Customer Reviews

Love Thy Neighbor: the Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson

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Love Thy Nieghbor is by far one of the best Dear America books that have been puclished in the last few months! The story of the daughter of a Tory couple, Prudence Emerson, is told through Pru's diary-a small book given to her by her aunt, also called Madam Pinprick, in which Pru must imporve her handwriting. through vivid diary entries, we meet the world that is sadly nowadays seen as treacherous and evil--the world of the Tories. However, the Tories were just as normal as the Patriots, however, they were treated horribly. Pru tells of the divided classrooms, the denounciation of Tories in school, the loss of her best friend, the dangers of Tories around her, and the escape from her little town of Green Marsh to live in the safety of Boston. Pru tells of the Battles of Bunker Hill & Breed's Hill and the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. This diary was excellent, the better of the latest releases in the Dear America series. An untold story unfolds in this diary and will hopefully leave Americans with the truth of what the Tories really were.

This book is excellent. All through my life, I have pictured the Revolutionary War from one side of the tale, the American side. This book let me think of it from the side of someone who was living in America, but supported England. I am in the 6th grade, but read a post high school level, and I found it to be an amazing book. Normally, all of us never even think about this other side of the war, but this book will make you. Everyone has a different opinion, but we rarely hear everyone's side. This book shows us what it would be like to go agianst the majority, to see your friends become enemies, and to live in a place, where everyone purely despised what you believed. We always think of the Revelutionary War (or at least I used to) as a fight for Independence from the unfair British, but what we really don't often think about, is that the British were people too. And they also got hurt for their beliefs, just like we did, and they also died in the war. Read this book, because when you do, you'll see the Revelutionary War from the rarely heard prospective, the prospective of a Tory.

This book is very different. It explains the mostly
untold side of Tory life during the American Revolution.
It centers around Pru, a young girl living in New England.
She leads a middle class life with her family. Because she
lives in a tiny town, she knows almost everyone. Then, the
Revolution starts. Not only does she lose most of her Patriot
friends, but her family is a target for threats. What will become of her and her family? You'll only know by reading. LOVE THY NEIGHBOR.

I enjoyed this book because it showed us that some Tories were
just like us. All they wanted was what was best for their children. I recommend this to EVERYONE! Please buy it. You wont
be disappointed.

Thirteen-year-old Prudence(Pru for short) Emerson lives in the small town of Green Marsh, Massachusetts, in 1774. The Revolutionary War is about to break out and Pru's family are Loyalist to King George of England, unlike Pru's friend Abigail who is a Patriot. At this time in history Green Marsh is a very dangerous place for Loyalists for many support George Washington and the Patriots. As each day passes Pru fears for her family's safety and each day adds sadness because she and Abigail are no longer close because of political differences. Soon it becomes clear that Pru's family must leave their beloved home and flee to Boston for safety...I had always wished to read a book from the view of a Tory, instead of from a Patriot. I must say that this book was excently written and gave a good perspective of the other side of the Revolutionary War. The Patriots were not the only side that suffered, the Tories did too.

Prudence Emerson is a thirteen-year-old girl living in the small town of Green Marsh, Massachusetts, in 1774. Her family had always been welcome there, but now, with whispers of a possible revolution against the rule of the British king, things are changing. The Emersons are Loyalists, while most of the townspeople, including the family of Prudence's best friend Abigail, are Patriots. Their troubles start when business at the Emersons' store begins to dwindle, and things become steadily worse. The children of the Loyalists are persecuted at school. Prudence finds that Abigail has been forbidden to speak with her. As the persecution of the Loyalists becomes violent, Prudence begins to wonder if her family will have to leave the only home she has ever known.

I really enjoyed this new Dear America book. It gave a unique perspective on life at the beginning of the American Revolution by using the point of view of a young Loyalist girl. Readers interested in a look at the "other side" of the American Revolution are sure to enjoy this book.

