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.

Americans before Columbus, by Elizabeth Chesley Baity

I tried.  I tried.  I've had this book for weeks, but every time I pick it up, I can't find the motivation to read it for long.

The book starts with a wide, over-arching summary of the various forms of art and architecture of the native peoples of North, Central, and South America.  Because none of these things are presented in any sort of useful context, only in comparison with each other, this portion of the book is really a mile wide and an inch deep.

Next, the author discusses the migration across the Bering Strait, and then gives several specific people groups a more in-depth treatment, discussing their lifestyles as they were understood at the time.

I don't really think this book would be useful today as a children's reference volume; I would honestly point a child toward something published more recently with more targeted information on a specific topic or people group.

Amos Fortune, Free Man, by Elizabeth Yates

This is a short biography encompassing the entire life of Amos Fortune.  Captured as a slave from Africa in the early 1700's, he lived a fascinating life and was fortunately purchased by kind and generous men who did not abuse him, but made his freedom attainable and taught him the trades by which he would support himself in his independence.

It's a great book for kids because it makes the injustice of slavery and racism abundantly clear, as well as the tragedies in Amos's life, without being heavy-handed.  The language is clear and things are well explained.

The only thing I would change about this book is how it more or less ignored the Revolutionary War.  I'm sure it must have impacted Amos's life directly, but it's only mentioned in passing.

Abraham Lincoln: Friend of the People, by Clara Ingram Judson

I really don't know where all of these great juvenile biographies were hiding when I was a kid.  This is one of the best I've read in ages.  It did a fabulous job of making Abraham Lincoln come alive as a complete, well-rounded person.  It begins in his early days as a four-year-old child in Kentucky, and follows his growth, development, and education straight through.  It helps you understand the man and his context in his community and in history without brain-dumping dry facts, so I know so much more about Lincoln now than I did (which, to be fair, wasn't much beyond the kid who studied by candlelight in a log cabin and abolished slavery in his presidency, which ended in his assassination).  The author has a gift for narrative, and the book has aged wonderfully well so I'd still recommend it for readers today.

Gandhi: Fighter Without a Sword, by Jeanette Eaton

OK, it's time for a bit of a confession.  My understanding of world history, and particularly that of Asia, is severely lacking.  It wasn't part of the school curriculum and, lacking exposure, it wasn't something that I explored myself, either.  So if you'd asked me a week ago who Gandhi was, I couldn't have told you much beyond the fact that he was some Indian guy who was really peaceful.  I couldn't have even told you roughly when he lived, beyond the general sense that he's not alive now.  Pretty embarrassing, I know.

Just the same, I wasn't sure whether I'd find this book interesting when I picked it up.  Jeannette Eaton and I have had our difficulties in the past.  The cover is not remotely exciting, although completely accurate.  So it was such a pleasant surprise to thoroughly enjoy this book from start to finish.  I know it sounds kind of hyperbolic to use a phrase like "a masterpiece of juvenile biography" but it's really the best one that comes to mind, having completed it.

The book is the perfect introduction to the life of a man who accomplished so much.  It touches on all aspects of his life- culture, family, religion, education, employment, social relationships, daily habits. . . all without overwhelming the reader or brain-dumping facts.  It's all handled very methodically at a reasonable pace.  At the same time, the book engages the reader and helps him develop a genuine interest in the things that concerned Gandhi himself.

The entire volume has just over 250 pages, but covers Gandhi's life beginning as a teenager, all the way through his eventual assassination.  It's a book that I'd sincerely recommend for young readers today, although it wants a newer edition to update some obsolete language.

George Washington, by Genevieve Foster

It seems that Ms. Foster has attempted to abridge her prior Newbery-Honor-winning book for younger readers.  Although the reading level is simple, the book as a whole came across as a series of very disjointed vignettes that touched on the major points of Washington's life, but left the reader with very little sense of who he was.  I realize that for young readers you can hardly overwhelm with information, but so many of the significant events left me wondering why they even mattered when presented in such a stark way.  I've got no idea why this one made the honor list.  At 96 pages with occasional two-color illustrations, this should have been a quick read.  But I found it torture to finish and I'm glad I can finally drop it back into my library bag.

New Found World, by Katherine Shippen

I tried, I truly did, but I couldn't engage myself enough in the subject matter of each chapter to finish this one.  But I'll summarize what I've got!

