Take Storyteller Prepared By Patricia Reilly Giff Depicted In Digital Copy

This just didn't work for me, All of Zee's chapters set during the Revolutionary War are in italics and that makes me think that her story isn't worth reading, that it's not the main plot.
Except when I actually concentrated on reading and not skimming those parts, I realized that it was far more interesting than Elizabeth's story now.
But everyone felt very flat and there was little emotional connection shown, which made the characters' changing feels lack depth or logic,

It did make me interested in learning more about the Revolutionary War, though, I know most of the Civil War battles, but not these, This is also a good story to introduce the idea of genealogy and personal history to kids, I just wish it was better written, A story of the American Revolution from twotime Newbery Honorwinning author Patricia Reilly Giff,

While staying with her aunt, Elizabeth finds something remarkable: a drawing, It hangs on the wall, a portrait of her ancestor, Eliza, known as Zee, She looks like Elizabeth.
The girls lives intertwine as Elizabeths presentday story alternates with Zees, which takes place during the American Revolution, Zee is dreamy, and hopeful for the futureuntil the Revolution tears apart her family and her community in upstate New York, Left on her own, she struggles to survive and to follow her father and brother into battle,

Zees story has been waiting to be rediscovered by the right person, As Elizabeth learns about Zee, and walks where Zee once walked and battles raged, the past becomes as vivid and real as the present.


In this beautifully crafted, affecting novel from beloved author Patricia Reilly Giff, the lives of two girls reflect one another as each finds her own inner strengths.

This was quite engaging, This is a subject I really don't know much about, The beginning of the Revolutionary War, I never really thought much about how a town could be divided so easily, There are some tough chapters dealing with death, It also had tidy nice endings that are to be expected with a middle grade book, The writing had its distinct style and kind of reminded me of Hidden, by Helen Frost, It was unique and suited perfectly well for the story, though I think the author could have done better describing what exactly Elizabeth's family felt for Zee.


I loved the story that unravelled between thecharacters, Zee and Elizabeth, one set inth century and the other in theth.
Zee's story shared some similarities with one of my recent historyfiction reads, Fever, but I couldn't help but think Patricia Reilly Giff is a much better author.


Zee'snottoo obvious love interests are Isaac and Miller and they are so different that I wonder if the author intended the contrast on purpose.
While Isaac is a Loyalist that believes in the King, Miller refuses to accept that the

King whom cares for nothing but the supplies that the New world provides for Britain.
Though Zee has feelings for Isaac since their kiss, she is fierce when he tells her to remain with the Loyalist, whom are blind to the King's faults.
Miller must have had some attachment for Zee a long time ago and he is revealed to have been her husband and the artist of the drawing.


While the writing might have been aimed for younger age groups, it was an excellent light read that sparked my interest for US history.
.stars

This book just wasnt my cup of tea, I picked it up a few years ago when I was in a big historical fiction phase, but I didnt get to it until now, when I dont particularly enjoy historical fiction.
I didnt really enjoy the writing style, and I didnt feel connected with the characters, I didnt find myself caring what happened to them, I think this book wouldve been better if it was longer and the characters were more developed, My middleschool aged daughter and I enjoyed this story, It was neat to flip back and forth between modern day Elizabeth and Revolutionary War Zee's perspectives, I love hearing the stories that my grandparents told and finding out interesting facts about my ancestors,

The only complaints I might have is that the book felt very short and the strained relationship between the modern day aunt and uncle felt forced.
Also, if the uncle loved history and especially the history of Zee, then why did he not know about his sisters' picture which was framed and hanging on the wall and handed down through the generations.
I think the modern day setting could have been fleshed out a little better,

This is a cute story and is great for girls interested in the history of their own ancestors or of the Revolutionary War.
Recommended Ages: grades

While staying with her aunt, Elizabeth finds something remarkable: a drawing, It hangs on the wall, a portrait of her ancestor, Eliza, known as Zee, She looks like Elizabeth.
The girls lives intertwine as Elizabeths presentday story alternates with Zees, which takes place during the American Revolution, Zee is dreamy, and hopeful for the futureuntil the Revolution tears apart her family and her community in upstate New York, Left on her own, she struggles to survive and to follow her father and brother into battle,

