Thomas Jefferson

In fictionalized letters between a president and a child who lived during his administration, events, places, personalities, and the spirit of a time come alive. At the beginning of the 1800s, America was a brand-new country and President Thomas Jefferson - architect, musician, scholar, inventor, and family man - was at the helm. Amelia Hornsby, the 12-year-old fictitious letter writer of this Dear Mr. President book, lives in Philadelphia. When she suspects that someone is spying on Jefferson, she writes to warn him. The "spy" turns out to be Jefferson's personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, preparing for the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition. Once Amelia learns the secret, she and the president continue to correspond as a tumultuous time in American history unfolds. The Dear Mr. President series features: meticulous research; award-winning children's book authors; extensive photographs; maps, primary source material, timelines, and presidential profiles; and elegant design. After reading each book - or while reading the letters - children can explore the subjects further at the Winslow Press virtual library (winslowpress.com), where they are encouraged to ask questions, seek further information, and interact with both the past and the present. Prompts throughout each book lead readers to the Web site if they wish to learn more about a particular idea raised in the letters.