This image is the cover for the book American Journeys Volume Two, American Journeys

American Journeys Volume Two, American Journeys

From a Newbery Award–winning author: These seven beloved classics beautifully capture growing up and overcoming challenges across America.

In her Regional America series, author and illustrator Lois Lenski presents realistic portrayals of unforgettable young people facing hardships and triumphs across the diverse United States.

The Newbery Medal–winning Strawberry Girl follows day-to-day life for Birdie and her family on a berry farm in Florida, as they deal with heat, droughts, cold snaps, and difficult neighbors. In Prairie School, a young girl gets stranded at her South Dakota school by a winter storm; in Bayou Suzette, the Cajun Suzette strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Native American girl in the swamps of Louisiana; and Blue Ridge Billy is the story of a boy who dreams of playing the fiddle. Other novels follow the lives of a young farmer who wants to quit school and work on his family’s Iowa farm; an Asian-American boy adjusting to city life in San Francisco’s Chinatown; and an adolescent lumberjack in the forests of Oregon.

Beyond changing the face of children’s literature, Lenski’s stories endure because of their moving and believable depictions of young people from often overlooked communities. Through her art, Lenski gives these characters a voice that continues to ring loud and clear for modern readers.

This ebook includes Strawberry Girl, Prairie School, Bayou Suzette, Blue Ridge Billy, Corn-Farm Boy, San Francisco Boy, and To Be a Logger.

Lois Lenski

Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1893, Lois Lenski achieved acclaim as both an author and illustrator of children’s literature. For her Regional America series, Lenski traveled to each of the places that became a subject of one of her books. She did meticulous research and spoke with children and adults in the various regions to create stories depicting the lives of the inhabitants of those areas. Her novel of Florida farm life, Strawberry Girl, won the Newbery Award in 1946. She also received a Newbery Honor in 1942 for Indian Captive, a fictionalized account of the life of Mary Jemison. Lenski died in 1974.

Open Road Integrated Media