The book as a whole is concerned with the entire history of the Americas (quite ambitious for a children's book of around 250 pages).  It begins by discussing some of the earliest cultures of Latin America in particular.  From there it describes the impact that the region's "discovery" by European traders and settlers had on the cultures, and how the lives of the native people were changed.

Beyond this point the chapters become much more specific in content, although continuing to proceed generally chronologically.  Chapters include such diverse topics as the missionary work of Father Kino, attempts at revolt against European-based governments, and the eventually liberation and development of a number of different nations.  Since this seemed like more of a useful reference work to me, rather than a narrative to be followed from beginning to end, I simply didn't have to motivation to finish.  Some of the subject matter has no doubt been disproven in the intervening decades, and some of the topics are handled much more lightly than we would today (for example, the "import" of African slaves, but you can only ask so much of a book published before the Civil Rights era).  But the book is thoroughly researched and has both a comprehensive bibliography and an index at the end, which still makes it reasonably adequate to keep around for school projects.

Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams, by Jeanette Eaton

Ah, Jeanette Eaton, you writer of juvenile biographies, you.  We meet again!  This time her subject is one of great interest to me, Roger Williams.  Since I moved to Rhode Island for graduate school, I missed out on the local history lessons that the long-time residents received in public school.  But *everything* down here is all about Roger Williams (there's a university, I'm just a quick drive from the park and the zoo it contains). . . you can't visit Rhode Island without tripping over the man.

Lone Journey does an excellent job of describing pertinent events in the childhood and youth of Roger Williams that led him to his eventual place of influence in the colonies.  As a young child, he was raised Anglican, as was proper.  It was believed at the time that it was absolutely necessary that religious and state authority be unified, and one used to enforce the other, to maintain power and influence.  But Roger soon saw how the civil government and the church corrupted each other, and waged war against decent people (often other Christians, especially Puritans) for their refusal to conform.  Despite the disapproval of his parents, Roger also became a member of the Puritan faith and went to study under a prominent lawyer.  Here, also, he discovered firsthand how the King and other politicians used his influence to force the church to sanction their own immoral acts.  Eventually becoming outspoken in his own right, Roger fled to the colonies to avoid prosecution in England for his beliefs.

He had hoped to find new freedoms in a new land, but found to his disappointment the powers that be (in this case, the heads of the Massachusetts Bay Company) were recreating exactly the same power structure that existed at home.  Men were imprisoned for refusing to attend church services, and those of minority Christian faiths were being persecuted and exiled (and, in later years, executed).  Roger Williams was of the firm conviction that civil law should only address civil matters, and that matters of religious faith and belief should be left to the individual to freely express.  He founded his own colony in Providence, as well as the islands in Narragansett Bay, and welcomed people of all faiths, including Quakers, which were being exiled from Massachusetts, and Jews, which were being cast out of Europe.

Part of the reason for his success in his colony is that he was a genuine and honest man, who dealt honestly with his peers, and with the native tribes that surrounded him.  He always brokered fair trades, paid for land with fair currency, and was often relied on to mediate disputes amongst tribes, or between tribes and other white men.

It is interesting to note that Roger Williams seemed to have a great fondness for Native American tribes (going so far as to publish a language reference which is still available today), but did not see it as his mission field to try to convert them to Christianity.  He felt that it would be hypocritical to encourage him to join the white man's faith, when the white men were behaving so abominably and in direct opposition to what they claimed to believe.  Instead, he lived his own faith through his actions.

Finally, the last tidbit that made this book especially fun for me was getting to meet the people who various places in Rhode Island are named for.  Makes me feel like I kind of know where I am!

Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era, by Sterling North

In Rascal, Sterling North tells the story of one year in his childhood.  In 1918, Sterling lives alone with his father, a widower.  His two older sisters are living their own lives elsewhere, and his older brother is overseas fighting in the war.  But apart from this, the war seems to have very little impact on his childhood.

Sterling and his father, both avid outdoorsmen, live an ideal bachelor's life.  Sterling is in the process of assembling a canoe their home's living room.  The two men cook to suit themselves.  And when his father, an attorney, is not working, the two often take extended wilderness trips.  Sterling also has a number of animals as pets, including a Saint Bernard and a tamed crow.  But what makes this year special is the addition of a raccoon kitten, named Rascal, to his herd.

