Margo L. Dill

Anna and the Baking Championship is a chapter book (about 8000 words long) for middle-grade readers and tells the story of Anna and her siblings before her city was under siege. It's currently being released as an ebook on August 18, 2020 and a print book soon after that! 

1863, Vicksburg, Mississippi: While the War Between the States rages on and her father and brother fight with the Confederate Army, 13-year-old Anna Green must help her ma do the one thing she hates the most—bake a cake. Anna would rather write in her journal, but it’s the day of the town baking championship. The blue ribbon brings a much-needed cash prize for Anna’s family. When mean, old Mrs. Franklin comes knocking and suspiciously pulls Ma away on an urgent errand, Anna must step in and bake a scrumptious chocolate cake with little help from her 6-year-old sister and no help from her 11-year-old brother. What happens when the judges taste her cake? Will the Greens take home the first-place prize again this year? Or is there a cheater in the baking championship? Join your favorite American Civil War family in this historical fiction chapter book, perfect for middle-grade readers. Anna and the Baking Championship shows readers everyday life before Vicksburg was under siege.   

Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg is the first book in the American Civil War Adventure series. It's a full-length novel for middle-grade readers or anyone who loves to read middle-grade books. It can be purchased as an ebook (click the button below) and as a print book (available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, White Mane Kids, and here in my shop). Bulk copies can be bought for schools and other groups. Contact me at margolynndill (at) gmail.com for more information. 

Siege of Vicksburg, 1863: While the Yankees bomb her beloved city day and night, 13-year-old Anna Green fights to keep her younger brother and sister safe after the death of her ma, and her pa and older brother are gone with the Confederate Army. Anna and her siblings are forced to live with a neighbor, the old busybody Mrs. Franklin and her bratty son, Stuart. But worse than that, they must all live in a dark, damp cave, dug by slaves in the yellow clay Vicksburg hills. This is the only way to keep themselves safe from the Yankees bombs’ falling day and night. All Vicksburg citizens are living underground like prairie dogs. Anna realizes she must make sacrifices and be stronger than she ever has before, or her family will never be together again. Will she ever achieve the future she dreams of? Middle-grade fans of historical fiction will enjoy these characters who overcome their fears and stand up for what’s right in the history of the United States.