Preview of The Tamarack Tree Summary:

A coming-of-age story, The Tamarack Tree describes the journey from fourteen-yearold girlhood to young adulthood through the trauma, tragedy, and triumph of the American Civil War. The author uses historical fiction to introduce the reader to this war, slavery, and the antebellum South.

The chapters are written as if they were taken from the diary of Rosemary Leigh, who lived in Vicksburg from 1859 to 1863.

Rosemary is an orphaned English girl who comes to live with her brother in Vicksburg. She becomes a close friend with Mary Byrd—the daughter of a plantation owner.

She also befriends Ben, who later enlists in the Confederate Army to fight the "Yankees." Rosemary falls in love with Jeff—a young man who decides to fight for the Union army. While in Vicksburg, Rosemary also learns about slavery, "free Negroes," and the Underground Railroad.

As the war unfolds, Rosemary and her...