Reading Through History: Calico Bush by Rachel Field (1931)

Calico Bush is the story of Marguerite, a French immigrant to the United States who is orphaned soon after her arrival. With no family to look after her, she becomes a bound out girl, contracted to the Sargent family for six years. As the Sargents work to settle their homestead in the Maine wilderness, under threat of violence from local American Indians, Marguerite, called Maggie, does her best to blend into the family and be of use to them, while also trying to remain true to her heritage.

I had a very frustrating time reading this book. My husband loved it and insisted that I read it, but I kept pausing every 30 pages or so and asking when something was going to happen. Lots of things almost happen, but then the author backs away from them, which made me feel like I was being strung along but never rewarded. When something finally does happen, it's a terrible tragedy involving a young baby that is so unspeakably sad, it feels like a punishment. I had a really hard time connecting with Marguerite, and I also found it difficult to keep track of who was who among the other characters. Only Aunt Hepsa, the wise, elderly neighbor who takes a special liking to Maggie stands out, and that is really only because of her quirkiness.

This book reminded a lot of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which I also didn't enjoy that much, so this may just be a matter of personal preference regarding stories set in colonial New England. I can't say there was anything wrong with the writing, or the storytelling, or even the characterizations. This book just did not click with me, no matter how hard I tried.

Fumbling Through Fantasy: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009)

Minli's family lives in the valley of Fruitless Mountain, where they are very poor and must scrounge daily to have enough to eat. Inspired by stories her father has told and aided by such fantastical creatures as a talking fish and a dragon who can't fly, Minli sets off to find the Man of the Moon. She believes that when she finds him, he will be able to tell her how to bring about her family's fortune. In the meantime, Minli's mother, who has previously been very discontent and displeased with her husband's storytelling, comes to appreciate the treasure she has in a daughter like Minli while waiting for her safe return.

This attractively designed book combines a fairy tale quest with retellings of traditional Chinese folk tales to create a new story about storytelling, family, and true happiness. The folk tales are told by different characters Minli meets on her journey, and each tale is given a context that makes the telling rich and relevant. Young readers can begin to see the relationship between cultural experiences and the stories told in a culture, and because characters from the tales come to life on Minli's quest, they become much more real to the reader than they might if the tales were simply read in isolation. Illustrations in Lin's signature style, known to most from the Ling and Ting books, also complement the text nicely and provide visual context for Minli's journey.

The writing in this book is mostly very pleasing. The story moves quickly, and the text would make a strong family read-aloud. There are a few too many similes in the book for my taste, and sometimes the tone takes on a contemporary flair that doesn't match what I expect to hear in a fairy tale. Still, the story is compelling and it is a perfect gentle fantasy for kids on the younger end of the middle grade spectrum. I look forward to reading the companion titles, Starry River of the Sky and When the Sea Turned to Silver.

Book Review: Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer (2000)

Named Tulip at birth by the mother who abandoned her, Hope Yancey chose a new name for herself when she was twelve years old. Now sixteen, Hope tries to live up to her name when she and her aunt Addie arrive at the Welcoming Stairs, a diner in Wisconsin in need of a short-order cook because the owner, G.T. Stoop, is fighting leukemia. Not long after Addie begins work as a cook, and Hope as a waitress, they learn that G.T. isn't just sick; he's also running for mayor against a corrupt local politician! Hope realizes quickly that G.T. is the kind of candidate who can be trusted, and even though he may not live long enough to institute his proposed plans, he is willing to literally die trying. To get the word out about Stoop's candidacy, Hope teams up with Braverman, a recent high school graduate who also cooks at the diner, and other teens, to help with his campaign, resulting in some unexpected changes in her own life and outlook.

Hope Was Here is a sweet and wholesome novel, which focuses on a black-and-white struggle of good against evil. Corruption and cancer are the clear villains, while those who trust God, tell the truth, and don't hide behind pretenses are the heroes, even if they don't always win every fight. Joan Bauer quickly builds up the world of the Welcoming Stairs, and its many interesting employees and customers. These include a local pastor, a young single mom whose daughter may have special needs, G.T.'s corrupt opponent, and many more. While the story is ultimately about Hope's own journey, the fate of her new hometown and G.T. himself are strongly connected to hers, so the book is just as much about the setting as it is about the characters. 

Because the main character is sixteen, I consider this to be a young adult novel, but its uncomplicated plot and straightforward writing style make it feel more like middle grade, and there is really no reason kids in the upper elementary grades could not enjoy it just as much as teen readers. All kids can benefit from learning about elections, voting, and the responsibilities that come along with being a good citizen - not just in this election year, but any time. There is also much to learn from this book about justice, truth, and, of course, hope. 

