by Fred Trump
First published 1994
Grace Bedell picks up her pen in 1860 and writes a letter that will change history. The eleven-year-old tells presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln he should grow whiskers to help win the election. Lincoln writes back, and their correspondence leads to a memorable meeting at the Westfield, New York train depot. But Grace's story continues long after Lincoln's election. She marries and heads west with her husband to claim homestead land. The prairie tests them with grasshopper swarms that devour crops, tornadoes that flatten buildings, and countless other trials that break weaker settlers. Grace must draw on the same bold spirit that moved her to write to a future president. Fred Trump uncovers Grace's later years through original letters and newspaper reports, revealing how one small act of courage rippled through an entire life.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: epistolary, found-family, small-town
Setting: New York, Westfield, Prairie
Period: 1860, 19th-century
32 pages · Library Binding · Boyds Mills Press