Ann Rinaldi Knows How To Tell A Historical Story

I am a sucker for a good historical novel. I loved Morgan Llywelyn’s “Brian Boru,” and now I’ve got another great book, courtesy of Ann Rinaldi.

Rinaldi is excellent in every book of hers I’ve read so far. She turns history into a dramatic event, even if you already know the outcome. “Wolf By the Ears” told of a slave girl who may be Thomas Jefferson’s illegitimate daughter. “Finishing Becca” was a tale of Benedict Arnold and Peggy Shippen.

And now, Rinaldi has written another mesmerizing novel about Sarah Revere, Paul’s daughter, in “The Secret of Sarah Revere.” The big question in this novel is what matters - what is true or what people think? Sarah must deal with all of this and more as she fights an attraction to Dr. Joesph Warren, who is perhaps “the most overlooked figure in Revolutionary War history,” as Rinaldi puts it.

The best character is Deborah Revere, Paul’s mother. She’s an old bat the whole time, kind of a (forgive me) grumpy old woman, only on a deeper level. The feisty senior citizen is a very welcome and entertaining sterotype indeed …

Deborah’s best moment comes in a battle of wits with an unequipped British sergeant.

Rinaldi’s facts at the end reveal which characters really existed and who didn’t. She does not forget anything! Why, she even mentions the traitor, Dr. Church, who is worthy of a book all his own.

But so are Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar and how about a decent version of Pocahontas’ tale? I bet a certain movie critic at Our Generation would agree.