Friday, March 2, 2012

Feature Friday: Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916

Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916 by Barbara Anne Waite is a fascinating memoir of an amazing young woman and her time in Arizona. Barbara Anne Waite uses Elsie's letters and journal entries to piece together the interesting life of a pioneer teacher in the early days of Arizona. 

Aside from letters and journal entries, pictures give the reader a window into the life of the young school teacher. Her simple abode and her students are captured. Life may not have been easy, as far as comforts go, but it was certainly full of people and adventures. One adventure Elsie found herself on was the adventure of an interesting romance.  Comments like, "It is odd the way men think they can't be just friends and have to have everything or nothing" reveal a bit of what Elsie experienced in her budding romance there in Arizona. 

This is definitely a memoir worth reading. The author, Barbara Anne Waite, brings insight into her grandmother's life with further research. We have the gift of being able to see the pieces of the epistles sent back and forth and journal entries put together and a full story emerges. What an amazing story it is...but don't take my word for it- read it for yourself!

You can order Elsie at Barbara Anne Waite's website. 
If you want to order the book on Kindle here is the link for the download. 
You can order a hard copy of the book from Amazon.com.
 

14 comments:

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    1. This really was an easy read and I loved the 'history' that was in the book.

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  2. Thanks Connie, another great introduction! I'll look it up.

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    1. A Great book if you want something for a fast read.

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  3. 'It is odd the way men think they can't be just friends and have to have everything or nothing' -> This is so true

    Nicely written, will try to get my hands on the book!

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    1. Oh there are alot of great quotes that Elsie makes- I felt like if she was alive today she could be a very good friend- we seem to think alike :)

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  4. Wow.. a life story reconstructed from letters, journal entries and pictures can indeed be really fascinating. And you gave a lovely synopsis of this beautiful book. I shall definitely check this book out. :)

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    1. I love letters and journals- so this book was a dream come true- someone just introduced me to the Correspondence app- have you heard of it- very neat. Books based on letters- really great!

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  5. thank you for sharing. must make a note of this one

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    1. This is a definite GREAT read because it is a TRUE story- AND it gives a peek at history.

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  6. I left a comment here yesterday Ms.Anjuli..huh another one..this has also happened several times with my friends site when I leave a comment it disappears..

    thank you for sharing Ms.Anjuli..I'll definitely check the link you have provided ;)..I know it is a good book and I'll learn a lot from it ;)

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    1. thank you for alerting me to this problem- I am not sure why it did that- but when I read your other comment about the spam folder - I went in there to check and there were FOUR comments not only by you but other people that had somehow gone there and I didn't even know!!! Thanks- not sure why the glitch is there!

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  7. So glad that you liked Elsie and shared the book with your readers. As for history, since I live in Arizona I can testify that the locale and happenings in the book are a very good introduction to Arizona in the early 20th century and places you might want to visit today.

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    1. Thank you for introducing the book to me- and also Barbara- she is a dear! I really enjoyed the book and hope many more people will read it!

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