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Today, we have author Michelle Isenhoff featured on the blog’s ‘Indie Saturday‘ for her YA Historical Fiction “The Color of Freedom” (Available on Amazon). Michelle believes that “the best way to teach history to children is to make it come alive“. Let’s see the American Revolution through 14-year-old Meadow’s eyes!

Author Michelle Isenhoff writes about ‘The Color of Freedom’:

The Color of Freedom was born out of a visit to Boston, Lexington and Concord, and the Bunker Hill monument and a desire to see kids grasp the importance of the American Revolution. I guess that’s the teacher coming out in me. But really, what better way is there to teach history than to disguise it in a captivating story?

Fourteen-year-old Meadow Wynn McKenzie hates the British. Turned off her Irish farm and forced to book passage to America as an indentured servant, she understands why the rebels wish to throw off the yoke of King George’s rule. But is freedom worth the cost? Defying the most powerful nation on earth is like handing an invitation to Death.

Then, forced to flee her master, Meadow disguises herself as a boy and journeys toward Boston to reunite with her father. She’s moved by the courage, pride and determination of the American patriots, but their Puritan roots run deep. Before she can embrace the cause of her new homeland, Meadow must carefully consider a future amongst Puritan hatred for her Catholic beliefs. Would liberty apply to Irish, to Negroes, to Quakers, to Jews, to Catholics? Or would that slogan be cast aside when majority rule served the majority? Perhaps the colonists had simply invented a new kind of tyranny.

In Meadow, I created a female lead who’s frightened and indecisive, as I suspect so many colonists actually were. I didn’t want her to seem too strong or too modern, but she’s a heroine young readers can connect with and rally behind. She bears up well, and her circumstances push her toward maturity. By becoming emotionally involved in her story, I hope today’s kids can get a glimpse of what it meant to live through the Revolution, and perhaps they’ll gain some understanding of how it’s shaped the present.

“I became a teacher, in part, because I never outgrew the fantastic stories in the children’s genre. When I quit teaching to raise a family and try my hand at a novel, I knew it would have to be for kids. The Color of Freedom was the result. I have since written a trilogy of tween Civil War fiction (the last is due out this summer) and two tween fantasies (the second is due out this fall). I make study guides available on my website to help teachers get the most mileage out of my books. When I’m not writing, homeschooling, chauffeuring children, blogging or reading, I like to garden and take road trips with my family (not necessarily at the same time).”

The Color of Freedom by Michelle Isenhoff is available at Amazon in Kindle format. The ebook is also available on B&N. You can check out her Amazon author page or her website (michelleisenhoff.com) for a list of all her books. You can also find Michelle Isenhoff’s books on Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about Michelle Isenhoff, go to www.michelleisenhoff.com or follow Michelle on Twitter: @middlereaders or Facebook: michelle.isenhoff.author. Michelle also blogs at Bookworm Blather. Drop by and say hi!

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Do you want to be a featured ‘Indie Saturday’ author too? Go here for more info!

Read an embedded sample of “The Color of Freedom” after the jump!

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