Zees story has been waiting to be rediscovered by the right person, As Elizabeth learns about Zee, and walks where Zee once walked and battles raged, the past becomes as vivid and real as the present.

ed for sitelinkwww. compassbookratings. com

Beautiful and engaging, Storyteller is another excellent novel from twotime Newbery Honorwinner Patricia Reilly Giff, Modernday Elizabeth is likable and relatable, especially in her struggle to fit in, Zee's life as a young girl in colonial America was fascinating, Through Zee's eyes, the book also sheds light on a lesser known battle of the Revolutionary War and discusses it in a realistic, yet ageappropriate way.
I was both surprised and thrilled with the story's emphasis on family history and the importance of learning from the past, With its solid characters and heartwarming message, Storyteller is a mustread,

Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: A character accidentally slices open her knee a character severely burns her hands a secondhand report indicates Indians tomahawked and scalped colonists a secondhand report indicates a character's mother was killed in a fire a character participates in a battle, briefly fights off an attacker and witnesses her father last breathe as a result of his war injuries.


Sex/Nudity: A character recalls kissing her childhood crush,
Loved it, read it in one day, . Wonderful book, read this almost every other wekk in Elementary school! Highly recommend this adventurous and interesting book! Elizabeth is a young girl sent to live temporarily with a maternal aunt she has never met before.
While struggling to adjust to her new situation, Elizabeth finds herself drawn to a painting in her aunt's house of Zee a relative who lived during the time of the American Revolution and who bears a striking resemblance to Elizabeth.
In alternate chapters, the reader hears Zee's first person account of the war's effect on her and her family with a particular focus on an interesting but littleknown piece of Revolution history known as the Battle of Oriskany.
Both girls share certain life experiences e, g. loss of their mothers and personality traits forgetful, dreamy, selfcritical, Unfortunately, I thought Giff's effort to intertwine the stories was wellintentioned, but not as effective as it could have been,

Zee's story was far more compelling to read than Elizabeth's and I found myself very involved in the chapters about her, Elizabeth as a character was just not as interesting or realistic, It was unclear to me why Elizabeth would have such intense feelings for Zee based on just the painting unless I missed something, she had no way of learning the details about Zee's life that are shared with the reader.
Having her read a diary might have been a trite plot line, but it would have at least explained the strong connection Elizabeth feels.


I did find the historical fiction part of the book fascinating and wellwritten, It shows how the clash between Loyalists and Patriots affected individual families and neighbors and comes to a satisfying conclusion, Great teachers and great authors remind us that history is the story of people throughout time,

When Elizabeth visits her deceased mother's sister, she finds a connection to a girl like herself through an old family drawing,

Zee, growing up during the tumultous days of the American Revolution, struggles to survive and overcome painful losses,

Told in alternating narration between Zee and Elizabeth, Storyteller weaves realistic and historical fiction elements into a unique family story, Patricia Reilly Giff's newest release, Storyteller, tells the stories of two girls, Elizabeth and Zee, distantly related to each other across more thanyears.
When Elizabeth's father leaves for Australia, she is sent to live with her Aunt Libby, her mother's sister, whom she barely knows, At her house she discovers an intriguing old framed portrait of a distant relative named Eliza, known as Zee, who looks almost exactly like her.
She is immediately drawn to the picture, thinking how strange it is to look so much like someone who lived so long ago,

As Elizabeth's aunt shares with her the bits and pieces she knows of Zee's story, Giff skillfully interweaves Zee'sth century diary, which begins just as hostilities are breaking out between the colonists and the British.
The absentminded Zee longs to make her father and mother proud of her, but doesn't seem to be able to do anything right, As political tensions split apart her small community, pitting neighbor against neighbor, Zee's brother and father take off to train with a militia led by General Herkimer, who comes from the same part of Europe as they do, leaving Zee and her mother alone to mind the family farm in upstate New York.


But when Zee's house is set on fire, she loses everythingincluding her mother, With the help of Old Gerard, a Native American, she takes off on a journey that will require all Zee's survival skills as well as strength she didn't even know she had.
She will need every ounce of courage to overcome her shock at her loss and fend for herself, traveling through the wilderness to try to find her brother and father at the faraway fort.


