TOS Homeschool Crew Review - Sarah's Wish

Do you like historical fiction. We just love reading historical fiction. There is nothing like a really good book in this genre. You get some of the history of the time period and a great story to go along with it.

We were so excited to be getting Sarah's Wish. My fellow crew members had their copies and were reading and saying how good it was but our book was no where to be found. Well, we finally figured out that somehow my name and address appeared in two places in the TOS Crew database and that in one of the places my zip code was wrong. I somehow put down the zip code of the area where I was born and grew up... I lived in that house until I graduated from college. I wonder why I did that??? I have not done that in a long time. Well, it finally arrived after the post office corrected the zip code and got it sent to the right place. Jim was a great help and was ready to send me another copy if mine had not made it to me. Great customer service. Now, back to the book....

I do not want to spoil the story for you but I do want to tell you that this book, written by Jim Baumgardner, a grandfather who's grandchildren are homeschooled (isn't that cool ) is a quality book. Jim autograph's each book and puts a butterfly sticker in each one. That makes them so special. He autographed all the ones he sent to the crew... over 100 books! You will find out about the butterfly in chapter one of Sarah's Wish.

Sarah's Wish is about a young girl, her struggles, the underground railroad and slavery. I did not find anything objectionable in it. It is appropriate for 3rd and up as a read aloud and maybe a little bit older than that if they are reading it by themselves. Of course each family can make those determinations. The book is very well written and the characters and the plot pull you into the book in the very first chapter. Jim has a great writing style and the dialogue is great too.  You will hear your kids say, "Read another chapter mom." I know I did on several occasions.

Now with a title like Sarah's Wish you might think this is only a book for girls. My boys do not typically like books with girls as main characters but for this book they made an exception. As I said we were all caught from chapter one right through the end and are looking forward to getting the next two and any others he writes down the road. I was surprised to find out from a blurb on his sidebar that Sarah was a real girl. Here is what Jim said on his sidebar in case you miss it.

"Q:  "Was Sarah a real girl?"
A:  "Yes. She lived with my great, great grandparents, John and Elizabeth Baumgardner in Wapakoneta, Ohio."

On the website... Sarah's Books... you can find out more about the author and order the books but make sure you check out the special offer below... don't order online! You can read an excerpt from each of the books at this link.

Sarah's Wish is 126 page long. The book comes with a free eLive audio download.  So you don't even have to read the book if you don't want to, you can listen to someone else read while you knit or cook or draw or drive or ... whatever. Or you can read it the first time and then the kids can listen to it over and over. My boys like to listen to things before bed. This will be a great addition to their audios for bedtime and it comes free with your order of Sarah's Wish. I read the book aloud to the boys a chapter or two a day. I like to spread it out, build up the suspense, and we have a lot to do for school each day so spreading it out is better for us.

The books do go up in price for the second and third book but also the number of pages greatly increases with each book. Also, on the bottom of some of the pages on his website you can sign up for his newsletter. Get updates and information about Sarah and the Underground Railroad and the new books coming out. His newsletter is an education in itself.

Jim Baumgardner is offering a deal to all the readers of the Crew blogs. You can see the deal here at my page at Google docs: http://tinyurl.com/yzj78wf  You must print out the order form and send it by mail, you will not find this offer on his website. I have already put my blog down in the "heard this offer here" space, so that part will be easy for you. Jim already has book two and three in print: Sarah's Promise and Sarah's Escape. You can order one book, two books or all three. But, if two of my blog readers order all three books then I get an extra free book from Jim. Support the Phillips family book fund... buy, buy, buy!!! I hope you know I am just kidding They would make great Christmas presents though... maybe Grandma will buy them for the family?

If we don't get another free one because of my blog readers buying, that is ok. I plan to put book #2 and #3 on our Christmas list and buy them for the family in that case.

Out of five stars we give Sarah's Wish a hearty






***Sarah's Books provided me with the book Sarah's Wish so that I could do my review. Though I received this product for free I have given an honest review of it here in this post. I do need to make a disclaimer and note that if you take advantage of the special deal, above, it is possible that I may receive another book for free and/or at a discount myself, but again that had no impact on my review. Thank you!

If you have any questions about the book or the special offer just leave a comment.

Also, read the other post my my crew mates here and get some other opinions on this great book... but buy from my linked page!!!


Debbie