Reading Through History: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (2007)

From the moment Holling Hoodhood's seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Baker, learns that he is Presbyterian and therefore does not attend religious instruction on Wednesday afternoons with his Jewish and Catholic classmates, Holling is convinced that she is out to get him. After several Wednesdays of doing odd jobs for Mrs. Baker, however, she begins teaching him Shakespeare. As they read through the plays and the months pass by, a genuine bond forms between teacher and student which influences many areas of both of their lives.

This book, which comes before Okay for Now, is everything a reader wants in a middle grade novel. The prose is by turns humorous and reflective, and Holling is a hero kids can believe in, even though he lives during the 1960s, because his concerns and interests are so recognizable and universal. It is truly Holling's voice, more than anything else, that carries this book, a fact which becomes especially clear when listening to the audiobook. I only listened to a small portion - the segment of the book in which Holling acts in a Shakespeare play and then must meet Mickey Mantle while still wearing a fairy costume - but hearing it read aloud in Holling's voice (performed beautifully by Joel Johnstone) really made the story come to life. That section may be the best-written passage in any middle grade novel of the last ten years; it's just perfect.

The Wednesday Wars is a school story and a family story, a story about the Vietnam war, and 1960s public schools, and a story of the importance of reading and the value of a great teacher. It resists any urge to talk down to the reader, or preach, or even hint at its message. Everything comes through in the telling of the story; because Schmidt is such a good writer, he never needs to spell out for readers what he wants them to think or feel. I can even forgive the ridiculous name of Holling Hoodhood because Schmidt makes it work.

Overall, this is a refreshingly well-written book with a wholesome family friendly feel, and the perfect mix of boyish humor and real raw emotion. Highly, highly recommended.

Fumbling Through Fantasy: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997)

When Ella of Frell was born, a well-intentioned but misguided fairy named Lucinda gave her a terrible gift: that of unerring obedience to any command she is given. For Ella, of course, this "gift" is a curse, forcing her to take commands from everyone she encounters and making it impossible for her to exercise her own will in any relationship. When her new stepmother and clueless father send her to finishing school, however, Ella runs away, determined to find a way to free herself of the curse, so that maybe, someday, she and Prince Charmont might fall in love.

Ella's story is a fractured version of Cinderella and many aspects of the old tale make their way into this one, including glass slippers, evil stepsisters, a fairy godmother, a coach made from a pumpkin, and a strict midnight curfew, but they are used differently, and sometimes in surprising and creative ways. I like the way the author re-works these well-known elements into a new story, and I also enjoyed the clever ways Ella tries to rebel against the confinements of her curse.

Still, there were things about the story that didn't work for me. I didn't understand the need for the author to create multiple languages when they didn't figure that heavily into the plot, and they were virtually impossible to even pretend to read. I was also confused by Ella's magical book that allows her to see the writings of others. Obviously, it works as a plot device because we need a way to be able to see other points of view besides Ella's at certain points, but I had trouble figuring out why Ella as a character needed to have it, or would want to have it. I also had a strong sense throughout the book that I was being beaten over the head with a feminist message, and that is unforgivably irritating to me.

I am surprised this was a Newbery Honor book, because to me, the writing seems adequate but not necessarily distinctive. (Then again, I looked on Novelist to see what else was published that year, and the pickings were pretty slim, so perhaps it was among the best of the year after all.) I definitely understand why girls who love fractured fairy tales are so thrilled with this book, but as someone who is very reluctant to read fantasy in the first place, this book did not help change my mind too much.

Reading Through History: The Wonderful Year by Nancy Barnes (1946)

Ellen's father has been ill recently, and the doctor has recommended some time away to regain his strength and mental health. Therefore, Ellen and her parents move west from Kansas to Colorado to start a ranch. Ellen has many wonderful and new experiences: sleeping in a tent while the house is being built, learning to ride a bicycle, getting lost in unfamiliar territory, and most important of all, developing a friendship with a much-older neighbor boy named Ronnie who happily humors Ellen's youthfulness and treats her as a pal and an equal. Through the day-to-day trials of planting and growing fruit and laying down roots in a new place, Ellen's entire family changes for the better and they finish their wonderful year with a fresh new outlook on life.

For any contemporary reader, the one element of this book that will immediately stand out is the friendship between Ellen and Ronnie. Our culture is so conditioned to believe that males are predators that the thought of an eleven-year-old girl palling around with a teenage boy instantly makes us uncomfortable, even when there is nothing in the text to suggest inappropriateness. Personally, I'm glad to see a purely platonic and fully wholesome relationship like this in a children's book. It's becoming more and more difficult to find books for tweens that don't incorporate crushes and romance in some way, so those of us who wish to avoid introducing a lot of those themes to our children have to seek out these older gems that take a more age-appropriate and innocent approach to boy-girl friendships. There truly isn't anything strange about Ronnie's connection to Ellen, and unless someone teaches them to read too much into it, kids won't think anything of it at all.

