Dear America is a 43-book series with 43 released primary works first released in 1996 with contributions by Kathryn Lasky, Kristiana Gregory, Barry Denenberg, Patricia C. McKissack, Joyce Hansen, Jim Murphy, Mary Pope Osborne, Ellen Emerson White, Sherry Garland, Ann Rinaldi, Karen Hesse, Ann Turner, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Katelan Janke, Beth Seidel Levine, Marion Dane Bauer, Megan McDonald, Lisa Rowe Fraustino, Deborah Hopkinson, Kirby Larson, Lois Lowry, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Susan Patron, and Judy Blundell.
Dear America is a series of historical fiction novels for children published by Scholastic starting in 1996. By 1998, the series had 12 titles with 3.5 million copies in print. The series was canceled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during important events or time periods in American history.
Three other book series, like Dear America, were also published by Scholastic:
*My Name is America, a series of fictional journals of young men during American history
*My America, a series of fictional diaries of young children during American history
*The Royal Diaries, a series of fictional journals about the teenage years of famous royal women throughout world history.
Most of the "America" or "Royal" diaries are women and girls experiences.
In addition, several of Scholastic's international divisions have published series inspired by the Dear America series:
*Dear Canada, published by Scholastic Canada
*I Am Canada, published by Scholastic Canada
*My Story published by Scholastic UK. This series re-publishes at least three of the Dear *America books: A Journey to the New World (as Mayflower), A Picture of Freedom (as Slave Girl), and Voyage on the Great Titanic.
*My Australian Story published by Scholastic Australia
*My Story published by Scholastic New Zealand
*Dear India and A Princess's Diary published by Scholastic India
Other, Non-Scholastic series, spin-offs include:
*Diarios Mexicanos published by Planeta (Spanish only)
*Mon Histoire published by Gallimard jeunesse (French only)