In 1863, as the Civil War approaches her quiet town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, nine-year-old Virginia records in a journal the horrible things she witnesses before, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg.

A nine-year-old slave keeps a diary of his journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad in 1857.

In her diary a ten-year-old girl writes about her family's experiences living in Washington, D.C., in 1864-5, during which time the Civil War comes to an end and President Lincoln is assassinated.

In 1858, nine-year-old Corey Birdsong and his family, fugitive slaves from Kentucky, build a new life in Amherstburg, Canada, while still hoping to help those they left behind.

Late in 1848, nine-year-old Joshua McCullough starts a second journal, this time recording events in Willamette Valley, Oregon Territory, as his family and others they met on the trail begin to get settled.

Elizabeth Barker continues to write to her "friend," her diary, as disease and lack of food further plague the suffering settlers at Jamestown.

In 1903, ten-year-old Sofia and her family begin their life in America in Boston, where her father works in a grocery, her mother sells pasta, and she goes to school while trying to stay in touch with her old friend Maureen. Includes historical notes.

Ten-year-old Corey Birdsong, a former slave, becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad by helping to bring a mother and daughter, runaway slaves, to his family's Amherstburg, Ontario, farm in 1859.

In this book, Joshua's diary comes to an end with stories of life in Oregon, his sister lost in the woods, and Joshua starting school.

In her diary, eleven-year-old Hope writes about her life in 1778 Philadelphia as British Redcoats take over her family's house, her father fights with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, and she gains a new friend and new baby sister. Includes a historical note.