Katie's Trunk is set in America during the Revolutionary War. The threat of violence and even death is implied for Katie and her entire family. When Katie's father warns of rebels coming toward the family's home, Katie's mother rushes the family to hide in the woods. Katie fears that the family's treasured possessions will be stolen or destroyed by te men, so she runs back to the house. At the last minute, Katie hides in a trunk without the men seeing her. While searching for valuables, the men open the trunk and Katie is almost revealed. Katie's life is spared thanks to an old friend amongst the men who closes calls the men away before they all leave. Again, I find some historical significance in the setting, but I did not enjoy this story. Some of the text was not easy for me read to myself and I can imagine that my students would have a difficult time staying engaged while listening to this story. Lastly, I did not feel that this story was complete. Instead, I felt as if this was a chapter in a much longer chapter book or noval. ( )

This book was nothing like I expected when I checked it out of the library. I thought it would be about the colonist rebels during the American Revolution, but in fact this story showed us a glimpse of the other side of the war, the British. I liked how we were given a different point of view from other American Revolution stories, which usually are comprised of evil Brits coming to murder and pillage the colonists. My favorite part was the ending where human decency prevailed when John Warren, a rebel, felt Katie hiding in the trunk and then led his men out of her house so she would not be caught or harmed. This was surprisingly a feel good story about the American Revolution, which is somewhat rare to find. ( )

This book was about a girl who locked herself in a trunk when invadors were coming through. Then this guy rescued her by opening the trunk and then scaring away the other people. The family was reunited minutes after and she was very happy. I think it is a good book but has some scenes in it that are a little scary and not good ideas. I would recommend this book to people 7 and up. ( )

Summary:
This story is about a young girl name Katie and her experience during the Boston Tea Party. She could feel it in the air, the feeling of something bad going to happen. That day, her father ran in the house and told her mother to take the kids and go hide deep in the woods because the rebels were coming. They took off into the woods to hide but Katie went back. She didn't think it was right for them to come into their home and take from them. As the rebels entered the home, Katie went to hide under the dresses in her mother's chest. She was so scared and still that she could barely breathe. The rebels searched the whole house and even the chest. Before they discovered Katie, they were called off and fled. Katie made it out safe and her family returned to the home.

Personal Reaction:
I enjoyed this story because of how descriptive the author was. I felt intense and even held my breath while the rebels searched the house. This story is great for children to read and learn about American history.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. In the classroom, I could read this book to children when we cover the American Revolution era.
2. I could also read this story to children and have them write down their reaction to it. It can turn into a creative writing assignment.

I didn't really like this book because of the perspective that it's told in. The point of view was from that of a child therefore children may be trying to sympathize with the character however the situation that she was placed in was dangerous and frightening. I don't think that children should be trying to relate to this character. I also had mixed feelings regarding the illustrations. I liked how the author included an illustration of Katie going inside of the trunk because it backs up the title of the book and its relevance however, I didn't enjoy the illustrations as a whole. I found them distracting and not necessarily adding much to the story itself. Although they fit the written text, there was no enhancement of the text. Many of the colors were bland and the illustrations were done in a blurred sense. I believe that the main message of the book was geared towards the "seam of goodness" inside people's hearts. The author introduces this idea of goodness in the beginning when Katie is being scolded then again at the end when talking about John Warren. ( )