Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.
Professional Reviews
Publisher's Weekly: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink
Libby—an enthusiastic student of fashion, the past, and fashions past—ventures from her Minnesota home to intern at an 18th-century living history museum in Maine for the summer before her senior year. A fan of Jane Austen, Libby dreams "of a time of true love, courtly manners, and real gentle-man," but her problems (namely an overzealous, cat-loving roommate named Ashling) begin as swiftly as her romantic interludes. Buff sailor boy Cam recites Shakespeare to Libby as she prepares to teach open-hearth cooking, needlepoint, and other domesticities to eight- to 10-year-old girls. Another boy, Garrett, shows up to report on the camp's alleged ghost for the local newspaper, and Libby joins him on the lookout for the paranormal. Debut author Strohm fills her novel with cute historical factoids and even cuter frocks, sometimes at the expense of character development. Even so, she turns a strong heroine and a few surprises into a clever, tightly written book that will keep readers wondering who will become Libby's true Mr. Darcy. Ages 12–up.
Booklist: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink
Teen Libby Kelting is spending her summer “churning butter in a corset” at a living-history museum in Camden, Maine. A fashion-loving history buff, Libby rocks her 1791 garb at the museum’s Girls of Long Ago Camp, where she teaches eight-year-olds how to bake over a hearth. Throw in a ripped-from-a-romance-novel love interest, and nights spent with Star Trek–obsessed Garrett in the fo’c’sle of a ship, and you’ve got a fairly entertaining summer. Interesting historical facts are woven throughout (“Different shoes for right and left feet weren’t invented until 1818”), but, mostly, Strohm’s debut is breezy beach reading—it’ll go down as easily as Libby’s Colonial Caramel Apple Pie.
School Library Journal: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink
Quirky and naive history buff and fashionista Libby Kelting disappoints her stereotypically gay BFF Dev by turning down an offer to go with him to NYC for a “Devil Wears Prada” summer job and instead becomes a historical interpretation intern (aka glorified camp counselor) at an 18th-century seaside village in Maine. As Libby parades in designer shoes past her khaki-clad fellow interns and researchers, her sunny optimism and voluptuous figure attract the attention of the muscular crew of “Squaddies” working on Camden Harbor’s restored ships. Before she knows it, her heart is taken by Shakespeare-quoting, handsome Cameron. Although Libby finds 18th-century cooking to be pretty disgusting, she truly enjoys working on colonial domestic arts with her adorable group of eight-year-old campers. In a desperate attempt to get away from her toxic roommate, Libby offers to bunk with geeky rookie newspaper reporter Garrett, which represents the only majorly contrived and absurdly unlikely note in this otherwise charming and clever debut novel. Though there is a mature scene in which underage drinking occurs at a beach party, Pilgrims will be enjoyed by fans of romantic comedies; it’s as sweet as a piece of seaside taffy but with the earnest message that true love is deeper than a pretty face spouting sonnets
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