Privately supporting her younger brother, which over time becomes a public support, which sadly ends in defeat and the begging of forgiveness from her brother.
Isabel is being courted for marriage from a variety of suitors, none of which suit her desires except for one Fernando of Aragon.
Through various trials, love wins out.
This book introduced my son to variety of new concepts from wet nurses, conversos, religious persecution, arranged marriages and more. A frequent question received was "why would they do that mom?"
We would talk about the various issues and our conversation would end with "but I wouldn't do that mom cause that's not nice." I agreed, it wasn't nice.
My son was shocked that Isabel was the one who sent Christopher Columbus on his way. He was horrified at how she treated people who weren't Christians and thought she was very mean.
We like reading through these books. They give a first person account of daily life and then sum it up at the end with some of the other facts that aren't covered in the journal itself. Images are included to give more depth to the story.
If you want to know about the early history of Spain, this is a good way to introduce it your children. :)