This young readers adaptation of the New York Times bestselling We Gather Together shares the true story of how Thanksgving became a national holiday and the way gratitude is looked at in America

Fiction: Thanksgiving is an American holiday that began when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and met the Indigenous tribes already living there.

Fact: Thanksgiving celebrations existed before the United States of America and were celebrated in other countries as well.

Fiction: American Thanksgiving was always on the fourth Thursday in November.

Fact: Thanksgiving’s day, date, and even its existence was at the discretion of the president and other leaders until the date was officially established by Congress and signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.

Fiction: George Washington is the person who decided we should celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation at the same time each year.

Fact: Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor and author, petitioned five presidents until she convinced Abraham Lincoln to declare a national day of Thanksgiving in November of 1863, starting an annual tradition continuing to this day.

There is much fiction surrounding the creation of Thanksgiving in America. Denise Kiernan debunks myths, provides facts, and explains how and why Thanksgiving evolved in the United States the way it did—and what gratitude means to society.

This young readers adaptation of Kiernan’s We Gather Together should be required reading in every school in America today.

Chapter One
And Thus Commenced . . .

Summer began to slowly give way to autumn. The sun dipped below the New Hampshire horizon earlier in the day, and the mercury in the thermometer dipped as well. All across the land, it was a time for harvest. That harvest might be bountiful or not. No matter the season’s yield, Sarah Josepha Hale, along with others in her community in New England, would take a day to stop and give thanks. She expected that the governor of New Hampshire would soon proclaim when this celebration and day of reflection would take place. The holiday happened at a different time each year, but was meaningful no matter when it occurred.

Hale’s life had been painful lately. She had lost someone she loved. She often worried about money. Yet she still welcomed the opportunity to find something for which to be grateful.

Hale had little of her own and also had five young mouths to feed.

She was tired.

It was late.

She held a hungry baby in her arms.

Because Hale was a woman, she had little standing in her town, state, and country. However, she always found something to bravely stand for. It was the 1800s, and her gender meant she had few job opportunities and rights. But she could still do the one thing that brought her some measure of joy. She had a pen. She had a purpose. And she had something to say.

Once again, Sarah Josepha Hale sat down to write.

"[T]horoughly researched, both political and personal, as well as steadfastly invested in ensuring the legacy of Sarah Josepha Hale, the oft-forgotten mother of the holiday." —Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

"Sarah Josepha Hale is an important woman in America’s history who should be incorporated into more accessible literature." —School Library Journal

"This readable account . . . does offer considerable supplemental support for social studies units." —Booklist

Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer who has worked as a writer for more than 20 years. Her last two books—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were both instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. The Last Castle was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. The Girls of Atomic City was a Los Angeles Times and NPR bestseller, named one of Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Books of 2013,” and has been published in multiple languages. Kiernan has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” PBS NewsHour, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. View titles by Denise Kiernan