Children's Book Monday

The Scarlet Stockings Spy
by Trinka Hakes Noble
Illustrated by Robert Papp

I know my children love a book when they snatch it out of my hands the moment I finish and begin reading it again. This is what happened when I read The Scarlet Stockings Spy to my boys, and they learned some interesting facts about the Revolutionary War to boot! It has a particularly special place in my heart, because the heroine of the story is named Maddy Rose...and so is my youngest sister! (Hi, Maddie!)

The story is set in the year 1777, as the British are preparing to attack; everywhere, there are spies.

Maddy Rose is one of them.

She lives in Philadelphia with her mother in "their tiny row house on Appletree Alley", alone because her father has fallen at the Battle of Princeton the previous winter, and her brother, Jonathan, who is only fifteen, has joined Washington's army. She cares for her mother very sweetly, and works at Ross's Upholstery Shop (anyone remember the name Betsy Ross?), where she rips out seams and runs errands for Mistress Ross.

Maddy Rose sends secret messages to her brother, who is a spy as well, and when he comes to the house and waits out in the street each week, she hangs out her stockings and petticoats to signal him. She watches the ships in the harbor closely to see if they carry heavy artillery, until one day, Philadelphia is attacked.

Jonathan is caught in the battle, and one night when Maddy Rose hangs out her signals, Jonathan does not come. Nor does he the next night, nor the next.

I will not spoil the ending for you, dear reader, but I shall confess that I did shed tears, and continue to do so every time I read this story to my children. (But that is nothing new, is it?)

There were many interesting facts about the time period in this book, such as: If Philadelphian women were wearing the latest fashions from London, this showed loyalty to the king. Maddy Rose would flounce her skirts and jut out her chin and cluck, "Poppycock!" to such nonsense. Also, the bells were removed from church buildings to keep the British from melting them down into firearms, and the people of the thirteen colonies believed the year 1777 resembed a hangman's gallows, and took it as a very bad sign.

Enjoy this historical story with your children, and do look look for another excellent book called The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale, also by Trinka Hakes Noble and beautifully illustrated by Robert Papp.

Happy Reading!