Captured as a very young kit, Rascal relies on Sterling for his care in every regard.  And in return, Sterling is rewarded by seeing how Rascal develops and learns. The two are inseparable, and Rascal even shares Sterling's bed and food.  But over the course of the Summer, Rascal develops into more and more of a raccoon as well, stealing shiny objects (sometimes valuable ones) and raiding corn from the gardens of irate neighbors.  Eventually, in order to keep Rascal, Sterling is required to leash him when out, and cage him the rest of the time.

Rascal isn't the only one who is developing.  Sterling is becoming more a part of his community, learning, and growing himself.  An avid reader, he also has a talent for writing.  In the Spring, about a year after Rascal became his companion, Sterling has grown enough to understand that Rascal needs to live his own life as an independent creature, and returns him to the wild to seek his own fortune.  And encouraged by dear family, he knows that one day he'll record all of his memories of that year so others will experience them, too.

Great coming-of-age book.  Growing up "in the woods" myself, I'm surprised that his book wasn't in the curriculum.

"Have You Seen Tom Thumb?", by Mabel Leigh Hunt

This was another book that I'd prejudged by its title, assuming it to be a fairy tale.  I was actually really glad to see that it's a biography (although the Newbery biographies have been a mixed bag). 

Tom Thumb is about the life of Charles Sherwood Stratton of Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Astoundingly short, he is engaged as a performer by P.T. Barnum at the young age of just five years.  Because of the success of his performances, "Tom" continues to work for Barnum into early adulthood, and again when his beloved patron falls on hard times.  We also read of his brief courtship and marriage before his early death from a stroke.

This is exactly the sort of book I would have loved when I was younger.  It tells the tale of an unusual and fascinating person that most people have never even heard of.  As a children's biography, it's just right.  However, as an adult, I found that the book was written with a great deal of showmanship, with so much description of costumes and venues and accessories that one gains very little sense of what our title character is actually like.  This is probably somewhat from necessity, though- because his every public venture was surrounded by PR, it is doubtful that many primary sources exist that could tell us.

With all of the recent outcry against the word "midget" (and especially here in Rhode Island) it's worth mentioning that this is the label ascribed to General Tom Thumb in this book.  At the time, it was the correct term for a person with his particular variety of dwarfism.

George Washington's World, by Genevieve Foster

The copy of this book that I borrowed was without its jacket, so it looked a little less pretty.  This book is a pretty large one, with pages being about 8.5x11, and 344 pages before the index.  I'll come clean and admit what you've all suspected- I'm generally not fond of historical biography and expected to be bored with this one (and doubly bored since this author has another Washington biography on the Newbery list a few years down the road).  But this book isn't strictly a biography, which makes it a lot more fun than I'd expected.

George Washington's World is divided into six parts: When George Washington Was a Boy, When George Washington Was a Soldier, When George Washington Was a Farmer, When George Washington Was the Commander, When George Washington Was Just a Citizen, and When George Washington was President.  Each section begins with a two-page illustrated spread which shows various historical figures and a brief description of what they were doing during the period described.  Then within each section are chapters discussing each of these figures in a broader context.  It was a lot of fun!  Of course, George Washington is given at least one chapter in each section, but this isn't a giant book of JUST Washington.

The book is definitely Eurocentric- it focuses on the United States and France especially (although the author herself doesn't appear to have any French ties).  But it does, in some instances, bring us into other countries (India and China in particular), and discuss other internationally significant events, such as the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the discovery of the Bering Strait, or man's first hot air balloon voyage.  So anyone could easily enjoy this book, skipping the chapters that aren't of interest with no tremendous loss.

Nansen, by Anna Gertrude Hall

It's kind of funny choosing these books from a list of titles not knowing anything about them.  A book with this title could easily have been some historical coming-of-age romance, named for its protagonist.  But no, it's a biography, of some one I'd never heard of, and I'll tell you a secret- I REALLY liked it.  That says a lot; I've been disappointed by many of the juvenile biographies that the Newberys have led me to.

This biography is named for its title character, Fridtjof Nansen, who passed away just 10 years before it was written.  Fridtjof grew up in rural Norway, and from his youngest years showed an incredible inclination for anything outdoors.  He loved to hike and swim and ski, and had incredible endurance.  But he also developed early engineering skills as well, spending his fair money on tools and disassembling (and then reassembling) the household appliances.

Nansen had a wide range of academic gifts, and chose to study zoology (despite having a preference for other fields) because he thought it had more potential for allowing him to work outdoors in nature.  During his time at the university, it was suggested he join an expedition to the Arctic Ocean, and this was the start of his great love for Arctic exploration.  He noticed that in Greenland, driftwood washed up on the shore.  However, the country was devoid of trees, and the varieties of wood found must have traveled from Siberia.  Since the Gulf Stream was the only local current known at the time, Nansen decided that he needed to discover the course of travel for himself and head to the Arctic.

He is able to secure private funding for a fantastically-designed ship, which would rise above, rather than be crushed by, Arctic ice floes.  Because the expedition could last a minimum of three years, it was outfitted with a machine shop, a library of over 1,000 volumes, games, tools, musical instruments, food sufficient for three well-balanced meals daily, and kayaks, skis, sleds, and dozens of sled dogs to pull them on the ice for further exploration.  Partway into the journey, Nansen and one of his many companions decide to set off on foot because of their proximity to the North Pole, and attempt to reach it.  However, they can only travel so fast, and in September they had to dig themselves a small room in the snow and ice and hole up alone for months on end until they could safely travel again.  The adventures and accomplishments of this expedition (not even counting the ship) are almost beyond belief.  You should look them up because they're mind-boggling.  Also, the extreme conditions and suffering he endured in pursuit of knowledge are no laughing matter, either.

Later in his life, although he had no interest in politics, he found himself continually drawn into leadership roles.  He was pivotal in negotiations and the political maneuverings that allowed Norway to separate from Sweden into an autonomous nation.  And moved by the suffering in the First World War (the only World War ad the time of the book's publication) he took a personal interest in seeing the League of Nations established, persuading many of the smaller countries to ally themselves, and soliciting funding on behalf of prisoners of war that had been stranded inside Russia with no help of getting home.  And afterward, when the collapse of Russian government sent a new flood of refugees outward, he argued passionately for funding to help that country's starving peasants (although, he was dismayed to learn, his colleagues still held a grudge against Russia and denied the funding, arguing that it should instead come from private sources).

Fridtjof Nansen was quite an incredible individual, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to learn about him!  And Sue, this is totally a you book.

Also, our illustrator, Boris Artzybasheff, illustrated several other Newbery Honor books (Gay Neck and The Wonder Smith and His Son).

Daniel Boone, by James Daugherty

I've never known anything about Daniel Boone.  Honestly, I didn't know if he was a real historical figure, like Davey Crockett, or if he was folklore, like Paul Bunyan.  The old-timey legends part of my brain kept it pretty ambiguous.  So it turns out, he was real!  But I had a hard time staying with this book.  The illustrations were great, but the text varied between folksy storytelling dialect and historical narration, so I never quite knew how to feel while reading it.  Also, the book failed to drive home for me what made this fellow so special compared to all the other men of the period who must have been doing similar things as he was described as doing.  So I didn't really enjoy this one, but multiple some ones on the Newbery committee must have, seeing as it won the medal for that year.

Runner of the Mountain Tops, by Mabel Robinson

The best image I could find of the cover comes courtesy of Lowry James's website.  The copy I borrowed has no jacket and therefore is much less interesting to look at.

A biography of some one I didn't know!  It was certainly interesting.  Louis Agassiz was raised in Switzerland, and from an early age he showed a great talent for learning about all kinds of wildlife.  Although his reasonably poor parents (a pastor and his wife) had wanted him to learn a business trade so he could work with his uncle, it was obvious that Louis's inclinations were elsewhere.  He instead went to college to seek a medical degree.  Over time it was clear that his recreation was more geared toward zoology (he even published a detailed, illustrated book on Brazilian freshwater fish), but his parents still demanded that he not return home until he had the coveted MD!

Agassiz attacked all of his work with amazing intensity and enthusiasm, but this did take his attention away from his financial obligations.  Money and opportunity seemed to come to him at just the right time, though, so he'd vacillate between periods of want and periods of comfort.  But over time, as his reputation became known, he was offered more steady work (such as professorships) that allowed him the flexibility to develop his collections of various species, as well as the means to marry and maintain a family (although his first family was unfortunately sadly neglected).

Because he found the two so very interrelated, Agassiz also developed an intense love of geology in addition to zoology.  This is where the title of the book comes from - he spent months on expeditions in the Alps and elsewhere developing theories of how the earth had formed.  Although he lived at more or less the same time as Darwin, he could not, however, espouse the man's theories of evolution because he felt it was in conflict with his religion.  Eventually Agassiz was called to chair both departments (geology and zoology) at Harvard, in Cambridge.  That remained his "home base" through the rest of his life, and he was buried there.

Louis Agassiz was fascinating to learn about, but I think I'd prefer a more well-rounded biography as a modern reader.  I'm finding that many of these older biographies are written in a somewhat indulgent tone that describes the subject's potential faults or failures in a way that makes them seem almost charming.  They also leave out the details I'd want to know (for example, Louis's first wife dies at home while he is away on one of his many long excursions, and the book doesn't bother letting us know the cause).   Wikipedia apparently didn't find the mother of his children interesting enough to mention, noting only the accomplishments of his second wife.   

Leader by Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot, by Jeanette Eaton

Jeanette Eaton, I knew that name seemed familiar.  I did find, however, that I had more affection for this book about George Washington than about her previous biography of Madame Roland.  I have to admit that I don't know very much about Washington.  I'm sure he was covered somewhere over the course of my public school education, but in my mind he is a sort of eternal adult who was just dropped, fully formed, where he was needed in the American Revolution.

Because this book, like Daughter of the Seine, is nonfiction somewhat novelized, much of the historical circumstance is explained in (fictionalized) dialogue.  This also serves the purpose of introducing notable figures of the day and making known their perspective on the situation at hand.

As a modern reader, I suppose I'm somewhat accustomed to sensational headlines and stories, because I wanted to know a bit more about what the Washingtons were experiencing on a personal level.  For example, when Martha's daughter dies, the book scarcely addresses it and then it's over.  I quote:

One June morning, the sweet air floating through the stately house was stabbed by a terrible cry from Martha.  Reaching her side in an instant, George lifted in his strong arms the limp body of Patty, which had fallen to the floor.  Her mother, trying to chafe the small, dangling, hand, was sobbing, 'She is dead!  My Patty is dead!  Oh, my sweet innocent!' The moment he laid his hand on the girl's heart, George knew the end had come.

The book had previously mentioned that Patty suffered from epileptic seizures, but I had to look this event up on Wikipedia to even realize that that was the case here.  I wanted to know more about who Patty was once the book had dispatched with her!

It must be difficult to fill in the blanks where no written records exist, I understand, but that didn't stop the author from imagining all sorts of interesting subtext in the relationship between George Washington and (Mrs.) Sally Fairfax.  Although some of his letters suggest that he was in love with her, this book is loaded with meaningful glances and romantic tension between the two of them.  After a while it made me a little uncomfortable.  As did the dialect used by the slaves in the rare instances that they had any dialogue.  I always feel a bit icky reading it- I never know whether it's simply stereotyped, or if they really spoke that way.  Anyone else wonder this?

In any case, I'm being really really picky about just a few things here, but on the whole this is a very, very thorough volume (at nearly 400 pages it should be!) that impressed me a lot.  And, as Peter Sieruta points out, it doesn't even mention the fabled cherry tree!

Penn, by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Yet another older book I wasn't quite looking forward to.  I was hoping that Sue, living in the land of Penn, would be able to find a copy of it locally, but alas, it fell to me!  And it completely surprised me.

I didn't know anything at all about William Penn but found myself caring for him quite a bit.  I appreciated how the author showed him to be a man trying his hardest to obey his conscience and live out his convictions, but never made him out to be a perfect man, or holier-than-thou.  It showed his transformation from a member of the Church of England to Quaker, and how he used his skills and advantages to protect the religious rights of his newfound compatriots.  I'll admit that many wouldn't care for the details of this, but it was of interest to me.

The book also covers Penn's tense relationship with his father, how he won his wife, and how he acquired the land of Pennsylvania and forged peaceful relationships with its inhabitants.  It additionally covers his time in prison and the books that he published.  I really learned a lot!

Audubon, by Constance Rourke

Dear Audubon,

I wanted to like you. I looked forward to reading you, and even called "dibs" on you as Melanie and I went over the list for 1937. You'll agree, then, that I turned to your pages with a willing, open mind.

And you led me on. You began with a mysterious and intriguing beginning that I had never suspected - I had no idea that the fate of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's young son Louis Charles was something of a mystery and that James Audubon was one of legend's top candidates, his age and hazy beginnings fascinatingly perfect for the lost Dauphin. I was a little disappointed to read that the heart rumored to be that of the Dauphin was tested for DNA and found to be a match for a close relative of Marie Antoinette. But there's no proof, and a good story is a good story, so I'll hang onto this one.

From the time James Audubon becomes obsessed with birds, though, I quite frankly had trouble staying awake. A picture is worth a thousand words, and James Audubon's career was all about pictures, and none of them were in this book. There were some line drawings, but they were largely forgettable and especially disappointing amid the descriptions of his fantastic colored works.

His adventures in the American frontier were fascinating, actually, but only when I thought about them after plodding through your matter-of-fact descriptions of his travel, who he met where, and what he found to paint. I was sorry to read about his financial woes, but never felt very invested in his character and thus didn't care nearly as much as I might have. I did like learning that he was a devout Quaker, and spoke Quaker English (complete with thees and thous) with a strong French accent throughout his life. I was unsurprised but still a little sorry to learn that he shot nearly all the birds he drew, and thus his gorgeous pictures are almost never from life. And in that context I am glad to know how hard he worked to get every detail exactly right, in contrast to some of his contemporaries.

So yes, you did teach me some things that I'm glad to know, and for that I thank you. I'll almost certainly do more reading about Audubon's life, but I'll take it elsewhere from now on. I'd say let's be friends, but really... you were on interlibrary loan, and I don't know that we'll meet up again.

Best,
Sue

Young Walter Scott, by Elizabeth Janet Gray

This is a children's biography of Walter Scott. It's written well enough to be understood by kids, despite the occasional Scottish dialect tossed in. But the question is, why? What kid, while browsing the biographies, will see this and think "Oh, Walter Scott! He rocks! I can't wait to read more about *him*!" I have no idea what child would ever want to read this, or care about the protagonist. Heck, I wasn't especially interested, either. The author certainly makes you sensitive to things that are happening to Walter, but meh. He's hard to relate to.

Kate Seredy did illustrate the cover and the end papers. We've seen quite a bit from her in the first few decades of the Newberries.

The Pageant of Chinese History, by Elizabeth Seeger

I'm going to come clean and admit that I didn't read this entire book- it's a monster volume at 407 pages (not including the index) and I frankly don't have the time. That said, what I skimmed, I liked! The author wrote this book as a result of being a teacher- she noticed while teaching world history that it was very Eurocentric (starting with Greece and Rome and heading westward). But she wanted to cover, at bare minimum, China, Japan, and India as well. So she wrote this volume, as well as The Pageant of Russian History and several other volumes.

This book begins with the earliest tales of how China was settled and governed, and then covers the major ruling dynasties. Throughout the chronological history, the book includes chapters on relevant arts and religious beliefs that developed within the time periods in question. It's very readable at a middle school level, which was exactly Seeger's intent. The edition I skimmed was reprinted in 1967 as a fourth edition, and had been updated several times to include the Revolution and Communism, as well as a chapter on "The New China" which is not at all the same as the new China we know today, but hey!

Although I didn't have time to devote to this entire book, it's one I'd certainly like to have around and hope I'd see kids reading for fun.

To Be a Slave, by Julius Lester

The author begins this book by telling how he discovered two bodies of source material - narratives of escaped slaves written by Northern abolitionists in the first half of the 19th century, and interviews with former slaves collected as part of the Federal Writer's Project in the 1930s.

The rest of the book comprises short introductory text by the author (generally a paragraph or two) followed by one or two excerpts from the slave narratives or interviews. The text is loosely organized by topic: the auction block, the plantation, resistance, etc. and grouped further within those topics. This was especially fascinating to read within the context of its publishing date. In 1969 a lot of civil rights progress had been made, but the work was far from done, and the author leaves the reader with a lot of good, pointed questions.

Besides being an amazing resource on the subject matter at hand, this would also be an excellent book to use when talking about sources. There are primary and secondary sources in probably as literal a sense as you're ever going to find in one place. It's also an excellent book to get kids used to the idea of primary sources - I don't think we trust kids enough when it comes to this sort of thing - I don't think I read any primary source historical materials (outside of history textbooks) in the classroom until I was in high school. But here are real voices, talking about slavery, that a 9 or 10 year old could easily read on their own. I encourage it.

My only criticism would be that the author's introductory text sometimes felt a bit jarring as you finished a bit of interview text, and without a real break in the type, would find the matter-of-fact voice of the author. It might work well in a classroom setting, actually, but it was a little odd to my non-grade-school reading sensibilities.

I'd never seen this book until finding a copy for this blog, but it's still in print, and I hope it gets some classroom use. It should.