Fetching Jonas Blake

I've always wanted to know an author and it just so happens that Bear's history and drama teacher this year at Master's Academy is a bona fide author!  When I found out her young adult novel, Fetching Jonas Blake, had just been published, I asked if I could read it and she was kind enough to give me a copy in exchange for a review.

The story takes place during the Revolutionary War.  Anne, her twin brother Tom, and their sister Betsy, are trying to maintain their Virginian farm on their own, as their mother has died and their father is ill.  When Will Norrington comes trying to take their farm, Anne realizes that even though she is an independent young woman, she needs a man to protect what is theirs.  She and her siblings embark on a journey to find Jonas Blake, the brave militia captain who once worked on their farm.  Will Jonas want to help them, though?

I stayed up nights to read this.  Margaret McKinney has written Fetching Jonas Blake in such an engaging style that I didn't want to put the book down.  Not only that, but the story involves the use of flashbacks in every other chapter, which conveniently leave you hanging, desperate to read the following chapter to get to the next flashback to find out what happened.   Fetching Jonas Blake has the perfect mix of wit and humor, with Betsy, the protagonist's sister providing a lot of comic relief with her attitude and behavior.

It's hard to find decent young adult literature that isn't about vampires or teens full of angst.  This was a refreshing read and while it included romance, it was definitely G-rated.  I'd recommend it for ages 12 up.  I am eagerly awaiting her sequel, told from the point of view of Anne's sister Betsy. 

Fetching Jonas Blake is available to purchase from Tate Publishing as a paperback ($16.99) or as an eBook download ($9.99).

You can also visit Margaret McKinney's website and read a sample chapter of the book or delight in some other writing she has done.