The Thieves of Tyburn Square: Elizabeth Fry (Trailblazer Books #17)
Gr. 3^-6. The latest subject in the Trailblazer Books series is Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker who lived in the early 1800s and fought for prison reform. As in the previous series books, the authors dramatize a historical subject by adding fictionalized children to the cast of characters. After their mother is deported, Betsey and Loren Maxwell are left to their own devices and eventually turn to picking pockets to support themselves. When they are caught and jailed, Elizabeth Fry enters the picture, intervening on their behalf. The characters are flat, with Levy the most convincing, but the book does lend insight into the Quaker faith and its commitment to social causes, and an appended fact section will give kids additional details about Fry's struggles to obtain more humane treatment for prisoners. A bibliography is also included.Shelley Townsend-Hudson