Hometown Heroines: True Stories of Bravery, Daring & Adventure by Betty Bolte: A Book Review

Hometown Heroines: True Stories of Bravery, Daring & Adventure
Author: Betty Bolte
Genre: Historical Fiction Nonfiction, History, Biography, Short Story Collection
Publisher: Epublishing Works!
Release Date: 2012
Pages: 190
Source: My State Public Library
Synopsis: Did you know that girls and young women made a difference in Americas history? 

During the 1800s, many girls helped America grow bigger and better, yet are missing from many history books. 

Virginia Reed, at 12, survived the trek to California with the Donner Party.

Joanna Troutman, at 17, created the first Texas flag. 

Belle Boyd risked her life to spy for the Rebels during the Civil War. 

Grace Bedell wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln that changed the way he faced the nation. 

Kate Shelley, at 15, crawled across a high trestle in a ferocious thunderstorm to stop the next train from falling through a washed-out bridge.

 A young teacher, Minnie Freeman led her 17 students to safety through the blinding snow of the Blizzard of 1888. 

Lucille Mulhall, age 14, outperformed cowboys to become the World’s First Famous Cowgirl.

These are just a few of the inspiring true stories inside Hometown Heroines-American Girls who faced danger and adversity and made a difference in their world.

     My Review: Hometown Heroines tells the stories of average young American girls that live ordinary lives, but through different situations and circumstances they are forced to turn into heroines overnight. These girls love their country, and they will do anything they can to improve it. Some of these girls, such as Lucille Mulhall, the world’s first famous cowgirl and Malee, a young Indian princess who saved her enemy’s life, have stepped out of their conventions in society to help make a difference in their world. These true stories of the young girls prove to us that anyone no matter what age can help make a difference.

Bolte groups these girls into three categories: creative endeavors, war efforts, and brave and daring acts. She writes a historical fiction story about the girls brave and daring acts, then she writes a nonfiction biography of each girl. Her sources are limited, yet she includes a lot of resources in these books, like ballads, newspaper articles, poems, and other media sources about them. She also includes places of where the girls lived and statues and memorials of these girls in case anyone is interested, you can trace their footsteps. 

Each of the stories of these girls are very fascinating. Their ages range from 7-20. They contributed a lot to America, especially to the Civil War, yet we have never heard of these girls in our history books. Some of my favorite stories were Joanna Troutman, who created the Texas Lone Star flag, Grace Bedell Billings, a funny story who persuaded Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard, and Minnie Freeman, a schoolteacher who rescued her students during the Blizzard of 1888. Other stories were about girls who helped their hometowns in the Civil War. They were very loyal to their side, and some of them served as spies.

Overall, I found these girls to be very inspiring. It shows that anyone can be a hero. I recommend everyone to read this book so these girls stories can come to light. They deserve to have their names in the history books for they are equally important. This book shows women in extraordinary circumstances who have given their all to the cause and in turn, it helped benefit our country. This book is a great tribute these young girls and their efforts.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars