2012 Nonfiction Round-Up (Part One)

In which I briefly review several titles that I read last year but never got around to reviewing in depth. I totally blame this oversight on Game of Thrones.

 Miles To Go For Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Years by Linda Barrett Osborne

I looked at many books on civil rights last year, and this one stuck out for me because of its handsome design and wealth of photographs and illustrations. The book was published in association with the Library of Congress, and the pages of this book are saturated with of its treasures. Osborne clearly depicts how the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy Vs Ferguson allowed for segregation and the devastating effects on Americans' lives that resulted. The sources in the back led me to this great website: http://www.visionaryproject.com/. This book was named a Booklist Editor Choice for Youth.

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

B95 is the hero of the story, a nearly 20-year-old rufa red knot who thrives in a harsh world. He's nicknamed Moonbird because he's flown at least as far as the moon, and most likely further. As a long-time survivor among a species that seems destined for extinction, it's hard not to root for him. The design of the book is very similar to the wonderful "Scientist in the Field" series, and the abundant maps and color photographs make it easy to follow along with the birds as they migrate over 9000 miles from the southern tip of Argentina to the Arctic Circle. My favorite picture is the blimpish red knot on page 31, who's fattened up to prepare for the journey. Moonbird was named a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction and Sibert Medal honor book, and was named an Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 by the National Science Teachers Association.

Black Gold: The Story of Oil In Our Lives by Albert Marrin

This slim volume offers more breadth than depth in telling the story of oil - including its science, history and politics - from its making to our current struggle to find alternatives for it. Marrin presents thought-provoking and informative text that is aided by many helpful illustrations and diagrams. It was named an Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 by the National Science Teachers Association.

 

Superman Vs the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate by Rick Bowers

Well-researched, fascinating parallel stories of the history of the Klan and Superman collide in 1949, when the writers of the popular Superman radio show decide to tackle hate groups. Created by a couple of Jewish kids from Ohio, Superman stood for the underdog and sought justice from the very beginning, but it wasn't until after World War II that social issues became a main focus of his adventures. The staff of the Superman radio were aided by the work of "Klan busters" like Stetson Kennedy, a Florida native who infiltrated the organization with the goal of exposing its secrets and bringing it down.

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson 

Hopkinson follows several passengers and crew of the ship as they go about their daily routines. Once the boat hits the iceberg and begins to sink, the narrative transitions into a riveting struggle for survival. I was most captivated by the accounts of the men who survived by clinging to an overturned lifeboat. Their stories provided the most suspense, as they were engaged in a life or death struggle where I didn't already know the outcome. Though both the text and illustrations were enlightening, I wish that the book included a diagram of the ship that labeled the decks and locations of all the lifeboats. This book was named a Sibert and YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction honor book.

Next week, I will post brief reviews of We've Got A Job, Steve Jobs, October Mourning, My Friend Dahmer and Bomb.

Invincible Microbe

Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure
by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank
149 pages
Clarion Books

Publisher's Description:

For centuries tuberculosis in many forms was treated with everything from poultices and potions to the king's touch. The microorganism that causes the disease was eventually identified, more effective treatments were developed, and the cure for TB was thought to be within reach. But the TB germ simply will not die; drug-resistant varieties continue to plague and panic the human race. The "biography" of this deadly germ, an account of the diagnosis, treatment, and "cure" of the disease over time, and the social history of an illness that could strike anywhere but was most prevalent among the poor are woven together and supported by 70-plus archival prints and photographs.

My Comments:

Murphy and Blank tackle TB from three perspectives, presenting a biography of this evolving microorganism, an account of how the illness came to be treated and cured, and finally a social history of the disease.

I was fascinated by the many photographs, including one of a 500,000 year old fossilized skull of a homo erectus that contained scars caused by TB bacterium. The layout is one of the strong points of this book. That skull photograph appears on a two-page spread along with an image of m. tuberculous bacteria up close and sneeze droplets. The images and accompanying text concisely tell the story of how tuberculosis works.

Later sections detail how the Industrial Revolution contributed to TB's spread, crazy treatments that have been attempted over the years (including sewing ping pong balls inside patients' chests), scientific research by Robert Koch that led to legitimate treatments, TB in popular culture (the Bronte sisters made it glamorous), and the sanitorium movement that became popular in the United States for a time.

