Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope, Evaline Ness (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Newly orphaned Peggy Grahame is caught off-guard when she first arrives at her family’s ancestral estate. Her eccentric uncle Enos drives away her only new acquaintance, Pat, a handsome British scholar, then leaves Peggy to fend for herself. But she is not alone. The house is full of mysteries—and ghosts. Soon Peggy becomes involved with the spirits of her own Colonial ancestors and witnesses the unfolding of a centuries-old romance against a backdrop of spies and intrigue and of battles plotted and foiled. History has never been so exciting—especially because the ghosts are leading Peggy to a romance of her own!

Saturday Review

Utterly captivating.

New York Times Book Review Notable Book

The complicated strands of mystery, history, and love are drawn skillfully together into a bright pattern, embroidered with comedy and the whole done with real style.

Publishers Weekly

History literally comes to life in this romantic fantasy, when orphaned Peggy goes to live with her uncle--and discovers Revolutionary War ghosts. Ages 12-up. (May)

Children's Literature

When Peggy Grahame's father dies, the seventeen-year-old is sent to live with her Uncle Enos at Rest-and-be-thankful, her family's ancestral estate in Orange County, New York. She meets a handsome, young scholar named Pat Thorne, who—spurred on by curiosity about his own family history—has come to research guerilla activity in the New York area during the American Revolution. Without explanation, the eccentric Enos bans Pat from Rest-and-be thankful and forbids Peggy to see the British student ever again. Ignored by her uncle, Peggy is befriended by the spirits of her colonial ancestors who casually appear and disappear in the rooms and on the grounds of an estate that has remained almost unchanged for over two hundred years. The spirits tell stories of daring raids and bold pursuits, coded messages and secret rooms, respected enemies and unlikely romances. Pope skillfully moves back and forth between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, weaving the threads of parallel mysteries into a richly textured and satisfying story that is told with warmth and charm. 2001(orig. 1958), Houghton Mifflin, $5.95. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Ellen R. Braaf

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