Is my country is fighting a just war?
How can anyone learn to live a moral life?
Tough questions now or in the past.

Anna’s World is the story of a young girl in mid-19th century America.
Left for several years in the care of a Shaker community, Anna longs to join her father in the outside world. But when she does, she must make choices as overwhelming as those faced by America itself.

Rich in detail about Shaker life and the overall period, Anna’s World includes portraits of Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and
Ralph Waldo Emerson. But the heart of the story is that of a courageous teenager facing great challenges.

Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin are the authors of novels, nonfiction, plays, and essays for adults and younger readers. Their mainstream novels have appeared in foreign translations and have been taught in several major university courses. Their books and plays for young readers are in many school and public library collections and on required or recommended school reading lists.

Free downloads (PDF files):
Excerpts from Anna's World
Study Guide for Anna's World
Authors' notes on utopias, the Mexican War, and the Shakers

Anna's World is the top Award-Winner,
Fiction & Literature: Young Adult Fiction
category in the
National Best Books 2008 Awards,
sponsored by USA Book News.

From the USA Book News Press Release:
"USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS” 2008 AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2008.... Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, Tarcher/Penguin, HarperCollins, Hyperion, St. Martin’s Press, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons & hundreds of independent titles contributed to this year’s outstanding NBBA competition."

Anna's World is a Silver Medal Winner
in the Young Adult Fiction
category of the
Moonbeam 2008
Children's Books Awards.

Moonbeam judging is based on content, originality, design, and production quality, with emphasis on innovation and social relevance. Moonbeam awards went to entries from 30 U.S. states, four Canadian provinces, and four countries overseas, honoring books from long-established publishers and university presses, as well as small presses, foundations, museums, and self-published entrepreneurs.