Thuim and Frapps, the wooden shoe factory in Raleigh, North Carolina, was established in 1861 and did a thriving business selling shoes for two dollars a pair.
The Coral Island, by R. M. Ballantyne, which Emily reads aloud to Lottie, was published in 1858 and was a typical and popular example of the Robinsonade genre (which mimicked Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe) of children’s literature.
Dr. Joseph Ferguson, to whom Malachi apprentices himself, was an actual Detroit abolitionist and one of the state’s first black doctors. He’d been licensed as a physician in Richmond, VA as a freeman and was present at the 1859 meeting between Frederick Douglas and doomed abolitionist John Brown. He appears briefly in my middle grade book The Candle Star when Malachi first voices an interest in medicine. (Incidentally, Malachi’s cousin Jefferson Jones, referenced in the same letter, first appears in the bonus story at the end of Blood of Pioneers and plays a leading role in Beneath the Slashings.)
The “Port Royal Experiment” was the name given to the attempt by the Federal government to prepare contraband slaves on the liberated Sea Islands for free citizenship at the war’s end. They would be paid for growing cotton (which would be sold to finance the war effort), educated, and given land on which to support themselves, thereby silencing critics of emancipation who claimed free Blacks would be a financial liability. If successful, it was to be a model for emancipation throughout the South. In general, the experiment was successful, though there were shortages of food and clothing and medical care. Unfortunately, the Port Royal Experiment died along with Abraham Lincoln. President Johnson allowed individual states to determine integration of freed slaves (which resulted in Black Codes) and reinstated land to Confederates who swore an oath of loyalty to the Union.
Like Battery Wagner, Charleston never fell to Union forces. It was abandoned on February 17, 1865. Charleston was nearly a ghost town by the time the United States military forces occupied it the following day. The population after the 1863 civilian evacuation consisted largely of soldiers, laborers, medics, slaves guarding exiled masters’ homes, a few citizens such as Aunt Margaret who were too stubborn to leave, and those with nowhere else to go.
Interestingly, the Snellen eye chart used to gauge Jeremiah’s vision is the same one used today. It was developed by Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen in 1862. Cheap and easy to use, it became wildly popular and likely would have been available to Jeremiah’s doctor.
Records from Middleton Place, a South Carolina plantation that survived the war, show that a large number of the estate’s freed slaves did actually return, even after the Middleton family had fled, and carried on planting and harvesting rice as usual without direction. It was what they knew how to do and how they survived. These records are the basis for the actions of the remnant of freed slaves at Ella Wood.
Maryland Institute really did have a chemistry department. Classes would have slanted toward compounds such as printer ink or tanning solutions—practical chemicals of the “mechanical” (industrial/artistic) professions on which the school focused. But the basics of chemistry are the same everywhere. It made a convenient and appropriate starting place for Jovie’s professional journey.
Ella Wood novellas
(Accompaniments to the original Ella Wood trilogy.)
Lizzie, Jack, Jovie...you've grown to love them. Now come to a deeper understand of these important characters through their own experiences.
Boxed set coming September 25, 2017.
Individual titles available through Halloween then only in boxed set.
Lizzie
Lizzie has made it aboard a ship without anyone guessing her deception, but many miles still lie between South Carolina and freedom in Canada. With two small children to hide, she and Ketch will no longer have their former master’s daughter, Emily, nearby to protect them. They’ll need to rely on their wits, their strength, and each other. Though Lizzie loves Ketch and longs to merge their two small families, she’s still haunted by that violent night at Ella Wood nearly a year before that resulted in the birth of her son. Will she be able to put that nightmare behind her? Will the north hold the peace, safety, and love she so desperately desires? But before the steamer even leaves Charleston harbor, fire breaks out in the city, threatening the wharf and their carefully laid plans…
Jack
For the better part of a decade, Jack has lived a double life. To all appearances, he’s the spoiled heir to one of Charleston’s wealthiest plantations. But his life would be forfeit and his family in jeopardy if anyone knew what he’d really been up to. He’d be shunned from polite society if anyone guessed his plans for Ella Wood. So he maintains his lonely façade, with no realistic hopes of marriage and only slaves to confide in. When war comes to Charleston, Jack enlists in the South Carolina infantry. But military service brings him into contact with a beautiful and unlikely confidante. Will his dreams for Ella Wood outlast the war? Will his new love?
Jovie (Coming September 25, 2017.)
After taking a bullet at Gettysburg, a clever maneuver lands Jovie in a Northern hospital instead of a POW camp. Staying alive means remaining unidentified. But when a devastating amputation claims his leg, Jovie loses the will to live. His best friend died at Antietam a year ago, and the woman he’s loved since childhood has made it clear that she doesn’t return his affection. Why not just blurt out his secret and let it claim his life? A chance encounter with a Confederate spy offers him new purpose, and the rush of their subterfuge distracts him from despair. But adrenalin is a poor substitute for hope. Despite her refusal, Jovie can’t forget the woman he still loves. Will he find the courage to renew his pursuit despite his disfigurement? Will a last long chance be enough to bring him home? In this game of chance, will he live long enough for it to matter?
Divided Decade Collection
(The Candle Star is the prequel to Ella Wood.)
Series librarian-nominated for the 2012 Great Michigan Read.