The other issue many reviewers seem to comment on is sexism. There is a lot in this book about rigidly defined gender roles. Ellen constantly thinks about the behaviors she needs to exhibit to be a worthy companion to Ronnie, and he comments now and then on how beautiful she will be someday. I tend to take these things with a grain of salt, especially with books like this one that were written in the 1940s and set even before that, and I think, as is mentioned in the review of this book from Semicolon, these old-fashioned ideals make great conversation starters for discussing the book with kids.

I enjoyed The Wonderful Year very much. It is similar in style to the Betsy-Tacy books, and in subject matter to books like Miracles on Maple Hill, Strawberry Girl, and The Open Gate. I look forward to sharing it with my girls when they reach the target age range.

Book Review: On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer (1986)

Despite feeling wary of making the trip, Joel begs and pleads with his father to be allowed to bike to Starved Rock with his best friend, Tony. On the way, Tony, a known risk-taker, decides to take a detour to the river. Once they're both in the water, Joel dares Tony to swim out to the sandbar, assuming he is a strong enough swimmer to make it. Tony accepts the challenge, but moments later, Joel looks around and realizes Tony is gone. At first, he is sure Tony must be playing a trick, but then reality sets in: his best friend has drowned. Now Joel is faced with the impossible task of telling his parents and Tony's the fateful consequences of their poor decisions.

Along with Bridge to Terabithia (which I have since read) this was a book I avoided in childhood because I knew it was a death book. I was very anxious about death as a child, and reading a book like this back then would have cost me many nights of sleep. I do have the sense that I read it at some point, or at least skimmed it, because the story felt very familiar, but I don't have a more specific memory than that. My best guess is that it was during library school when my children's literature professor only allowed us to read Newbery books, but again, I'm not certain.

In the book, Marion Dane Bauer uses few words to make a strong impact on the reader. Each scene of the story is described so vividly that the reader really experiences all of Joel's emotions as they occur to him. Joel's initial behavior after realizing what has happened to his friend may not be the most mature or even the most appropriate, but it is very true to how a young kid would react in such a shocking and unexpectedly terrible situation. Kids will understand Joel's reasoning as he struggles with what to tell the adults, and they will feel a sense of comfort when he does finally come clean and his father proves himself to be a supportive, strong, and kind parent.

On My Honor is probably not a pleasure read for most kids. It's not really a tear-jerker per se, so even kids who like a good cry may not choose to read it on their own.  The story is really an exploration of the way one small decision can have an irreversible impact on the life of a child, and the moral obligation people have to do the right thing even in the face of great tragedy. I do think it is healthy to have kids read books about death - perhaps if I had done so, I would have worked through my fears instead of obsessively researching every book I encountered to make sure no one dies before even considering it. For that reason, I think this book works well in academic settings and homeschools, and in families in general, to prompt discussion and help kids talk about their questions regarding mortality.

Fumbling Through Fantasy: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996)

Gen, a master thief, has been thrown in prison in Sounis after stealing the king's ring and bragging about it in a wineshop. He receives a reprieve from incarceration, however, when the king's magus enlists his help in stealing a prized artifact known as Hamiathes's Gift. Accompanying Gen and the magus on their journey to the deadly temple which protects this mysterious stone are  the magus's apprentices, Sophos and Armiades, and Pol, whose job it is to look after Sophos. Though the five men get along well enough and sometimes even joke and chat together, everyone understands that Gen must either secure the treasure or die trying. What each character does not realize, however, are the secrets harbored by the other members of the company.

The Thief is a superbly written novel by an author with a strong command over the English language. The story is well-plotted and unfolds very naturally. Turner slowly reveals smalls details about Gen's life and background over the course of many chapters, which creates an air of mystery around him and causes the reader to want to know more. The story as a whole is very descriptive, which makes it seem to move slowly in some places, but the more exciting scenes - especially when Gen is in the thick of trying to steal the stone and emerge alive from the temple - are utterly flawless and deeply engaging. Turner also deftly pulls off a plot twist, which is made possible only because of how carefully she chooses her words throughout the entire text. There is no sense, when the truth is revealed, that the reader has been duped or even manipulated. It feels more like the author suddenly turns on a light and particular details that have been in the story all along shine forth and reveal their truth purpose. The twist is impressive not because of how the reader has been fooled, but because of how well Turner hides the truth until it serves the story best to share it. 

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. It includes no real magical elements, which tend to be the hardest for me to connect with in fantasy novels, and is really very realistic aside from characters who talk to gods and goddesses and the overall re-imagining of history that serves as the backstory. The quest aspect of the story, and the properties of the treasure itself certainly place the book in the fantasy genre, but it is very different from the first dozen books I read for this project, and it is a book that will stick with me for a while. In the future, I hope to review the rest of the series: The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings and any future titles Turner adds to the list! 