Throughout books based on American history, we have seen numerous Young Adult books about the Patriot side. Finally, Ann Turner has written a book about what it was like to be a Tory. Love Thy Neighbor catches you from page one. Centering around Prudence Emerson, a teenager living in Massachusetts, this fictional diary talks about daily life and the problems of being a Tory. Not only is she perscuted by Patriot neighbors, but forced out of her home with her family. Read as you learn about the Revolutionary War and the "other side". Great! Dont forget to read other Dear Americas and Royal Diaries.

Love Thy Neighbor / 0-439-15308-5

When I saw that "Love Thy Neighbor" was out of print, I was a little concerned that the writing quality might not be as high as usual for the Dear America series, but it seems that I need not have worried. Indeed, if there is a reason for the book being out of print now, I suspect it is because most Americans would prefer to hear about the Patriot side of the revolutionary war rather than the Tory side. But "Love Thy Neighbor" is less concerned with presenting the Tory case and more concerned with questioning whether friends and neighbors can't still get along, even in the face of major ideological differences.

Modern readers will probably be shocked and surprised to read about the open hostility that Prudence and her fictional Tory family suffer as tensions mount towards the American Revolutionary War. After all, most of us in recent memory can recall disagreeing with a family member or neighbor about, say, the current war in Iraq, without having to then worry that someone is going to drop by the house later that evening to pour hot tar over dad and roll him in feathers. And yet when Prudence and her family continue to be loyal to the king of England, this is precisely what they do fear will happen, even to the point of having to leave their family home to emigrate to a safer area.

Perhaps some of this fervor can be accredited to the fact that these people tended to be more personally affected by war - all or most of the men in the family would go off to fight and die, the livestock and farms would fall into disrepair, and lives would be disrupted for years to come. Something like that could explain why people took so personally, to a violent degree, these differences in loyalties and opinions. And yet, one could just as easily expect a stronger degree of sympathy, knowing that neighborly love might just be one of the few things that might endure this crisis - and, to be fair, a small number of the characters in this book do realize that. Prudence's mother continues to provide her skills as a midwife to most anyone who needs her; a young boy at school sticks up for the Tories because he detests unfairness.

In some ways, I think this novel could be considered one of the most important in the Dear America series, because it provides a unique and sympathetic outlook from the 'wrong' side - the side that would have preferred we remain a loyal colony of Britain. It is good to read a differing opinion from what we are commonly fed as children in the history books and to realize that even if we disagree, we can respect each other.

~ Ana Mardoll

This Revolutionary War era novel is quite interesting, enthralling and raises many questions and feelings about loyalties to friends, family and country in a time of war. Tories were American colonists who remained loyal to King George and England despite the fact that the Thirteen Colonies were on a course of independence from the monarchy. The story is about a teenage girl whose family are Tories living in a rural community. Her best friend is from a family who is in favor of independence. Events threaten their friendship and the life of her family causing difficult choices to be made. I really enjoyed this thought-provoking book.

I have been reading Dear America books for a long time, and I've had a hard time trying to stop! I started in fifth grade, and I am a senior now. I normally read adult books, but there are just some series that I can't let go!

I was surprised and pleased when I found out about Dear America coming out with a different take to the Revolutionary War. I was not entirely surprised, because they also did When Will this Cruel War be Over? I am glad that Scholastic is not worried about being politically correct, and is brave enough to explore new frontiers. Hats off to Scholastic!

Prudence lives in America around the time of the American Revolution. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone was ready to break with England. Prudence's family is one of the forgotten families, ones that are loyalists. She and her family deal with Patriots using terrorism to get them to leave or change sides. Friendships turn to hatred as her town splits in two. And the war has just begun!

"Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Greenmarsh, Massachusetts, 1774" was such a great story! I was a little weary when beginning this story, as I feared this Tory family would be betrayed as rich, snobby, and not as humans, as that is the assumption with Tories. Luckily, that was not the case. I was glad that a book was finally published with loyal British people and what they dealt with through their eyes. A must read if you've read, or been reading, books about the Patriots. I recommend.