Crystal City Lights

By Holly Moulder
Illustrations by Anthony Alex LeTourneau

Paperback: 194 pages
List Price: $8.99
ISBN 978-0-9885295-0-2
(Ages 8 - 12+)
Publication Date: April 15, 2013

Dottie Zorn is twelve years old in 1943, living in Audubon NJ, when her German-born father is accused of plotting to aid the Nazis. The only evidence against him? A single handbill, displaying pictures of Adolf Hitler, found by the FBI in Dottie's closet. The Zorn family must move from their comfortable home to a tiny cottage in the Internment Camp for Enemy Aliens in Crystal City, Texas. Surrounded by ten-foot, barbed wire fences and armed guards, Dottie uncovers a terrible secret about her best friend's family a secret that could cost her younger brother his life.

Review
This fascinating and insightful story of friendship, family, and courage is a must-read for all young readers.
--Chase Chenowith, Award-winning Producer and Screenwriter, Back Fence Productions

Without question, this book should be required reading in our schools. It tells a story unfamiliar to most, a story that has not been told in our schools despite the fact that tens of thousands of Americans of German ancestry were arrested and interned for the duration of World War II and beyond. Holly Moulder has captured the emotion, trauma, hysteria, and incredible sensitivity of war on the home front. Holly has told a story of arrest, internment, and deportation in such a way that it accurately portrays life of children in an internment camp and their bewilderment over why they are there.
--Art Jacobs, Former Internee, Crystal City Internment Camp and Author of The Prison Called Hohanesberg: An American Boy Betrayed by his Government During World War II.

Crystal City Lights is a historical fiction perfect fit for middle grades. The characters are believable, the pace and plot are exciting, and the themes of justice, family, and patriotism are beautifully developed. Crystal City Lights takes us through a piece of America's history of which we are not proud. It allows us to look at America from a different perspective. It is often difficult to find an authentic book that has been well-researched and is stimulating and not dry, especially for young people, but this masterful storyteller has once again come through with a winner.
--Gail Adamson Joiner, Ed.S

About the Author
Holly Moulder is a former elementary school teacher who left the classroom in order to write historical fiction for youth. Her fascination with history has helped her create two award-winning novels: Eyes of the Calusa and A Cord of Three Strands. Moulder was born in southern New Jersey, home of character Dottie Zorn. When her family moved to Georgia, Moulder attended Berry College and graduated cum laude with Bachelor of Science degrees in elementary education and psychology. After working for several years as a social worker, Moulder changed career paths to become a teacher. Her twenty-one years teaching fifth grade students have inspired her to create books full of history and adventure. Holly Moulder has two grown daughters and one granddaughter. She and her husband, Don, reside in Sharpsburg, Georgia.