Fumbling Through Fantasy: The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (1959)

When Fooley the Brave, a Minnipin explorer, returned home from traveling to the Land Beyond the Mountain, he brought with him many artifacts and journal entries to help his people understand what he had learned on his journey. Four hundred years later, the Minnipin settlement of the Land Between the Mountains is ruled by Fooley's descendants, the Periods, whose names are abbreviations such as Wm., Co., Ltd., and Etc., all taken from Fooley's journal. Despite the obvious mislabeling of some of Fooley's artifacts and an overall misunderstanding of his discoveries, these leaders insist upon conformity to their ways, which include everyone dressing the same and painting their doors the same color. They do not allow for the possibility that an enemy may be planning to destroy them, and they immediately shun the few non-comformist Minnipins in their society who warn of an impending attack from the Mushroom People. It is therefore up to outsiders like Muggles, Gummy, Curley Green, and Walter the Earl to provide solid evidence that their friends' lives are in danger, or risk losing them all in a battle for which they are not prepared.

This book, written like a history text interspersed with the maxims and poems of Minnipin heroes, is a very gentle fantasy novel for young readers. For lack of a better comparison, it really reminded me a lot of some of the fantasy cartoons I watched as a kid - The Gummi Bears, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, and The Smurfs, for example - which are set in vaguely medieval-inspired fantasy kingdoms with no particularly complicated mythology behind them.  The characters are easy to differentiate from one another, owing to the specific traits and talents each one has, and though they are not children, they are child-like, both in their willingness to believe new things, and their feelings of powerlessness in the face of unmoving authority. There are definite dangers, including battle scenes in the later chapters of the book, but the story always feels comfortably contained and cozy even at the height of the excitement.

The book has some problems, which I think are actually more pronounced because of the Newbery Honor sticker on the cover. The writing just never felt completely tightened up to me, almost as though the author didn't quite reach the heart of what she wanted the story to convey. The setting is also vague. Most of the other fantasy books I've read so far have done some level of world-building from the ground up. This story felt more like it had been written as part of a roleplaying game where the author chose a few elements out of a hat and wrote a fantasy story based on them. I think this kind of simplicity would have appealed to me as a kid, and might have actually gotten me to read this book, but after having read things like The Hobbit and Harry Potter, it felt weird not to be given pages and pages of detailed exposition about the setting. What is included is fine, but all the preliminary details felt like a means to an end instead of an integral part of the story in their own right. I am not usually big on setting, which might be another reason fantasy doesn't tend to be my favorite, but kids who do focus a lot on the details of fictitious societies might not find enough meat here.

I enjoyed The Gammage Cup and will look for the sequel at some point in the future. For kids who want to try fantasy but don't like scary stories, or who have read The Hobbit but aren't yet prepared for Lord of the Rings, this is the ideal book. It would also make a nice read-aloud provided you can pronounce the abbreviation names and don't mind occasionally having to show an illustration to your listeners so they don't miss anything.

Fumbling Through Fantasy: My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (1948)

In My Father's Dragon, the narrator's father, Elmer Elevator, has an adventure (as a child) going to rescue a dragon from Wild Island. In short chapters, the narrator explains how her father packs for the trip, finds the island, outsmarts the animal natives, and eventually liberates his dragon.

This is a children's book that is probably best appreciated by young children. As an adult, I had too many grown-up questions (such as, why must there be a narrator? why couldn't Elmer just tell the story?) that stood in my way of appreciating the story for what it was. I did like the different methods Elmer used to keep the animals from attacking him, and I appreciated how the fantasy elements have kept the book feeling fresh for 68 years; I just didn't feel any particular emotional connection to the story or its main character.

My Father's Dragon would make an excellent read-aloud for a preschooler who is interested in hearing longer stories. The chapters are short enough to read at bedtime, and there are plenty of engaging illustrations to help provide context and keep young minds focused on the story. Dragons are also a perennially popular topic among kids of all ages, and there are never enough dragon books, so it's wonderful that this book continues to hold up so well generation after generation. Beginning readers could also read this story independently, but because of the conceit that the events of the book happen to the narrator's father, it would be more effective as a read-aloud, because it gives kids the idea that maybe they, too, could be related to Elmer Elevator.

Book Review: A Day on Skates by Hilda van Stockum (1934)

Published in picture book format, but written at the middle grade level, and divided into chapters, this brief tale tells of Dutch twins, Evert (a boy) and Afke (a girl), who go with their classmates and Teacher on a day-long skating picnic. The ordinary day is punctuated along the way by various extraordinary happenings, including an encounter with a real artist, an injury, a feast of snow pancakes, and an accidental imprisonment inside an old church.

This book is a lovely slice of life tale, which is similar in some ways to Thimble Summer (1938) and Strawberry Girl (1945). Like these other titles, A Day on Skates gives a sense of the landscape and customs of the region in which it is set (Holland), while also celebrating the joy to be found in everyday events and experiences. Though it is a bit hard to believe that everything which happens in this story could truly occur to one class in just one day, the story is so charming that the reader really wants to believe in it, and easily finds herself pulled along on their journey.