As a teacher, I wrote the Divided Decade Collection with the classroom in mind. This collection spans the years surrounding the war and travels from city, to farm, to wilderness, showing the war from several angles. Each of these loosely related books can be used as a stand-alone novel in the classroom.
The Candle Star FREE!
Detroit, 1858
After a tantrum, Emily Preston is shipped from her plantation home to her inn-keeping uncle in Detroit. There Emily meets Malachi, son of freed slaves, who challenges many ideas she grew up believing. But when Emily stumbles upon two runaways hidden in her uncle's barn, she finds that old ways die hard. And Mr. Burrows, the charming Southern slave catcher, is only yards away, lodged in the hotel.
Blood of Pioneers
Wayland, Michigan, 1862
Hannah craves excitement, but all local adventures dried up long ago, when her parents unpacked their wagon on the Michigan frontier. Then war breaks out and her father and brother leave to fight the Confederacy. Hannah is left at home chafing under the boredom of never-ending chores--until the farm is threatened. The one place she longs to leave suddenly becomes the one place she'll do anything to save.
Beneath the Slashings
Michigan Wilderness, 1865
Grace Nickerson's life has been shattered by four years of war. She's desperate to return to a sense of normalcy, but soon after her father returns, he sells the farm and drags the family to a lumber camp in Michigan's northern wilderness. Living among the rough loggers is frightening enough, but then a series of accidents prove intentional. Who is sabotaging the camp, and why? Will the winter in the woods bring the healing Grace's family needs? Or will it drive a wedge between Grace and her father?
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Awarded a Reader’s Choice 5 Star Seal.
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The Quill Pen
If you owned a pen that wrote the future, would you use it? What if the co
nsequences spread like ripples in a pond? What if they raged out of control? What if the pen demanded tribute...in blood? Micah Randall has found such a pen. One that’s ensnared him in a curse dating back generations. One that’s devastated two families and now threatens his whole New England village. But how can Micah destroy the pen when it offers him his only chance at the future he dreams of?
The Mountain Trilogy
Nominated for the 2013 Cybils Award.
Semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review 2013 Book Awards.
Song of the Mountain FREE!
Song has grown up listening to his grandfather recite legends of the distant past. But it is his own history he seeks to uncover, particularly the events surrounding his parents’ deaths. But that is a secret closely guarded by his grandfather. Then Song discovers a puzzle box that links him to an ancient prophecy. His destiny lies within the old tales he has scorned. Song must follow the path that killed his father.
Fire on the Mountain
What really happened on the mountain twelve years ago?
Though his apprenticeship hangs on him like an ill-fitting garment, Quon is unprepared for the twist his life takes when his parents are killed and he is forced to flee the city. Adrift in the wilderness with no purpose and no protection, Quon is approached by an old man who hints that his destiny may be more than he imagined. Ancient tales fill Quon’s head with expectations of glory, but he soon learns that being a hero is far different than dreaming of becoming one.
Follow Song as he uncovers his family history.
Taylor Davis Series
Finalist in the kid-judged Wishing Shelf Awards.
Read the first episode FREE.
Taylor Davis and the Flame of Findul
Finalist in the 2015 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards.
Sometimes life gooses you when you’re not looking. Your family moves overseas and…bam!...suddenly you’re hacking at water demons with a four-foot blade. Yeah, that move landed me in the middle of a supernatural assignment. Angels and all that. Relighting the Flame of Findul–the sword that guards the Tree of Life–wasn’t high on my bucket list. Especially when I found out who else was looking for it. But since the alternative was perishing in a fiery worldwide disaster… Well, let’s just say my priorities changed. I was told I’d have help. I was told I’d be in capable hands. Then I met my guardian angel. I am so doomed.
Watch the trailer.
Taylor Davis and the Clash of Kingdoms
Taylor just can’t catch a break. Most of his friends only concern themselves with girls and grades, but he has to worry about retaliation from hellish warlords. When three of his classmates succumb to a strange malady, Taylor becomes the target of irrational violence. Is it a coincidence, as Elena so firmly believes? Or could there be a more dangerous explanation? The epidemic soon spreads to national leaders. Taylor and his team are called on to uncover the root of the problem before violence breaks out on a worldwide stage. Their quest leads them to the heart of Africa, to the underworld, and to a second encounter with an enemy who just won’t stay dead.
Reader-nominated for the 2012 Maine Student Book Award.
The Color of Freedom
Meadow MacKenna hates the British. Turned off her Irish farm and forced to book passage to America as an indentured servant, she understands the rebel desire to throw off the yoke of King George's rule. But is freedom worth the cost? When her new master turns abusive, Meadow disguises herself as a boy and flees, but she cannot outrun the political conflict. Neither can she prevent the war from claiming the souls of her father and her dearest friend.
Audiobooks by Michelle Isenhoff
Listen to the first chapter of each audiobook.
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Michelle Isenhoff writes for women, teens, and tweens. Her work has been reader-nominated for a Cybils Award, the Great Michigan Read, and the Maine Student Book Award. She's also placed as a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review Book Awards, a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and earned multiple Readers' Favorite 5 Star seals of approval. A former teacher and longtime homeschooler, Michelle has been lauded by the education community for the literary quality of her work, which is regularly purchased for classroom use.
Michelle is also a firm believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, she will never include profanity or objectionable content in books meant for children. Works intended for older readers are written with conscionable restraint
MichelleIsenhoff.com
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