As any social studies or reading teacher will tell you, instilling in middle readers the ardent realization that they have stories of their own to record that their day-to-day lives are history, too is just as important as getting them to read. This companion writing journal encourages youngsters to chronicle their daily lives just as Hallie Lou Wells and the other protagonists of Lisa Waller Roger's Lone Star Journals do. Each journal has a title page for the young scribes to personalize and ninety-four generously ruled pages."

It s spring of 1878 on the Rockin W, and Hallie Lou Wells is as cross as any fourteen-year-old redhead has a right to be. Roundup is over; Hallie s father will soon drive the cattle to Dodge City and only boys are allowed But in country where anything can happen, something does. When Mr. Wells learns that Mrs. Wells is having another baby, he decides to stay home. Hallie persuades him to let her take his place on the drive.Hallie s Chisholm Trail diary, rich with depictions of ranch and trail life, is filled with adventures to engage any preteen reader, girl or boy. Following Hallie s diary...

Late in 1835, the Mexican army surrendered San Antonio and retreated across the Rio Grande. Texas colonists, including young Belle Wood, rejoiced. No one expected more trouble from Mexico. So when Belle s brother, Mac, followed Colonel Travis to the Alamo in January as a precautionary measure, Belle didn t worry.
Three weeks later, General Santa Anna reentered San Antonio with thousands of troops, taking the 150 doomed Alamo men by surprise. The news came upon me like a clap of thunder, Belle wrote. My brother, Mac, is dead.
As Santa Anna marched eastward, panic ensued. All over...