The book ends with a discussion of TB's growing resistance to drug treatment and current TB hotspots around the globe, where unsanitary prison conditions and outdated treatments fuel the disease. For now, we can only contain the disease by focusing on early detection and developing new drugs.

This was a fast, surprisingly entertaining read. Back matter includes a bibliography, source notes and index.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold Wins YALSA Nonfiction Award

The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
received YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction on January 23, 2012.

“In this illuminating biography, Sheinkin proves that spoilers don’t matter—it’s not whether or not Arnold betrayed his country, but why,” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair Jennifer Hubert. Although the YALSA award honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults, this is a book that adults can enjoy, as well.

Sheinkin was not able to attend the award ceremony held at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in-person, but he supplied a heartfelt video message (now on youtube) in which he thanked YALSA for recognizing his “child.”

He described Arnold as America’s first action hero. As a textbook writer, he had always been trying to insert Arnold into history books, and his editors had always insisted on deleting him. “He makes people nervous,” Sheinkin said.

This book had its genesis as a work of fiction. The longer he worked on it, the worse it got. YA nonfiction saved him, because he was able to throw all of his “pretentious nonsense” out the window and stick to a straight-forward action story. He hopes the book’s readers will learn a lot about U.S. history without even realizing it, “until it’s too late.”

Finalists Karen Blumenthal (Bootleg) and Sue Macy (Wheels of Change) were in attendance at the award ceremony held from 10:30-noon at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, TX.

Blumenthal, who lives in Dallas, thanked her favorite local librarians. She delivered a candid, funny speech about publishers' resistance to her idea to share the Prohibition experience with young people. She said that, "nonfiction provides context for a complicated world," and "Real life is many shades of messy; in real life the girl doesn't always end up with the sexy vampire."

Macy shared an entertaining powerpoint presentation that included items from the private collections of bicycle enthusiasts that she'd met while conducting research for her book. Many of the images, advertisements and sheet music that appear in her book came from these collectors, who she met simply by being in the right place at the right time. She was inspired by This Fabulous Century, a series of Time-Life books that she grew up with. She credits this series for providing the roots to her thematic approach to history.

Flesh & Blood So Cheap

Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
by Albert Marrin
182 pages
published by Alfred A. Knopf

Publisher's description:

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. The factory was crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside. One hundred forty-six people—mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001.

But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life. It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet. It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster. And it the story of the unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today.


My comments:

While this book does cover the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, that many pages are actually devoted to the fire itself. Instead, much of the focus rests on immigration and workers rights; two larger issues that have a great deal to do with the fire. Most of the workers who died in the fire were immigrant women, and unsafe working conditions are responsible for their deaths.

The legacy of the fire was a greater awareness of worker safety. Frances Perkins, a champion for workers' rights, was spurred into action by the fire. h eventually served as Secretary of the Department of Labor for FDR.

I have mixed feelings about the design. The size, shape, and heft of the book is somewhere between picture and coffee table book. The bright gold cover is attention grabbing, but the safety-orange end papers inside hurt my eyes. The text is large and is arranged in two columns per page with a lot of white space on the side. There are many great images included in the book, including several from Jacob Riis' groundbreaking 1890 work How the Other Half Lives.

Prominent figures like Perkins and Riis get extra coverage.

Back end materials include a bibliography, source notes, picture credits, and index. The notes are numbered in the text and organized by chapter at end. The clear organization, generous text size and spacing make them easy to use. The picture credits, on the other hand, are cramped into a small block. There's also no information about photographers.

The Many Faces of George Washington

The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon
by Carla Killough McClafferty
120 pages
Carolrhoda Books

Publisher's description:

"No picture accurately resembled him in the minute traits of his person . . . there was an expression of his face that no painter had succeeded in taking." --London's New Monthly Magazine (1790). George Washington's face has been painted, printed, and engraved more than a billion times since his birth in 1732. And yet even in his lifetime, no picture seemed to capture the likeness of the man who is now the most iconic of all our presidents. Worse still, people today often see this founding father as the "old and grumpy" Washington on the dollar bill. In 2005 a team of historians, scientists, and artisans at Mount Vernon set out to change the image of our first president. They studied paintings and sculptures, pored over Washington's letters to his tailors and noted other people's comments about his appearance, even closely examined the many sets of dentures that had been created for Washington. Researchers tapped into skills as diverse as 18th-century leatherworking and cutting-edge computer programming to assemble truer likenesses. Their painstaking research and exacting processes helped create three full-body representations of Washington as he was at key moments in his life. And all along the way, the team gained new insight into a man who was anything but "old and grumpy." Join award-winning author Carla Killough McClafferty as she unveils the statues of the three Georges and rediscovers the man who became the face of a new nation.