As Elizabeth, in thest century, learns more about Zee and has the opportunity to walk where her distant relation walked, she becomes the storyteller, the heir to Zee's story, the story she'll pass on to her own children.


This is an excellent novel to pair with Gary Paulsen'srelease Woods Runner both stories deal with aspects of the American Revolution that are less discussed in literature for young people, since they take place on the "frontier" or wilderness rather than in the urban political hubs of Boston, Philadelphia, or New York.
They therefore provide a much different perspective on the conflict both also highlight the role that the Native Americans played in the Revolution, many fighting on the side of the British in the hopes that they would stop further colonial expansion into their lands.

One of my favorite authors from when I was younger, Funny to read one I hadnt read with older wiser eyes, Nostalgic yet different at the same time, Elizabeth's father must go to Australia unexpectedly, so he takes her to live with her aunt Libby, Shy, awkward, clumsy Elizabeth is strangely drawn to a sketch of Zee, a girl about her own age, and her ancestor, Giff tells Zee's story in alternating segments with Elizabeth's, and she does a pretty good job with Zee and her terrible experiences during the Revolutionary War.
I was less interested in Elizabeth and was surprised that such a veteran author as Giff would people her story with such flat characters.
The story often felt a bit rushed, and the mysterious connection Elizabeth feels with Zee is not well fleshed out, Upper elementary, junior high. OK, so this book has a boring title and a rather boring cover, And it starts off kind of boring too, I think, That is all a shame because it turns into a pretty good book, The story alternates between Elizabeth, a girl in thest century whose story is toldrd person, and Zee, a girl in theth Century whose story is told first person.
The stories are somewhat intertwined and it turns out that Zee's story, which is during the Revolutionary War, is very interesting and has a definite appeal to boys.
Sadly, though, I believe only the most patient boy readers would stick the story out far enough to find that out, Storyteller is about two protagonists, both named Elizabeth, one who lives in thest century and the other in theth century, or Zee as she is nicknamed.
Elizabeth is forced to a new school for the reminder of her semester while her father, an artist, goes to Australia to seal a new business deal.
In which, she lives with her maternal aunt Libby, who describes her to be so much like her mother, There, she discovers a portrait of an ancestor who looks a lot like her, Zee, who comes from the time of the Revolutionary War.
From here, we get to see how both lives are brought together, as Liz tries to figure out her ancestor's story, she gets more inspired by Zee.


Zee is a teenage girl living with her small family at the brink of the Revolutionary War, Both her father and brother are Patriots and they volunteer to fight in the cause, leaving Zee and her mother behind, But as Loyalists and Patriots divide families and neighbors, Zee escapes death as Loyalists burn down her family farm, killing her mother in the process.
Desperate to reunite with her father and brother, Zee goes on her own, by foot to reach Fort Stanwix where they are lodged, Through her journey, Zee becomes more selfsufficient, realizing she is on her own and cannot rely on her neighbors no longer, she pushes herself to make the journey.
Through which, she encounters wild animals, ravaging disease, a thrashing river, and Loyalists, all changes her from a clumsy little girl to a woman who could look out for herself.
And it is through her love for her family that she reaches safety to be reunited as the war takes a bloody turn,

I enjoyed this book very much, for both stories the author tells, Zee overcoming many obstacles on her own inspires Elizabeth to look into her own inner strength, While both perspectives are meant to be more characterdriven, Zee's story has more plotfocus added in, But in doing so, and learning her story, Elizabeth becomes less resentful of her father ditching her and becomes more open to an aunt she never really knew.
Sweetly, Liz becomes more grateful for the people in her life, despite how alone she felt at the beginning, In which, by the end, she becomes more empathetic to her family history and willing to learn more of both sides, I can see this book as one of those Newberry types where we see development for the better, where Liz and Zee become stronger individuals by the end of their experiences.
The added historical placement supplements the contemporary issue of dealing with loneliness and our flaws in a way that makes the story relatable to young readers and how we must always persevere through hardships to find happiness.
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