I was pleased to discover that the Foreword to the book was written by Edna St. Vincent Millay. She has been a special favorite of mine, as we attended the same college and also both spent the summer between our junior and senior years at the same mountain resort some 85 years apart in time. I wondered at first why this accomplished poet was interested at all in a children's book, but my husband informed me that Millay is van Stockum's aunt by marriage. I especially enjoyed her opening line: "This is a book which mothers and fathers will sit up to finish, after the protesting child has been dragged firmly off to bed."

The writing in the story proper starts out very poetic and old-fashioned, with a meditation on the arrival of Father Frost during the night. I didn't dislike this, necessarily, but it is markedly different from the rest of the text, which is much more grounded and more appealing. Van Stockum's true talent is for capturing the importance of little things, so the moments focusing on exchanges of dialogue, or the details of food and clothing, are much more engaging, and they are what made me finish the book eagerly in one sitting.

What really makes this book so wonderful, though, are the illustrations. There are eight full-color plates, including the frontispiece, as well as black and white line drawings scattered throughout the book's six chapters. The color illustrations look like vintage Christmas cards, with their picturesque winter landscapes and crowds of young skaters dressed in old-fashioned cold-weather garb. They are all equally well done, but the picture below, from Chapter 5, is probably my favorite. I love the way the skaters form a triangle, drawing the viewer's eye under the bridge, and how the background details, such as the kids building a snowman, seem to be telling stories of their own that are never referenced by the text but are part of the book nonetheless.

I also adore the line drawings. If the larger illustrations depict the spirit of a Dutch winter, the smaller ones portray the spirits of the individual characters. I love all the little faces in this image, from Chapter 1: 

As a child, I would have pored over this picture, wanting to assign each character his or her correct name and imagining conversations between and among them. I was equally charmed by this depiction of the characters' coats and wooden shoes, carefully arranged inside their classroom: 

The level of detail in these pictures shows how well van Stockum knows her characters, and they add a dimension of personality to the story that is not quite captured by the text. 

A Day on Skates is out of copyright and can be read free online. It's a quick story that can easily be finished in an hour, and it's perfect for those days when it's too cold to do anything but cuddle up in bed in your pajamas. The Dutch names make it  a little tricky to read aloud on the fly, but the hardcover edition does have a pronunciation to help readers practice before sharing the story with a group. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to the day my girls are old enough to enjoy it with me. 

Fumbling Through Fantasy: Savvy by Ingrid Law (2008)

Mississippi "Mibs" Beaumont and her siblings are different from other kids. In their family, when a child becomes a teenager, he or she develops a savvy, a supernatural power that enables them to do things like control the weather, capture radiowaves, or move mountains. When their father is seriously hurt in an accident on the day before Mibs's thirteenth birthday, her savvy is all but forgotten by the rest of her family. When she wakes up on her birthday, she is convinced that her savvy will be something that can save her dad from his coma. It is only after she runs away, taking along two of her siblings and the local preacher's kids, and hitching a ride in a Bible salesman's bus, that she realizes perhaps she has misunderstood what her new power actually is.

This is one of the books I most wanted to read when I started this project, but I'm sorry to have wasted my time. Despite being over 300 pages long, this book has absolutely nothing to say. The characters and their savvies are not particularly interesting, and though the father is obviously in serious condition, I felt none of the kids' urgency for saving him. The writing is almost completely devoid of real emotion; rather, everything feels manufactured and forced. It is appalling to me that this was a Newbery Honor book (in 2009, the year that The Graveyard Book received the Medal.) I just can't imagine a room full of people loving such a bland and disappointing story. I can usually recognize the merit in a Newbery book, even if I don't like it. I see absolutely nothing in this book, and it truly puzzles me to see so many positive reviews of it on other sites.

A Tangle of Knots and the Quirks series both have very similar premises to Savvy, and both are infinitely better written and more satisfying. Kids who are interested in reading about everyday kids with extraordinary powers would do better to look for these alternate titles and avoid Savvy altogether. Ingrid Law may have introduced the subject matter first, but these other authors do it better, and more memorably.

Reading Through History: Winterbound by Margery Williams Bianco (1936)

In this 1937 Newbery Honor novel by Velveteen Rabbit author Margery Williams, teen sisters Kay and Garry have moved from the city into a farmhouse in Connecticut with their mother and younger siblings, while their father goes on an archaeological expedition. When their mother is called away to nurse a sick relative, the two girls are left to care for the household through the brutal New England winter.