My Comments:

McClafferty tells duel stories with her book: the fascinating modern process of creating lifelike figures of Washington, and Washington's own life story. The art and science of the modern "Bones-ish" storyline are what initially attracted me to the book.

The three new likenesses of Washington are all based off of the work done by Jean-Antoine Houdon. The French sculptor visited Washington in his home to create a plaster life mask. Washington posed for Houdon at age 53, so it took scientists and artists a lot of work to accurately depict him at ages 19, 45 and 57. Many color photographs of the creation process are included, along with captions that provide additional information about how it’s done. A great deal of care went into details like his hair, eyes and clothing. Washington was known for being an excellent horseman, so it's fitting that his horse, Blueskin, was also recreated to go along with his 45-year old figure.

McClafferty's rendition of Washington's life focuses on exciting incidents, such as young Washington's role in the French and Indian War and middle-aged Washington's role in the American revolution. Photographs of Mount Vernon and other important historical sites such as Fort Necessity are plentiful, and well-captioned. The history sections are well-written overall, but I found one erroneous date (on page 35) that muddles the story. In the middle of a section on Washington's time spent with General Braddock in 1755, the text suddenly claims that he fell ill on June 14, 1754.

The design of the book is very attractive. The trim size is very similar to Houghton Mifflin's "Scientists in the Field" series, and the look and feel of the pages is typical of National Geographic's work. Dark red text boxes and bars contrast nicely with off-white backgrounds. The text is divided into two columns, and the font that's used is not quite so big as to seem childish.

Back end materials include a note from the author, a very useful George Washington timeline, source notes, a bibliography, further reading and an index. The note thanks many of the people involved in the creation of the statues who shared their insights with McClafferty. To research the book, she spent time at Mount Vernon and the studio where Washington's likenesses are "freshened" each year. The source notes are not very useful because they are not individually numbered. Only page numbers are included, so that you have to guess at what portion of the text the note is referring to. The bibliography is extensive, and includes books, articles, primary sources, interviews, a couple of DVDs and even a master's thesis on Washington's dental history. The further reading section includes several websites.

A little text box on page 117 promotes complementary educational resources available through the publisher's website: www.lerneresource.com. What the text box doesn't tell you is that you must register with Lerner in order to access the downloadable materials. Fortunately, registration is free. The downloadables turned out to be nothing too exciting: a list of some additional websites, a journal assignment for anyone wishing to burden young readers with homework and a photo slideshow. Okay, the slideshow is pretty cool.

Bootleg

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
160 pages
Flash Point


Publisher's Description:

It began with the best of intentions. Worried about the effects of alcohol on American families, mothers and civic leaders started a movement to outlaw drinking in public places. Over time, their protests, petitions, and activism paid off—when a Constitional Amendment banning the sale and consumption of alcohol was ratified, it was hailed as the end of public drunkenness, alcoholism, and a host of other social ills related to booze. Instead, it began a decade of lawlessness, when children smuggled (and drank) illegal alcohol, the most upright citizens casually broke the law, and a host of notorious gangsters entered the public eye. Filled with period art and photographs, anecdotes, and portraits of unique characters from the era, this fascinating book looks at the rise and fall of the disastrous social experiment known as Prohibition.


My Comments:

First of all, this book is very well-written. Blumenthal draws readers in immediately with an account of the St. Valentine's Day murders and then shoots back in time to describe the people, ideas and events that led up to it. In addition to introducing readers to the major players like Morris Sheppard, the "father" of Prohibition, she traces the roots of Prohibition all the way back to the pilgrims without letting the story get bogged down in the minutia of the past. If you'll pardon the expression, I never found the writing to be "dry." It helps that the book covers such a fascinating segment of American history, full of larger than life characters like Carrie Nation and Al Capone.

The overall design of the book is nothing special, but the wealth of images are a great strength. From a beer advertisement featuring a toddler (p. 28) to a full-page photograph of labor union members marching with "We Want Beer" signs and miniature flags (p. 107), the pictures alone tell a compelling story. A pair of photographs on page 68 comparing prohibition agents Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith in and out of costume had me giggling for several minutes.

