Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Walker (Secrets of a Civil War Submarine) presents an exhaustively researched account of the people and events surrounding the creation of the Mason-Dixon Line. The author goes back to 16th-century England when the Calvert and Penn families were granted charters for the Maryland and Pennsylvania colonies, respectively. Using the boundary metaphor extensively, the packed-with-facts narrative covers historical, political, religious, geographical, and scientific terrain. The bulk of the story takes readers step by chronological step through Charles Mason-s meticulous astronomical observation work and Jeremiah Dixon-s laborious ground survey in the 1760s as they delineate a boundary that would take on increased significance in the run-up to the Civil War. Thirteen chapters include breakout sidebars that thoroughly contextualize the Mason-Dixon Line, from information on celestial navigation and the Quaker religion to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and sidereal time. Scientific and mathematical concepts are clearly presented and well-defined, but may make for more challenging reading. Archival photos, maps, and diagrams supplement the text, as do extensive source notes, a bibliography, and an index. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)

Horn Book

The exact location of the boundary between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania was in dispute until Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were hired in 1763 to solve the problem once and for all. Walker delves deeply into her topic, providing meticulous detail not only about surveying but also about colonial-era sociopolitics. Numerous maps, diagrams, and illustrations are interspersed throughout the narrative. Websites. Bib., ind.

School Library Journal (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

Gr 9 Up-With her book title reflecting both theme and structure, Walker begins with the English religious boundaries that drove the Catholic Calvert family and Quaker William Penn to seek religious freedom in their respective New World colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Conflicting royal land grants and imprecise surveys led to a disputed boundary between the colonies, eventually resolved by an accurate land survey conducted by British scientists Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. Much of the book describes their work, one of the most technologically challenging surveys done to that point. The author concludes with a discussion of how their survey line became a physical and symbolic boundary that marked the divisions in pre- and post-Civil War America, concluding that it remains a representational historic link to contemporary physical and cultural boundaries. Walker's account, supplemented with numerous illustrations and maps, of the conflicts along the disputed boundary and Mason and Dixon's innovative methods of scientific surveying is comprehensive and objective but is occasionally dry, and some of the complex scientific and technical concepts will be too difficult for middle school readers. Her emphasis on the survey provides a perspective missing in titles such as John C. Davenport's The Mason-Dixon Line (Chelsea House, 2004), which focuses on the line's political and military role in the antebellum slavery debate and Civil War and the postwar cultural division between North and South. While the topic won't draw a large audience, its importance in American history makes this book a strong report choice about the boundaries that shaped our nation or science in early America. Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO

ALA Booklist (Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

This thoroughly researched account of the Mason Dixon Line encompasses a broad span of time and place, from sixteenth-century England to twentieth-century America. Walker, who wrote the Sibert Award winner Secrets of a Civil War Submarine (2005), opens with generations of the Calvert and the Penn families in England, leading up to their founding the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. After many border disputes, a commission hired Englishmen Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to set the boundary between the colonies. Using their skills in astronomy, mathematics, and surveying, they completed the task in 1768. One interesting section of the book involves the negotiations necessary before Mason and Dixon could extend their survey into Native American territory. Illustrations include maps, period documents, and photos of sites and artifacts. Many students will find the text challenging to read, particularly the sections explaining the techniques and tools that Mason and Dixon used to determine the line's exact location. Walker's latest book offers a good deal of pertinent information on the subject at hand, as well as some interesting sidelights on American history.

Voice of Youth Advocates

The American colonies offered religious freedom to many, including the Calvert family (proprietors of the province of Maryland) and the Penn family (Pennsylvania). Once settling began, however, boundary disputes between these two adjacent colonies could not be resolved. Two astronomers, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were hired for their surveying skills. Even with state-of-the-art instruments, the science of measuring latitude and longitude was still developing: "Imagine trying to draw a straight line from your home to the doorway of one specific building located eighty miles away with no reference points in between to guide your direction." The terrain was often difficult and unsettled, and frontier tensions were high. The task was finally completed, however, and the book concludes with a reflection on the public perception of the Mason-Dixon Line as a larger boundary between the slave and free states.In Boundaries, nonfiction author Walker (Secrets of a Civil War Submarine [Lerner, 2005/VOYA June 2005]) discusses boundaries as a broad theme, from the early colonists' religious persecution to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Readers familiar with the popular perception of the Mason-Dixon Line as the divider between the North and the South may be surprised to find the bulk of the book focused on the origin of the line: the much smaller boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Though primary sources abound, and there is plenty of excitement (the riot in Christiana stands out), lack of visuals make this a challenging read for those not especially interested in the topic. Additional maps would be helpful. This reviewer turned to the Internet at several points along the way. Still, it is a useful, informational text with strong science and math connections for middle and high school and public libraries.Rebecca O'Neil.