Priscilla and the Hollyhocks

Priscilla and the Hollyhocks, by Anna Alter

This book tells the story of a little girl named Priscilla who is entirely separated from her family and working on a plantation. She gets sold around from owner to owner, and eventually meets a man named Massa Basil Silkwood. He shows up early in her life, and then even saves her from slavery at the end of the story. As Priscilla goes from place to place, she plants hollyhock seeds; a part of her past at her first plantation. As she moves around, she finds peace and comfort in her little garden that she plants. One thing I really liked about this book is that it showed how during hard times, if you can find something that shows you hope, something as small as her hollyhock patches, you have some sort of comfort that things will get better. 

This book did have a flaw; the details were a bit vague. I felt as though something happened but there was no explanation, no in between details as to why and how something happened in the story. I don't know if I would use this book; I am looking realistically for books that I can use to teach some sort of extension lesson with historical fiction, and I really didn't see how I could do that with this book. Maybe someday I will find a way to use it.