Blumenthal makes a point of mentioning in her bibliography and source notes that there is great wealth of primary sources on prohibition available to anyone willing to dive in. She describes her trips to university libraries with entire sections on temperance and prohibition. In addition to library research, she also contacted famous people born just before 1920 to request interviews. Jean Craighead George (p. 75) and John Paul Stevens (p. 126) were two of the people who responded. The bibliography is nicely organized into subject categories (i.e. cars, Al Capone). Source Notes are organized by chapter, and while a little guesswork is needed to pair sources with quotes, I still found them to be helpful. Also included in the back is a useful Prohibition and Temperance Glossary. It's worth browsing for the definition of "ombibulous'" alone. Picture credits and an index round out the end materials.

The lessons learned during Prohibition (the problems with single-issue politics, the need for compromise, the consequences of changing the Constitution) are pertinent in today's political climate and ripe for discussion. Ken Burns' 3-part Prohibition documentary just debuted this week. In his Sept. 28 interview with Stephen Colbert, the reasons for Prohibition, the problems with the Volstead Act, and the era he describes snugly with what Blumenthal described in her book. Historian David Okrent, author of recent adult title Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, figures prominently in Burns' series. These two books may pair well for a teen-adult book discussion.

Father Abraham

Father Abraham: Lincoln and His Sons
by Harold Holzer
232 pages
Boyds Mills Press

Publisher's description:

Abraham Lincoln was devoted to his country - and to his family. President Lincoln called America a "House Divided" but he struggled to keep his own house united. It would prove to be an impossible task. Sickness, loss and family tensions overwhelmed Abraham, Mary, and their four sons. Opening up the Lincoln family album, noted Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer highlights the family's heartaches and happiness. Illustrated with archival photographs and backed by extensive primary source material, this compelling portrait illuminates the private lives of four generations of a prominent American family.

My comments:

Despite the length, this was a fairly quick, easy read. It was also enlightening, since I only remember learning about Tad Lincoln in school and not Robert, Eddy or Willie. I learned, for instance, that my belief that Tad was the president's favorite son was probably due to the fact that he lived longer than his beloved brother Willie, and thus had more opportunities to pose for photographs with his father.

What kind of a father was Abraham Lincoln? He was frequently absent because of work. When he was home he doted on his younger sons, but not on his oldest son Robert. If this lack of affection had deleterious effects, they are not evident in Holzer's account. Robert cared for his mother and Tad after his father's murder, and ended up being the only son to survive into adulthood and have children of his own.

Plenty of photographs of the Lincolns appear throughout the book, helping to make the large pages fly by. Captions include interesting information about the circumstances surrounding each picture that I greatly appreciated. I was especially impressed by the photo of Tad that the little scamp altered with a drawn-on mustache (p. 120). Picture credits on page 229 reveal that several come from Holzer's own collection. Many others were supplied by the Library of Congress, and the included ID numbers can be used to locate the photographs at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/.

Mary Lincoln, who I've most often heard described as Lincon's "crazy" wife, is also featured prominently throughout the book. Holzer's view is more nuanced: she liked to decorate and entertain, and the deaths of her sons and husband affected her very deeply. Well-chosen photographs show the contrast between her earlier, fashionable dresses (P. 111, very smiliar to this one) and the plain black dresses she wore exclusively after the assassination.

A generous bibliography, extensive index and source notes are appended. Holzer is a renowned Lincoln scholar, so while I trust that he knows what he's talking about, I was disappointed that his notes refer only to the work where a quote may be published without elaborating further on it's source.

Amelia Lost

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
by Candace Fleming
published by Schwartz & Wade
118 pages

Publisher's description:

From the acclaimed author of The Great and Only Barnum—as well as The Lincolns, Our Eleanor, and Ben Franklin's Almanac—comes the thrilling story of America's most celebrated flyer, Amelia Earhart. In alternating chapters, Fleming deftly moves readers back and forth between Amelia's life (from childhood up until her last flight) and the exhaustive search for her and her missing plane. With incredible photos, maps, and handwritten notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup)—this unique nonfiction title is tailor-made for middle graders.


My comments:

The description above gets a couple of things wrong. Earhart drank tomato juice when flying, and while it may be intended for a middle grade audience, I think many older readers could pick up Amelia Lost without worrying that it is too young.

