Veterans’ Day
Armistice Day, Veterans’ Day, Remembrance Day
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month…
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Written by Lt-Colonel John McRae (1915)
Palace of Spies
A Children’s/Young Adult novel by Sarah Zettel, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A great read about a young girl (Peggy Fitzroy) in the early 18th century thrust into intrigue and mystery as a lady in waiting to Caroline of Ansbach, Princess of Wales. The story takes place near the beginning of King George the First’s reign. He was the closest Protestant in the line of succession, and his throne was threatened by the Stuarts of Scotland. Lots of history and detail about being a lady in waiting at the royal court.
The story takes you from Peggy’s life as an orphan living with her uncle and his family. Her best friend is her cousin. When a proposed betrothal fails spectacularly, Peggy is left to fend for herself. She is taken in by a strange little man and taught to become another girl who had been a lady in waiting, and had died while away from the court. Peggy was to spy on the court and report back what she learns. Peggy soon begins to worry that her predecessor had been murdered…