This novel of the Great Depression is a wonderful family story populated by memorable characters. The artistic Kay and science-minded Garry take turns as the focal point of the book, and their concerns about their personal interests are as compelling as the difficulties they face in keeping warm and surviving the difficult winter conditions. Their personalities are strong and compelling, and especially enjoyable to read are their encounters with "The Cummings," an older woman who is sent to babysit them, and who does not last long in her post, and with a writer to whom they rent a room when they find themselves in need of extra money.

Despite its age, this book has a very contemporary flair to it. It is similar in tone to family stories like those in the Bluebell Gadsby and Casson Family series, especially in terms of the very familiar and affectionate way the children relate to their mother. It also has much in common with other stories of teens taking over their households and working to survive on their own, namely Hattie Big Sky and Strong Wings.  The writing is excellent, with believable dialogue, several interesting subplots, and prose that is beautiful without being overly purple. Though the intended audience is probably teen girls, the content is appropriate for younger readers as well, as long as they have some context for understanding life during the Depression.

(Note: Missing from the edition of this book that I read are Kate Seredy's illustrations. As I have become quite a fan of her work lately, this is something I must soon remedy! I found the endpapers on the late Peter Sieruta's website, but I want more!)

Reading Through History: Downright Dencey by Caroline Dale Snedeker (1927)

One day, while walking home from school, young Quaker girl Dionis "Dencey" Coffyn joins in with some of her schoolmates in throwing stones at a boy named Sam Jetsam, who is universally disliked by all the children on Nantucket because his mother, Injun Jill, is frequently drunk and might be a witch. When her stone hits Jetsam and draws blood, Dencey becomes immediately contrite, and begs the boy to forgive her. At first, he resists, even when Dencey visits him at his home and offers him gifts, but then he decides she can have his forgiveness if she will give him her copy of Pilgrim's Progress and teach him how to read it. Though Dencey will be in serious trouble with her own family if she is caught, she can't bear the thought of not being forgiven, so she agrees to this plan. Thus begins the friendship that will serve to convert Jetsam and rescue him from his squalid and abusive living arrangements.

Though I was skeptical at first when my husband recommended this book, it ended up being quite manageable and enjoyable. Though the friendship between Dencey and Jetsam is at the center of the story, there are many other intriguing plot points that kept me reading: the history behind Dencey's parents' marriage, the differences between Dencey's Quaker beliefs and those of her Congregationalist grandfather, the abuse of Jetsam by Injun Jill and the community's willingness to look the other way, the influence of the War of 1812 on children whose fathers were sailors, and the day-to-day routines of a Quaker household. Each of these threads provides valuable insight into a slice of history which most kids today probably will not encounter in their regular social studies lessons. The story also celebrates the good of religion, showing the ways in which patience and love toward a non-believer, or toward someone whose life has involved great pain, can slowly bring about conversion.

The language in this book is a bit rough in some places, especially by contemporary standards. There are racial epithets and other strong language, and Injun Jill's drunken tirades are not easy to swallow, especially knowing how badly she treats Jetsam. These are not flaws in the book, just illustrative details that help the reader understand the characters' motivations and actions, but it does make me think a reader ought to be over the age of 10 or so before attempting to tackle this book. The second part of the book regarding Dencey's parents' marriage, and Jetsam's and Dencey's own thoughts about possible marriage as they mature, also may not appeal to a younger child.  I would probably not choose to read this book aloud, either. There is so much dialect that I could hear well enough in my head but would have no idea how to speak out loud and have it sound the way it is intended.

Downright Dencey reminds me a lot of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and I think reading the two books together and comparing them would make a great middle school language arts assignment. This book will also be of interest to anyone who has read Honey Bear by Dixie Willson, as the illustrations in both books are by Maginel Wright Barney. The pictures in Downright Dencey are limited to small black and white drawings at the start of each chapter and one full-color cover image, which is not necessarily what I expected when the cover said, "Illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney," but it was still worthwhile to check out this different style from Barney.

Book Review: 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola (1999)

26 Fairmount Avenue was published in 1999, and it was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2000. Written by beloved children’s illustrator Tomie DePaola, this is a memoir about the year his family built and moved into their new house on Fairmount Avenue. In child-like voice, dePaola tells of his experiences surviving the 1938 hurricane and seeing Disney’s Snow White in the movie theater. He tells of his favorite actresses, Mae West and Shirley Temple, and his rejection of kindergarten after discovering he won’t learn to read until first grade. Most of all, he conveys his love for his extended family.

There are a few biographies at this reading level, but no other memoirs that I can think of, so this book is already a rare gem in that sense, and the writing makes it even more so. DePaola clearly remembers his childhood very well, and he is very good at reflecting upon it with an eye and an ear for what would appeal to today’s child reader. Though much of the information is filtered through an adult sensibility that knows how to organize and explain it, the entire book reads as though the reader is trading stories with another kid. The narrative voice is really perfect for the beginning chapter audience, but it is also written in an artistic style that is suitable for reading aloud.

On a personal note, I enjoyed this book’s authentic representation of growing up in a Catholic family. As with all other details about young Tomie and his family, their religious faith is simply presented as another fact of their lives. Though it does not seem that the religious content would turn off a non-religious reader, it is nice for young Catholic readers to see their beliefs represented in positive ways, and especially by an author they probably already know and love.

This book is a perfectly gentle introduction to 20th century history for the newest readers. The follow-up titles, of which there are seven, are also worthwhile reads.

Reading Through History: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (2011)

After the fall of Saigon, Ha, her mother, and older brothers flee their home in Vietnam and travel to the United States, where they do their best to settle into their new lives in Alabama. Ha not only struggles with the tricky rules of the English language, but also with the cruelty of her classmates and a strong sense of longing for her missing father.

This novel in verse is based on the author's own experiences following the Vietnam War. The story begins with the celebration of Tet at home in Vietnam, and concludes with the same celebration one year later in the US, showing along the way the many struggles - including a long voyage by ship with very little food or drink - that the family must endure. Though I sometimes question whether kids really read many novels in verse, I think this was the best way to tell this particular story, as the poetry makes the hardship, turmoil and emotional heaviness of the story easier to digest and understand. Lai's more recent novel, Listen, Slowly, is beautifully written, but also very dense and descriptive, and had this book been written in that same style it would have felt burdensome to slog through.

When I was in high school, we never made it past World War II in any history class, so I have always been partial to historical fiction set in the second half of the 20th Century, as it teaches me all the things I never studied. The 1970s are especially interesting to me, as this is when my mom was a teenager, and I grew up surrounded by a lot of 70s pop culture. Though this was not the typical kids' novel set in the 70s, it broadened my horizons significantly and I imagine it would do much the same for any reader, child or adult, who is unfamiliar with the Vietnam war and its aftermath.

Reading Through History: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (1995)

Kenny Watson is the middle child of the "Weird Watson" family, between sweet younger sister Joetta and delinquent older brother Byron. As Byron's out-of-control behavior escalates, his parents decide the family will make a trip south to Birmingham where Byron will spend the summer - and perhaps longer - with his grandmother, learning how to behave properly and to better appreciate the problems he will face as a young black man. The plans for the trip and the trip itself are fun for Kenny, leaving him completely unprepared for the terrible thing he witnesses while in Alabama, and how deeply it affects him.

Christopher Paul Curtis is one of those authors who can be trusted to tell any story. If his name is on the cover of a book, I always know it is going to be a bittersweet story, filled with great humor, wonderful descriptions, important historical facts, and lots and lots of heart. This book is no exception. As in his other novels, specifically Elijah of Buxton and The Madman of Piney Woods, Curtis brings to life all the minor details of the characters' lives and the time period in which they live. Details of the kids' lives at school, their favorite records to listen to, their mother's obsession with making sure they are warm enough in the cold of winter - all of these build up a full picture in the reader's mind, not just of the historical event that provides the story's climax, but of what their own lives might have been like if they had been raised in Flint in the 1960s.

On its own, this book does not provide a complete study of the civil rights movement. Rather, because of its strong characters, many funny moments, and kid-friendly tone, it is a great jumping off point for beginning to understand the significance of the civil rights movement and of many of the great leaders whose names are so commonly mentioned in elementary school classrooms during this unit of study. The tragedy portrayed near the end of the story is upsetting, and many readers will react just as Kenny does, with great shock and sadness, but it is also an event on a small enough scale that readers can internalize the turbulence of this time period on an emotional level first, and then begin to work out the greater implications of the movement as a whole. And even without a specific lesson to back it up, this is just a great book that deserves to be read and enjoyed by as many kids as possible. (I really wish Christopher Paul Curtis would write some contemporary realistic fiction. I would eagerly read it all!)

Reading Through History: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (2010)

Times are hard in 1935, and Turtle's mother, a housekeeper, finds herself working for a woman who despises children. Unable to afford to leave the job, she sends Turtle to stay with relatives in Key West, Florida. Here Turtle meets the Diaper Gang, a group of boys, including her own cousins, who are known around the neighborhood for their seemingly magical cure for diaper rash. Though the boys initially don't want Turtle to be a part of their club, she soon finds herself caught up in all of their adventures, from working for a rumrunner and taking lunch to the cantankerous Nana Philly to accidentally getting stranded on an island during a hurricane and finding a buried treasure.

My first comment about this book is that the cover is really poor. It is attractive enough, aesthetically, but it does absolutely nothing to sell this story, whose main character is a street-wise, smart-mouthed, and sassy eleven-year-old. The cover suggests an emotional and contemplative story akin to Kevin Henkes's Junonia, or Karen Day's A Million Miles From Boston, and this is anything but that. Turtle in Paradise is funny, entertaining, and a little bit irreverent (with all its references to baby bottoms) and the writing is mostly spirited and joyful, without a lot of tedious self-reflection on the part of Turtle. Sure, there are serious moments, but none deserving of such a bland adult-looking cover. (Had this book been given a more colorful cover, I'd probably have read it when it came out.)