After a brief preface on the difficulty of separating fact from fiction (in which she dispells legends like Earhart's claim to have been unimpressed by an airplane at a 1908 fair), Fleming delves into Amelia's 1937 disappearance. Dual narratives cut back and forth between the 17-day search for Earhart's plane and her life story. Fleming has made a great effort to unravel the truth of Earhart's life and disappearance from the myths.

More pages are devoted to Earhart's professional life, but Fleming also depicts her youth, including the troubled home life caused by her father's drinking. Her adult personal life also gets adequate coverage, perhaps thanks to the fact that her manager, George Putnam, eventually became her husband.

Fleming doesn't portray Earhart as the only or even best female pilot of the time. She learned to fly from Neta Snook, and Louise Thaden beat her in the 1929 Women's Air Derby -- a race from California to Ohio. Earhart benefited from better publicity thanks to Putnam, and (as noted by Fleming) her disappearance guaranteed her legendary status. Fleming admires Earhart for what she was and is: an inspiration to women who dream of accomplishing more than is expected of them, and who wish to live life on their own terms.

Earhart's 1937 autobiography was fittingly titled The Fun Of It -- she seemed to delight in setting records and constantly pushing the boundaries of what she (or any pilot) was capable of. Before her last flight, told Putnam that if she must go, "I'd like best to go in my plane." The desperate messages later received from radio enthusiasts as far away as Florida indicate that in the end, she may have changed her mind.

There are many great photographs and newspaper clippings, courtesy of Purdue University and the George Palmer Putnam collection. I would describe the three maps that are included as "servicable" rather than "incredible." The most amazing illustration may be from Betty Klenck's notebook. Next to a page of doodles is a transcription of what may be Earhart's final calls for help (page 81). The design features a 1930s font and very cool 30s-inspired lettering from cover to cover. I also really like the many text boxes and sidebars that cover everything from a failed romance in Earhart's youth to her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt.

For the most part, I didn't find any unnecssary definitions (one of my pet peeves) embedded in the text. A notable exception appears in "The Way It Works," a text box on page 3 that defines GPS and transmitted (it means "sent"). I was worried that this text box was an indicator of facile writing to come, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a fluke.

A bibliography, source notes, picture credits and index are appended. Of these sections, the bibliography is the most useful. It includes archival collections; books by Earhart, Putnam and Earhart's sister, Muriel; documentaries; and recent scholarly works. There's also a separate section for websites.

Unraveling Freedom

Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front During World War I
by Ann Bausum
96 pages
National Geographic

Publisher's Description:

In 1915, the United States experienced the 9/11 of its time. A German torpedo sank the Lusitania killing nearly 2,000 innocent passengers. The ensuing hysteria helped draw the United States into World War I—the bitter, brutal conflict that became known as the Great War and the War to End All Wars. But as U.S. troops fought to make the world safe for democracy abroad, our own government eroded freedoms at home, especially for German-Americans. Free speech was no longer an operating principle of American democracy. Award-winning author Ann Bausum asks, just where do Americans draw the line of justice in times of war? Drawing thought-provoking parallels with President Wilson’s government and other wartime administrations, from FDR to George W. Bush, Bausum’s analysis has plenty of history lessons for the world today. Her exhaustive research turns up astonishing first-person stories and rare images, and the full-color design is fresh and stunning. The result is a gripping book that is well-positioned for the run-up to the World War I centennial.


My comments:

What most impressed me about this book is the topic it covers and the parallels it draws between the political environments of World War I and post-9/11 America. The 2-page foreword by Ted Rall (in comic form) lays out the stakes - will we learn from our past mistakes? - in a clear and provocative manner that Bausum carries on in her introduction.

Chapter 1 focuses on a riveting account of the sinking of the Lusitania. Although I thought this chapter was occasionally hampered by awkward phrasing, it is also the most captivating section of the book. Remaining chapters cover the lead up to war, war propaganda, the harsh laws imposed by Wilson's administration, vigilante justice, and the end of the war and it's aftermath.

The book is very readable, but I was bothered a few times by unclear writing. For instance, when discussing the persecution of German-Americans, Bausum uses the ambiguous phrase "German-Americans including many citizens." I had to go to a sidebar (on page 60) to find explicit mention of the deportation of German aliens. I can only guess that Bausum's phrasing was used out of sensitivity to current illegal residents who have grown up in the US. If so, why not make the connection explicit in the main text? Pointing out that specific non-citizen populations have been targeted for persecution in the past as well as today makes sense given the book's themes.

