Rose has never really had a home, or friends. Her parents died when she was quite young and her grandmother has brought her up traveling all over the world. When her grandmother dies in Paris, Rose is sent to Canada to live with her aunt’s family. The shabby house overrun with children is so terribly different from the quiet elegance of the hotels she’s lived in for most of her life that Rose just can’t cope.
When she runs into the back yard to get away from it all, she ends up farther than she ever expected. A root cellar in the yard leads her to another century. Rose begins to build relationships with the people she meets in the past, so when there is trouble, she is anxious to help. Leaving her own time behind, Rose travels to the time of the American Civil War and begins a long journey to help people who need her as much as she needs them.
Great for: A strong female character. Despite the time period (and the fact that The Root Cellar itself isn’t exactly brand new) Rose is a tough cookie. In her trip to the past, she spends much of the time disguised as a boy and is able to do everything a boy could.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Aunt Nan is pregnant. A soldier’s wife left him for another man. A man sidles up to Susan and says he’ll buy her a new dress if she shows him a good time.
Profanity – “damn” a few times, “shut up,” “for Heaven’s sake”
Death, Violence and Gore – Rose is an orphan whose parents died in a car crash. Her grandmother has recently died. Rose knew a girl who had the plague. Other people (from the past) die. One of falling off a barn roof, another of the chills. There’s some boy/fighting stuff – a teacher switches a child and gets punched for it. Great-great-grandfather’s brothers were killed in the Civil War. Susan’s parents were killed in a sleigh accident. A boy threatens to break both a girl’s arms and throw her in the bay if she tells a secret. There’s a threat that “I’m going to split you with a knife.” The back-in-time part is set during and immediately after the Civil War. This means that there are references to slavery and slaves being beaten. Lincoln is shot. Will tells about his time in battle, how soldiers lost limbs and were disfigured, how they died, how injuries could mean rotting flesh and how hard it was to watch someone die. There is a child that died after only being alive for a few weeks.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – There’s a drunk on the train. A man has a beer.
Frightening or Intense Things – The pregnant aunt has a fall. Despite taking place during war time, this book is not very graphic in its violence.
