Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham

I was at a bit of a loss to tag this book. It's a somewhat-fictionalized biography of Nathaniel Bowditch. Since all of the dialogue, however plausible, must have come from the author's imagination, I'm tagging it as nonfiction and based on a true story; take your pick!

The story starts with Nathaniel as a young boy, a few years after the start of the Revolutionary War. He lives with his parents, grandmother, and siblings in Salem, Massachusetts. His father was once a famous sea captain, but after losing his ship he lost his taste for sailing.  Now he works as a cooper, but struggles (and sometimes fails) to make ends meet. Nathaniel is a talented student and excellent at mathematics, and the community has high hopes for him to attend Harvard and be a credit to Salem.

However, fate has other plans for him. Unable to feed his family, twelve-year-old Nathaniel's father apprentices him to a Ship's Chandler as a bookkeeper for nine years. Nat is devastated, but he knows that he has a responsibility to take care of his sisters, and part of that responsibility is to never let them worry. During his time in the warehouse, he learns all about the various tools and parts that go into outfitting a ship. He also makes use of his apprenticeship to study navigation. But in order to learn thoroughly, he needs to study volumes that were written in other languages. And the only way to do that is to actually learn the languages (primarily Latin and French). Although he never makes it to Harvard, he is invited to be an honorary member of the Salem Philosophical Library (in other words, he is permitted to make use of the library without paying the subscription cost). Many of the quality volumes were taken as a prize by a privateer during the war.

After completing his apprenticeship, Nathaniel is offered a position as a clerk on a ship captained by an old friend. Having no other obligations or options, he decides to go, as well as invest his savings in freight that he can hopefully sell at a profit. During his time on the Henry, Nathaniel is able to put his theoretical knowledge of navigation to practical practice. And thus begins the fascinating story of the man who wrote one of the most foundational books in ocean navigation, hand-checked many of the numerical tables used at the time, and created new methods for more easily calculating longitude. He did an amazing job of using every talent he was given to create a fascinating career, and to help others benefit from his knowledge through his publications and in-person instruction.

The Golden Name Day, by Jennie D Lindquist

I have to start by saying that the copy of this book that I read was a red-orange Permabound library edition, so I didn't realize until starting this blog that the picture chosen for the cover is, unfortunately, the least attractive one from the entire book and actually makes it seem less appealing to read (and it's especially unfortunate because it's meant to depict one of the most beautiful scenes in the book, and is a letdown compared to my own imagination). My first impressions were quite different. Because of the blank cover I had no expectations until opening the book, and then I immediately felt comfortable within it because it looks *so much* like a Little House book- the typeface and layout are exactly the same, the illustrations are by Garth Williams, and it takes place in an indistinct time before technology, when trains and horses were the most common means of transportation. So it made me feel like this family could have been teenage Laura's neighbors.

See? Just like Little House!

I also felt like this book was a great counterbalance to some of Ma's impressions. Like the author, the majority of the people in this book are of Swedish descent and truly relish their traditions. Far from being bizarre and foreign, as they seemed to be portrayed in Little House, they are beloved and anticipated joyfully, and explained well. If Laura could have read this book, I bet she would have envied them a little.

On to the summary! Nine-year-old Nancy's mother has fallen seriously ill, so she needs to be sent away for a few months while her mother receives treatment. She is staying with "Grandma" and "Grandpa," who aren't her biological grandparents, but are the parents of her mother's childhood best friends. These old best friends also have children around Nancy's age (Helga, Sigrid, and Elsa) who are looking forward to having another friend to enjoy the Spring and Summer seasons with.

When Nancy arrives, Grandma is baking and preparing for her name day. Nancy is unfamiliar with the idea, and Grandma explains that every Swedish name has its own day in an Almanac, and on that day the honoree makes a cake and invites her friends to celebrate, and decorates with flowers and gets to wear a flowered garland on her head. Nancy looks through the almanac and is devastated to learn that, because her name isn't Swedish, she doesn't have a name day at all, although the other girls all do.

"Aunt" Anna and "Aunt" Martha and the three "cousins" determine that they will somehow find a name day for Nancy. This thread is carried through all of the events in the book as they consider different ideas. But Nancy will accept no compromises; she doesn't want a fake name day.

The seasons pass with flowers and picnics and traditional events, and homesickness for Nancy as well. But at the end of the book, she does get her name day- two, actually! But I'm not going to spoil here. So go read it!

The Secret River, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Has it really been nearly a year since I reviewed a book for this blog? I've been such a slacker.  I swear I've been reading.

This book had an interesting format.  It seems long enough to make your beginning reader feel like she is reading a real book, but it's still illustrated, without chapters, and has a surprisingly large font.  It's a very simple story about a little girl named Calpurnia, who lives with her parents and dog (Buggy Horse) in the forest of Florida.  Everyone is suffering hard times, and her father has had no fish to sell at the market to support his family.  An elderly neighbor tells Calpurnia of a secret river jumping with fish, so she sets off to find it to help the hard times in the forest become "soft times."  Short and sweet, it was a pleasant read.

I didn't think I'd have too much to say about this one until I went online looking for a cover image and found much more information about this book.  This was apparently the only book that Rawlings wrote specifically for children, and its manuscript was found among her papers and published posthumously.  But, despite the fact that no indication was given in the text, there are other clues from the author's life that she had actually intended this story to be about a black child (despite the illustrations in the first edition).  It was reissued in 2011, decades after its initial publication, in a beautiful illustrated volume with images much more true to the author's vision.  The story has a timeless quality that will make it enjoyable even to a modern reader, and the illustrations should definitely draw an audience.

Given the choice, I'd rather borrow this one, wouldn't you?