One other issue I have with the text is the description of Wilson's stroke and subsequent impairment. Bausum uses the euphemism "mentally challenged" (page 65) to describe Wilson's post-stroke state, which is inaccurate. In actuality, Wilson was partially paralyzed on his left side, meaning that he suffered a stroke in the right hemisphere of his brain. According to the National Stroke Association, other effects could have included problems with spatial and perceptual abilities and short term memory loss. I don't understand why Bausum didn't present a proper medical explanation of Wilson's brain injury.

Overall I like the design a lot. The cover, dominated by a battered, windblown flag is great. I like the inclusion of political cartons and propaganda posters. The digital silhouetting and color tinting (mentioned on page 4) treatment used on several of the archival photographs is effective at making the people stand out, but also makes the backgrounds nearly indecipherable. I think that removing the subjects from their context makes the photographs less effective in some cases (like on pages 53 and 71).

The back end materials include two great timelines. The first is a 5-page guide to wartime presidents that compares Wilson's wartime actions to those by other administrations throughout American history. Why didn't I know that James Maison was so committed to freedom of the press? A second timeline tracks major events in the life of Wilson, the history of the Lusitania, and World War I. It nicely summarizes the main points of the book in three pages.

Notes and acknowledgments, a bibliography, a resource guide that includes books and websites, quote citations, and an index are also appended.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery
by Steve Sheinkin
352 pages
published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press

Publisher's description:

Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America’s first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale.


My comments:

Benedict Arnold is the most famous traitor in American history, but once he was one of Washington's most trusted generals. This fascinating book details his rise and fall, including the political slights and money woes that may have motivated him.

This well-researched, well-written account of Benedict Arnold's life reads like an adventure novel. A flash-forward at the very beginning vividly describes an execution, but who's execution is it? I like the element of suspense that this trickery adds to the narrative. Sheinkin then turns back to Arnold's birth and lets the story flow chronologically through his life. It seems inconceivable that the dedicated (albeit hotheaded) patriot who led assaults on Fort Ticonderoga and Montreal would later turn on his country, but as slights and debts pile up

The design of the book (especially the cover art and dimensions) makes it look like a novel, which helps it stand out from the coffee table style books that are popular in YA nonfiction right now. Other than one portrait of Arnold at the end, the only illustrations are maps. The maps by Lazslo Kubinyi are very well done, and I referred to them often as I read. The short chapters include date ranges along with the titles, making it easier to place all the events chronologically.

Sheinkin admits to an Arnold obsession, and his passion shows not just in the writing, but in the extensive source notes and quote notes that are appended. I might have a hard time swallowing the quotes that Sheinkin attributes to the players in Arnold's drama, if he didn't have these sources (including several firsthand accounts) to back him up. I appreciate that the sources are arranged by category and the quote notes by chapter. There's also an index, which is handy for looking up specific people, places, battles and ships.

I knew very little about Benedict Arnold (other than he was a traitor) going into this book, and by the end Sheinkin had succeeded in making me interested in visiting the Revolutionary battlefields where he left his mark.

Sugar Changed the World

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Space, Slavery, Freedom and Science
by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
published by Clarion Books
176 pages

Publisher's description:

When this award-winning husband-and-wife team discovered that they each had sugar in their family history, they were inspired to trace the globe-spanning story of the sweet substance and to seek out the voices of those who led bitter sugar lives. The trail ran like a bright band from religious ceremonies in India to Europe's Middle Ages, then on to Columbus, who brought the first cane cuttings to the Americas. Sugar was the substance that drove the bloody slave trade and caused the loss of countless lives but it also planted the seeds of revolution that led to freedom in the American colonies, Haiti, and France. With songs, oral histories, maps, and over 80 archival illustrations, here is the story of how one product allows us to see the grand currents of world history in new ways.

My comments:

I was expecting a micro-history of sugar when I first began reading, which isn't exactly what I got. The title is accurate when it says "sugar changed the world," and that is really is the subject of the book - how sugar changed the world. Aronson and Budhos recount in the introduction how their ancestral connections to sugar (Aronson' has a connection to the European beet sugar industry, and Budhos' great-grandparents made a living on a sugar plantation in Guyana) spurred them to research and write the book.

The bulk of the book is divided into four parts. The first part does a nice job of describing how sugar spread through Asia and then Europe. Part two describes the hell of living and working on a sugar plantation. There are many excellent illustrations and photographs in this section that provide a portrait of plantation life, as well as a few maps that show the flow of slaves from Africa to the New World.

