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Virginia's Civil War Diary #3
A Time to Dance
In her third and final diary, by Mary Pope Osborne, Ginny continues to face rapidly changing times in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Virginia Dickens continues to chronicle the aftermath of the Civil War, as she and her family move their lives from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Throughout the times of difficulty and joy, Ginny is always courageous and sweet.
Virginia Dickens continues to chronicle the aftermath of the Civil War, as she and her family move their lives from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Throughout the times of difficulty and joy, Ginny is always courageous and sweet.
112 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
5 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Mary Pope Osborne
1,111 books2,533 followersMary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 4, 2021
This book renders the previous one almost irrelevant, but I also did enjoy it a little more.
November 10, 2011
Ever wonder what happened after the Civil War is over? How people get on with their lives? This book is all about that. Ginny is telling the story through her diary. Ginny's father is having a hard time finding a job and Ginny thinks she can get a job to help. She does find a job as a dresser in the theater. She really likes this job and loves the theater. She wants to meet Edmond Booth, he's the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the man that shot President Lincoln. He is the greatest actor of their time. Ginny writes him a letter telling him not to give up acting because of what his brother did. The last entry in Ginny's diary is about their new family. Ginny's father is remarrying and will make their family 7. I love this quote she added.
from the Bible.....for everything there is a season:
A time to kill, and a time to heal.
A time to break down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
Tonight was our time to dance.
Does Ginny meet Edmond Booth? Does she like her new family? You'll have to read the book to find out.
from the Bible.....for everything there is a season:
A time to kill, and a time to heal.
A time to break down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
Tonight was our time to dance.
Does Ginny meet Edmond Booth? Does she like her new family? You'll have to read the book to find out.
March 1, 2010
Eleven-year-old Virginia Dickens and her family have left Washington, D.C. shortly after the end of the Civil War to move to New York City. While her father tries to find work as a violinist and her brother writes for a newspaper, Virginia spends her days on lessons and helping care for her baby nephew as her brother's wife recovers from the baby's birth. When her brother takes her to a play, Virginia becomes interested in the world of the theater, and soon finds a job working behind the scenes. This book was a wonderful conclusion to Virginia's diary and I recommend it to all readers who enjoyed the other My America books.
October 12, 2008
I read this book in one day, and I was totally addicted to it! I love the way this series is written, and I think Osobrne did a great job with this book. The book was never boring, and the plot kept moving along, and there was barely any "fat" that I found. I know this is moer of a kids book, but I'll still read it even though I'm a teenager, and maybe even when I'm older. I love the way Ms. Osborne makes the history come alive in this series.
February 25, 2019
Viginia's diary takes the ready to New York City right after the Civil War. Her adventures there, take us to the world of the theatre where she gets work as a dresser and even has her first experience on stage.
My biggest complaint with this series is that by using the diary format we never truly live or breathe in this time period. We get just a collection of small anecdotes, marginally described that leaves me not very satisfied with the end result. I don't know if that's the format of the series as a whole, or the author to blame. It would be interesting to read others in this series to see.
I liked Virginia and really would have loved seeing the theatre the way she did. It's such a fascinating world, especially given the time period. I really wish this was more.
My biggest complaint with this series is that by using the diary format we never truly live or breathe in this time period. We get just a collection of small anecdotes, marginally described that leaves me not very satisfied with the end result. I don't know if that's the format of the series as a whole, or the author to blame. It would be interesting to read others in this series to see.
I liked Virginia and really would have loved seeing the theatre the way she did. It's such a fascinating world, especially given the time period. I really wish this was more.
January 15, 2023
Eleven- year -old Virginia Dickens moves with her family from Washington, DC to New York City. As her father searches for work as a violinist, Ginny explores the city. Eventually, she finds a job as a dresser with a theater company and becomes a fan of Edwin Booth when she sees him perform in Hamlet. This short historical fiction novel takes place in 1865. Book three in the series.
October 14, 2020
This is the best in the My America series in my humble opinion.
October 20, 2022
Third in a trilogy of short middle grade novels written in diary form. Follows a young 12-13 year old girl who had moved from Washington to NYC shortly after the assassination of Pres Lincoln.
June 7, 2016
I love the book anyway because the book is very interesting to me.They move to New York City and try to having a better life.First,they didn't really have better life.But,her brother had a good job.Her father didn't find a job as a musician,so he try to teach music at home.After that,her father get a job as an musical.Herself had a job as an dresser at a theater.Her father was married again because her mother was died when she was born.Her stepmother was nice to her.At last,she act a show!Everyone dance together,this is why the name of the book is ＂A Time to Dance ".The diary let me know more about the things that are happening when it is Civil War.I would like to learn more about it.I want all my friends to read this book because you can learn a lot of things that happened.Thank you for reading my review!
February 1, 2016
This covers the post-civil war time when Virginia and her family move to New York. Her father tries to find work as a violinist, but such jobs are hard to come buy in the city, so he ends up giving lessons at their home.
Virginia herself likes plays, and gets to see one with Edwin Booth, John Wilkes Booth's brother. She ends up writing him and also manages to get a job working backstage, helping actresses with their costume changes.
It's a light story, not a major historical work, but it's still interesting to see how people tried to get by after the war was over.
Virginia herself likes plays, and gets to see one with Edwin Booth, John Wilkes Booth's brother. She ends up writing him and also manages to get a job working backstage, helping actresses with their costume changes.
It's a light story, not a major historical work, but it's still interesting to see how people tried to get by after the war was over.
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November 12, 2012This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.
April 13, 2009
This book was about a young girl living in NY just after the Civil War. The book is in diary format and tells of her experiences. She gets a job in a theater and discovers her love for it. It kind of has a hard time flowing from one diary entry to the next. it wasn't very entertaining for me. I think that younger readers would like it, and it gives a taste of history.
January 22, 2013
I don't know. It wasn't awesome or great. It starts off a little jarring especially considering when you leave the 2nd book Virginia is in Washington, D.C. and this one opens with them moving into a house in New York City and it takes awhile for the reason they are moving to New York to be shared. The storyline didn't seem to make a lot of forward progress here.
December 27, 2011
I'm not a fan of war stories.
September 3, 2016
This was a nice progression and wrapped up the story very nicely
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews