Carroll Thomas: An Author Study

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Carroll ThomasAn Author Study

• Joy Cooper
• RDG 588
• Fall 2002

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Stories by Carroll Thomas

• Blue Creek Farm
• Mattys War
• Ring Out Wild Bells
• Riding by Starlight

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About the Authors

• Thomas
• Ratliff
• Social Studies and English teacher at both middle
  and high school level
• Civil War expert

• Carroll Shmurak
• Professor of Education at Central Connecticut
  State University
• Former high school biology/chemistry teacher

Carroll Thomas Home Page
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Matty Trescott

• As the main character in Carroll Thomas first
  three novels, Matty Trescott is a teenage girl
  who is forced to deal with the reality of the
  American Civil War. A strong-willed,
  independent thinker, Matty breaks the stereotype
  of the typical girl in the mid 19th Century.
  Her courage, strength, and dedication inspire the
  reader to continue turning the pages of Carroll
  Thomas novels.
• Follow Matty as she adventures to Kansas with
  her family prior to the outbreak of the Civil
  War, enlists as part of the Union Army, and
  attends medical school in Boston once the Civil
  War ends.

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Blue Creek Farm

• When Kansas Territory was opened up to
  settlement, we heard that there were lots of
  opportunities here.
• Join Matty and her family as they venture from
  Simsbury, CT to Kansas Territory in the late
  1850s. Opportunities were plentiful, yet
  uncertainty looms as life for the Trescotts
  begins on the Frontier.

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Related Links for Blue Creek Farm

• Bleeding Kansas
• http//www.ku.edu/carrie/kancoll/galbks.htm
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html h
  ttp//www.nps.gov/fosc/bleeding.htm
•  
• Lawrence, Kansas
• http//www.visitlawrence.com/media/ourfieryhisto
  ry.php
•  
• Bill Cody
• http//www.americanwest.com/pages/buffbill.htm
•  
• Pony Express
• http//www.americanwest.com/trails/pages/ponyexp
  1.htm
•  

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Mattys War

• Youre what? But Matty youre a girl!
• How can a girl make a difference? Fed up with
  watching from the sidelines, Matty Trescott makes
  a bold decision. Watch Matty as she transforms
  herself and experiences Army life first hand in
  Mattys War.

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Related Links for Mattys War

• Causes of the Civil War
• http//members.aol.com/jfepperson/causes.html
•  
• The Civil War
• http//lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cw
  nyhshome.html
• http//www.civil-war.net/
• http//www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicineintr
  o.htm
•  
• Civil War Web Quest
• http//coe.west.asu.edu/students/hcarter/webques
  t.htm
• Women in the Civil War
• http//odyssey.lib.duke.edu/collections/civil-w
  ar-women.html http//www.archives.gov/publicat
  ions/prologue/spring_1993_women_in_the_civil_war_1
  .html
•  
• Simsbury, CT
• http//www.townofsimsbury.com/history.htmlhist
  ory
•  
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• http//www.chfweb.com/smith/harriet.html

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Ring Out Wild Bells

• I should go to medical school too. Theres a
  place in Boston just for women who want to be
  doctors.
• The end of the Civil War marks a new challenge
  for Matty Trescott. Breaking free from the
  gender stereotypes of the 1860s, Matty pursues
  her dream of becoming a doctor. As Matty begins
  her new life in Boston, mystery and happiness
  rest in the wings.

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Related Links to Ring Out Wild Bells

• The end of the Civil War and Reconstruction
• http//chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/recon/chron.h
  tml
•  
• Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
• http//lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alrintr.html
• http//members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html
•  
• Hartford Female Seminary
• http//www.hartsem.edu/about/history.htm
•  
• Mount Holyoke Seminary
• http//clio.fivecolleges.edu/mhc/stow/
• http//www.myshortpencil.com/holyoke.htm
•  
• Medical School for Women 19th Century
• http//www.entnet.org/museum/exhibits/pioneering_
  women_page1.cfm
• http//www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/prof.htm
• http//campus.hws.edu/his/blackwell/
•  

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Riding by Starlight

• Hot off the presses!
• Riding by Starlight is the latest novel to be
  written by Carroll Thomas. This story features
  Matty Trescotts brother, Henry, as he journeys
  west as a scout for the Army and a rider on the
  Pony Express. Can Henry earn enough money to
  help save his familys Kansas farm?

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Enjoy the adventures of Matty Trescott!

• Coming soon
• A fifth novel by Carroll Thomas!