Lizzie and the Redcoat

Sometimes Lizzie wanted to be grown-up. She could choose her own clothes and perhaps drive her own carriage. But most of the time growing up frightened Lizzie. Life in the colonies was changing, and if she were a grown-up, Lizzie would have to decide what she thought about everything. When it came to King George and the English Parliament, she was far too confused to know what she thought was right and what she thought was wrong.

Book: Lizzie and the Redcoat: Stirrings of Revolution in the American Colonies (Sisters in Time Book 4) by Susan Martins Miller, Barbour Publishers, 2006

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 9-15

Subjects: Fear, Family Relationships, Growing up/Coming of Age, Politics, Patriotism

Summary: She just has this sense of fear, this feeling that it’s not safe to be out in the streets anymore. The sight of those soldiers walking around scares Lizzie. And things aren’t getting better, they’re getting worse. When the Stamp Act comes out tensions increase to the point of violence and Maggie’s brother is right in the middle of it all!

Notes: Lizzie And The Redcoat is the fourth in the Sisters-In-Time series. This series features young girls living at various key points in American history, particularly around the wars. It always places the girls right at the edge of the teen years, coming of age.  The concept of the series it to not only show a glimpse of history, but to help young girls feel that the people back then weren’t that different than the people today.

Lizzie and the Redcoat is set in 1765. It’s focus is all the tensions leading up to the Revolutionary War. It shows how hard it was to live in a place where many were furious at anyone who believed differently than them or simply would not believe as strongly as them or would not support their violence. It shows mobs stirring up trouble, families being divided making even a simple family dinner a place of tension. The spiritual element is the issue of fear. Lizzie is terrified of all that is going on. When she admits this to her aunt, her aunt challenges her to look at who is in control. She asks if the king of England is in control. Lizzie figures he’s not quite in control, at least many don’t want him to be and aren’t listening to what he says. She asks if Samuel Adams is in charge. Lizzie recognizes that he’d like to be, but isn’t. So her aunt says “Think about who is in charge, Lizzie, and find your peace there.” At the end of the story, a simple accident, not connected to any of the political tensions shows Lizzie that she needs to put her trust in God because even if all the political issues go away, there are still challenges in the world and she needs to look to the One who can control everything, not just a political movement.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 46:1-11 – God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. "Selah" 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. "Selah" 8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. "Selah"