Part three describes how people (including slaves in the Caribbean, Colonists in New England, and citizens in England and France) began to fight for freedom. This section was a little confusing to me at times. For instance, when it jumped from discussing a rebellion in Saint Domingue (now Haiti) to the English invasion of Jamaica I was a bit lost at first. In part four, the authors return to their family connections and how change came to the sugar industry (and the world) through social reform and scientific discoveries like the development of beet sugar.

The back end materials include a time line, web guide to color images (many of the black and white images the book are available in color online), source notes, bibliography, list of websites about sugar and an index. There's also an essay, "How We Research and Wrote This Book' that is addressed to teachers and librarians rather than young readers. Assuming the book is intended for the young readers that the authors refer to in this essay, I wondered whether this is the best arena for it.

The acknowledgments recognize several indispensable works that the pair used in their research. These are a boon for ambitious readers who are curious to dive deeper into the history and impact of sugar.

Your comments?

The Dark Game

The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
by Paul B. Janeczko
published by Candlewick Press
248 pages

Publisher's description:

Ever since George Washington used them to help topple the British, spies and their networks have helped and hurt America at key moments in history. In this fascinating collection, Paul B. Janeczko probes such stories as that of Elizabeth Van Lew, an aristocrat whose hatred of slavery drove her to be one of the most successful spies in the Civil War; the "Choctaw code talkers," Native Americans who were instrumental in sending secret messages during World War I; the staggering engineering behind a Cold War tunnel into East Berlin to tap Soviet phones (only to be compromised by a Soviet mole); and many more famous and less-known examples. Colorful personalities, daring missions, the feats of the loyal, and the damage of traitors are interspersed with a look at the technological advances that continue to change the rules of gathering intelligence. From clothesline codes to surveillance satellites and cyber espionage, Paul B. Janeczko uncovers two centuries’ worth of true spy stories in U.S. history.

My comments:

This book has not been on the shelf since it arrived at the library. I think the design and topic of the book have everything to do with this. In a departure from the typical coffee table book design of many nonfiction titles published for young adults, its sized and shaped like a novel. The jacket design plays on the sexy-dangerous appeal of spies. The novel-ish design continues inside, where text dominates the pages.

Six chapters cover the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War and domestic moles. The chapters are further divided into two main sections separated by two smaller "special" sections. A black and white cross-hair* motif decorates the the chapter headings and the special sections. There are quite a few images interspersed throughout the text including portraits of famous spies, intercepted messages and even a diagram of a listening device used to bug an ambassador's house in Moscow.

The writing overall is strong, but some sections are stronger than others. In Chapter 3, I was amazed by the section "Sabotage on U.S. Soil." There were details about World War I here that I had never read about before, like the blasts at Black Tom Island. The World War II story of double agent Juan Pujol (in Chapter 4) was similarly amazing. It was great to read about female spies like Mata Hari (was she a double agent?), Elizabeth Van Lew and Rose O'Neale Greenhow. The story of the Berlin Tunnel in chapter five is also fascinating. During the section on the Culper Spy Ring in the Chapter 1, however, I became a little frustrated that Janeczko focused more on speculation about spies' personal relationships than what they actually did to help win the revolution. The section on the Zimmerman Telegram in Chapter 3 also lost me a little.

One of my pet peeves with nonfiction are simple errors that render the factual infromation inaccurate or confusing. I found one such mistake in Chapter 5 that could have been easily fixed. It appears on page 180 in a paragraph about the effects of high altitude flight on the human body, and the special suits that were designed to protect U-2 pilots from drops in air pressure. Low pressure can cause the human body to expand, which is potentially fatal. The paragraph does a good job of explaining how inflatable tubes inside the pilot's suit would expand to protect the pilot if the pressure dropped; except for the first sentence. In the first sentence, instead of "low pressure" it says "high pressure." Maybe the sentence originally said "high altitude", which would also have been correct. This is an unfortunate mistake in an overall very enlightening and engaging book. Hopefully it will be fixed for a paperback edition.

While it is a fast and easy read, the book seems to assume that anyone venturing to the pages beyond the final chapter knows what they're doing. Back end materials include source notes, photography credits, a comprehensive index and a bibliography. The sources listed in the notes can all be found in the bibliography, which includes a blend of older and newer titles.

