Books 5 and 6 from my 20 Books of Summer

Two books featuring troubled young women from my 20 Books of Summer:

The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi (1993)

Rachel Marsh is an indentured servant to John and Abigail Adams, minding their children and becoming involved in the events leading up to and following the Boston Massacre on the Fifth of March in 1770. She is a shy young woman whose inheritance has been taken by her uncle but she is eager to learn from her employers and the Adams encourage her to improve herself by reading. British soldiers have been stationed in the city to enforce unpopular taxes and maintain order and, although everyone Rachel knows is a burgeoning Patriot, she becomes friendly with Matthew Kilroy, a young soldier stationed outside the Adams’ home. He is lonely and hungry, and she slips him food.

John Adams shares his worries about the political situation with Abigail (which, of course, Rachel witnesses):

“Things aren’t going well, Abby,” he told her. “The Townsend Acts don’t allow Hancock to be tried by jury, and that’s against the Magna Carta.”

“Everything seems to be against the Magna Carta these days,” she said sadly.

When I was in law school, my father reminded me that John Adams drafted the 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the world's oldest functioning written constitution. It served as a model for the United States Constitution, which was written in 1787 and became effective in 1789.

Kilroy is no hero – not only does he importune Rachel for more than she is willing to provide but he is one of the British soldiers goaded by a Boston mob who loses his temper. He shoots and kills a rope-maker, Samuel Gray (there were five casualties in all, including the most famous, Crispus Attucks). John Adams is persuaded to represent Kilroy and eight other British soldiers accused of killing civilians (when no one else will) and later reflects that the Boston Massacre trials, and his defense of the soldiers, helped to shape the foundation of American independence.

Rinaldi was a prolific author of YA historical fiction, most of which came out after my teen years, but when I saw this copy in a giveaway pile recently I thought my 14-year-old niece might like it but she may find it too earnest.

Of Earthly Delights by Goldy Moldavsky (2025).

This book was emphatically not what I was expecting, after having read Kill the Boy Band, one of the funniest books I ever read, and No Good Deed, an amusing story set at a summer camp. Rose Pauly is upset when her parents get divorced, her mother leaves for England, and she and her father move to Connecticut, to the shabby house he grew up in. Switching schools before one’s senior year of high school is no fun but Rose meets a handsome, mysterious boy, Hart, who lives on a palatial estate with his mean-girl twin, Heather. Their mother died recently, their father is rarely home, so the twins host glamorous parties at Hargrove Hall. Rose attends one, eager to see the famous gardens, and begins an all-absorbing romance with Hart, quite a contrast to her part-time job at hospice.  

Hart's lush gardens have a dark secret and Rose cannot contain her curiosity about the innermost garden.  Their romance gets out of control and so does the book, with various alternate storylines I found both confusing and tedious. Maybe you have to be a teenager to find this book romantic!