-owning white girl from the South? Tune in to hear our hot takes, bad southern accents, and odes to Ken Bur...

Dear Diary,  Now that we're done reading The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, we got to talk to a park ranger from Valley Forge National Historical Park!  Ranger Beth Dhunjisha shared with us some great information about the history of the Continental Army's winter encampment of 1777-1778. We talked about myths versus reality and about teaching history to ki...

Dear Diary,    This week we finished recapping The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart. We learned about Baron Von Steuben training the Continental Army, Elizabeth learned what happened to her bounty coat, and we had a lot of feelings about George Washington and Lucy's parents!  Tune in to hear all that, and stay tuned until the end for a very special reading of...

Dear Diary,  On to book two! This week we're recapping the first half of The Winter of Red Snow: The Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart written by Kristiana Gregory and published in 1996. In Abigail's diary, we learn about the winter encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. We meet George Washington and Abigail's friend, Lucy. Topics of discussion include an 18th-century recipe for egg no...

Dear Diary,  We had our first guest on the show! Tom Begley from Plimoth Patuxet Museums spoke to us about what he does at the museum, life in the early Plimoth settlement, and writing historical fiction for young readers. We had a lovely conversation, and we hope you enjoy listening to it!  Yours truly,  Cate and Jen    P.S. You can find Plimoth Patuxet online at https://plimoth.org/ and on Twitt...

Dear Diary,  We were so excited to sit down and talk about the second half of A Journey to the New World! In this half, we learned about the Pilgrim's first winter in Plimoth. We talked about Mem's interactions with the Native Americans and learned about the devastating effects of illness on the fledgling settlement. Spoiler alert, there's a lot that goes wrong when you start a colony in New Engla...

Dear Diary,  It’s the first episode! We read the first half of A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Katherine Lasky and had so much fun talking about it. Did you know the Mayflower was called a “sweet ship”? Or that the pilgrims called themselves “saints” and lived in the Netherlands before they traveled to North America?  Tune in and hear about some of the other f...

Dear Diary,  We're starting a podcast!  For some of us, the Dear America book series was a huge part of our lives growing up. Now that we're older, we want to take a look back and see how they hold up. We'll talk about the history behind these stories, discuss the joys and drama of adolescent girlhood, and interview historical experts!  Join us as we discuss A Journey to the New World: The Diary o...