Jane Petrlik Smolik

When done well, middle grade historical fiction both entertains and educates what can sometimes be a reluctant audience. Jane Smolik’s “Currents” earns high marks in the education category, but doesn’t rate as highly in the all-important entertainment category.

“Currents” links together the lives of three girls living in 1854. Bones is a slave on a Virginia plantation; Bess is a Lord’s daughter in England; and Mary Margaret is an Irish immigrant living in Boston. Although they never meet, their lives are connected through a message in a bottle, which originates from Bones.

Smolik presents readers with a well-researched and historically accurate account of mid 1800s life in each of these three communities. Readers learn not only about the main characters, but about the lives of background characters, and how things came to be (e.g. a concise history of the slave trade, the Irish potato famine, etc.)

The book falters a bit in its delivery. Each girl’s story could have benefitting from tighter editing, as I found they were each slow to start. I’m wondering if a younger reader would have the patience to stick with the book.

Overall 2.75 stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for a galley of the book in exchange for an honest review
… (meer)

eally enjoy reading middle-school historical fiction, especially one's that feature fierce girls fighting for their place in the world. Currents fits the bill and it brought to life three girls, one who is brutalized and two mistreated and dominated through unjust life circumstances. I am glad the author started with Bones, the slave girl who is whipped and abused for trying to learn to read and find her name in birth records. It was critical for Bones to know her name at a time when slave's names were changed as they were bought and sold. She wanted to have a place in the world for her and her family and by putting her first it allowed her name to be front and center. It also set up the rest of the book as we also learn the life stories of two other girls who also find a way to maintain their dignity through political oppression and harsh family circumstances. I felt for each girl and their pain and admired their fortitude.

While I was fairly immersed in most of the book, I think this book is for students who are already readers. At times it was a bit dry and moved slowly and I thought that it required an ability to "stick to it" to finish it.

Overall, often heartbreaking, often uplifting Currents is real and deeply told. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.… (meer)