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Curiosity

By Gerald Allen Wunsch

Illustrations by Irene Joslyn

There is something educational for every young mind in “Curiosity” and Gerald Allen Wunsch turns it all into a great Book Coveradventure when two young girls and the family dog, explore the history of the Underground Railroad…and other things.

Ginger Wannamaker and her best friend Irene Fong are spending a month with her grandparents in Indiana, while their parents tour Europe. They are amused and entertained by the antics and tricks of Laird George and Abby Wanamaker’s wire fox terrier.

Grandpa takes them on a ride in his 1955 MG TF and they visit grandpa’s friends the Browns. Mrs. Brown offers them a tour of her house and they learn about the Underground railroad as they explore the secret room hidden behind a cabinet near the fireplace that hid runaway slaves. Then when Laird’s persistent digging in the backyard traps him in an old cellar, Ginger’s grandpa cover’s it up and warns the girls to stay away until he returns from a coin show and can fill in the hole. But the girls inspired by the stories of the Underground Railroad are determined to explore.

Gerald Allen Wunsch’s Curiosity is a fun filled tale that provides it’s target audience of young readers with a wealth of information through the adventures of Ginger and Irene. The drawings by Irene Joslin give a visual boost that lifts the characters and adventure from the pages to the imagination in delightful detail.

Gerald includes an appendix of information on wire fox terriers, Suriname, Irene’s home country, Buffalo Nickels, an account of the history of slavery and the underground railroad, including a piece on Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, genealogy, and the MG TF sports car series. These carefully researched and added details enrich the mind and the story.

Join Ginger and her best friend Irene for a summer of adventure and learning in Gerald Allen Wunsch’s Curiosity.

-Charlene Austin © August 2004 (chars@writersandreadersnetwork.com)

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