Complaints about the cover aside, though, this book is a quick and enjoyable read that will appeal to both boys and girls in the upper elementary grades. It shares the same memorable writing style as Holms's other Newbery Honor winning historical fiction novels, Our Only May Amelia and Penny from Heaven. Holm has a real talent for bringing history to life through interesting main characters, and Turtle might just be the most memorable of them all.

Though it seemed to me, as I was reading, that there wasn't much history in this book, aside from occasional references to the Depression, Little Orphan Annie and Shirley Temple, the author's note after the story made me realize how reading this book can help young readers imagine what their lives would have been like during the 1930s. It's also interesting to me that this is yet another book on my reading list (along with Hattie Big Sky, Caddie Woodlawn and The Cabin Faced West) that was directly inspired by the life of the author's grandmother. I think kids are always fascinated by fiction based on real life, so this is a definite selling point for this book as well.

Turtle in Paradise is a great first introduction to the difficulties of the Great Depression, and to pop culture from the time period as well. It is also the perfect choice for kids who live in Florida and want to study the history of their state. (Also fun - this comic booktalk of the story from Unshelved.)

Reading Through History: The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh (1952)

"There are no bears on Hemlock Mountain." This is the mantra Jonathan uses to comfort himself on the long and lonely journey over the mountain to borrow his aunt's large iron pot. When he stays too long at his aunt's house and ventures home in the dark, however, it becomes clear that there are bears on Hemlock Mountain - and Jonathan must outsmart them if he's to make it home safe and sound!

It is surprising to me how many reviewers on Goodreads are critical of the Newbery committee which awarded this book an Honor in 1953. Perhaps it is the simplicity of the story - which is most appropriate for beginning readers - that turns them off, but as I write this review weeks after finishing the book, I am struck by how many details and images have stuck with me. The writing may be spare and straightforward, but the author has a real talent for bringing scenes to life using very few words.

When I worked in the library, kids would often ask for easy-to-read adventure books and there were really very few that suited their interests. This story, with its strong sense of suspense and surprising climax is exactly the kind of book that would have satisfied those readers. Not only would they relate to Jonathan, who is very much an ordinary kid, they would also enjoy imagining how they would act in his place, and how it might feel to be on an independent journey so late at night.

This book is every bit as wonderful as The Courage of Sarah Noble and it covers the same concept - of bravery - from the male point of view. Both books are great for beginning readers to tackle on their own or for families to read aloud together. Highly recommended.

Reading Through History: Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (2006)

Sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has always thought of herself as Hattie-Here-and-There. Orphaned at a young age, she has been bounced from relative to relative, never feeling like she has a place to belong. When she learns that she has inherited a claim to a Montana homestead from a recently deceased uncle, she doesn't think twice before leaving her current home in Iowa and setting out to "prove up" the claim  - and prove to herself that she can make it on her own. 

Hattie Big Sky (recipient of a 2007 Newbery Honor) is set in 1918, so in addition to information about homesteading, and the difficulty of raising a successful crop on the Montana prairie, it also focuses quite a bit on the impact of World War I, especially on those of German descent. Though the details of life on the homestead are wonderful - and at times, because of Hattie's inexperience, very funny - it is Hattie's firsthand experiences with prejudice against those who are seen as disloyal to the United States that make this book such a wonderful read. Hattie herself is a wonderful character, but she is also surrounded by a strong supporting cast. Friends - such as Perilee Mueller, her German husband, Karl and their sweet children; Leafie, the local nurse; and Charlie, a soldier to whom Hattie writes frequent letters - and enemies, like the judgmental and opportunistic Traft Martin - all come vividly to life thanks to the author's carefully selected and well-placed details. Hattie's hopes easily become the reader's hopes and her tragedies and losses hit the reader extra hard because of how easy it is  to love and root for Hattie. 

This book is educational not just because of its treatment of historical material, but because of its messages about hard work, friendship, faith, bravery and self-worth. Hattie is a worthy role model, and her experience is a great lesson in how to meet hardships head-on and to always remain hopeful and look toward the good.  This book is a wonderful read-alike for the last two titles of the Betsy-Tacy series - Betsy and the Great World, because of its portrayal of the start of World War I, and Betsy's Wedding, because of Betsy's own struggles learning to cook and keep house. Fortunately, the author has also written a sequel to Hattie Big Sky: 2013's Hattie Ever After. 

A final note: I would classify Hattie Big Sky as young adult, because it is about a teenage girl setting off on her own and experiencing life in the real world for the first time, but it is appropriate for a wide range of readers, including middle schoolers and adult readers. Women young and old will relate to Hattie and become completely engrossed in both the good and the bad of her homesteading experience.