Imogene's Last Stand
Kindergarten-Grade 2—Imogene is a feisty child who loves history and spouts quotes from famous people on all occasions. When she discovers the now-abandoned Historical Society building in her New Hampshire town, she cleans it up and opens it as a museum. No one comes. Then one morning she finds a sign posted outside the building stating that it will be torn down to make room for a shoelace factory. Imogene tries to enlist the aid of the mayor and other influential people, but they all say that the factory will put them on the map. At the last minute, she finds a letter in the museum that was written by George Washington to indicate that he had slept there. She notifies a historian and then puts herself in a stockade on the porch as the wrecking crew approaches. Soon the whole town turns out to watch the spectacle, and people tell her to move. "'In the immortal words of the Vietnam War protesters,' she shouted, 'Heck no, I won't go!'" (There is no mention of the fact that the quote has been changed.) The President of the United States (an African-American woman) appears and declares the museum a national landmark. Illustrations done in pen-and-ink and digital media provide a lot of historical details and humor, featuring a determined child who rides in a sidecar on her father's motorcycle. This title could serve as a jumping-off place for some early elementary history lessons.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MIEND