Official YALSA Award Finalist

*definitely not a surveying symbol

The Good, The Bad and the Barbie

The Good the Bad and the Barbie

by Tanya Lee Stone
published by Viking
130 pages

Publisher's Description:

During her unparalleled fifty-year history, Barbie has been the doll that some people love and some people love to hate. There's no question she's influenced generations, but to what end? Acclaimed nonfiction author Tanya Lee Stone takes an unbiased look at how Barbie became the icon that she is, and at the impact that she's had on our culture (and vice versa). Featuring passionate anecdotes and memories from a range of girls and women, a foreword by Meg Cabot, and original color photographs, this book explores the Barbie phenomenon in a brand-new light.


My Comments:

My own impression of Barbie as a kid was mixed. I had a couple of the dolls, but was more interested in playing with Dallas, Barbie's horse. When I played My Little Ponies, Barbie was often the villain. So, I was bolstered somewhat by Stone's even-handed history, which acknowledges that not every little girl was enamored with Barbie.

Barbie's creator, Ruth Handler, is presented as a feminist who worked outside the home from an early age. She helped to form Mattel with her husband Elliot and another partner named Matson. Mattel under the Handlers is presented in a very positive light – the company was progressive and integrated before integration was required. Stone does later mention that the Handlers eventually resigned from Mattell amid some scrutiny from the SEC. While the writing overall is very good, I was occasionally bothered by simplistic statements like on page 25, “television, movies and music do a great job of reflecting what is happening in society at any given moment.”

Overall, though, the book presents a balanced and thorough view of Barbie. Chapter 5 provides a nuanced, thought-provoking examination of Barbie’s effects on girls. It includes interviews with fathers as well as girls and women. Stone also makes it clear that Mattel counted on customers buying clothes and acessories for their dolls, and that the company cared about what would sell as well as quality. Chapter 6 delves into racial and ethnic identity. Stone reveals that, while it may be more obvious to think of Barbie's unattainable proportions as being harmful to girls in general, a more common problem may have been how the doll's whiteness effected non-white girls. Chapter 7 gets into how kids (including boys) played with Barbie. There are several laugh-out loud moments. Chapter 8 examines Barbie as art, and how the doll has inspired many artists and designers.

I found the otherwise-engaging forward by Meg Cabot to be somewhat troubling because of one instance of poor word choice. She said that Barbie was “useless without Ken,” which invalidates her other statements about Barbie inspiring girls to be whatever they wanted to be. I think maybe what this slip reveals is that girls’ aspirations have been limited by social conventions, and that these limitations had more effect on how they played with Barbie than vice versa.

There are many photos throughout, and the section of color photos toward the back is a lot of fun. Stone acknowledges Peter Harrigan, a theatre professor whose massive Barbie collection is featured prominetnly in these photos. The book is very well-documented. Quotes from personal emails of Barbie fans and detractors are noted while maintaining privacy. Additionally, many books and articles have been consulted. Photo credits are given ample space, making them easily readable. The index denotes textboxes in addition to photos and is well-organized in general. I liked this book even better than Almost Astronauts, which was a YALSA finalist last year.

Your Comments?

Frederick Douglass: A Noble Life

Frederick Douglass: A Noble Life
by David Adler

140 pages
Published by Holiday House

Publisher's description:
Popular biographer David A. Adler recounts the exciting life of escaped slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery in 1818 and raised on a Maryland plantation under brutal conditions, Frederick Douglass against all odds grew up to become a famous orator, journalist, author, and advisor to U.S. presidents. Many contemporaries found it hard to believe that he was an escaped slave with no formal education. Douglass was also controversial. He urged slaves to revo0lt and befriended the abolitionist John Brown. A pivotal figure in U.S. history, he helped Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation and was an ambassador to Haiti.

My comments:
Adler provides an accessible introduction to the life of abolitionist and civil rights pioneer Frederick Douglass that will hopefully inspire young people to seek out Douglass' own autobiographies. Adler includes direct quotations of Douglass' own work along with research conducted through other sources, including books and newspapers from the time.

Many black and white photographs and illustrations grace the pages of the book, including portraits of Douglass and his family members, friends and contemporaries, depictions of slave life, posters, letters and newspaper clippings (including some from Douglass' own paper).

Adler's focus is primarily on Douglass' public life rather than his private life, although he does provide in-depth coverage of his childhood as a slave. Adler often lets Douglass speak for himself through his autobiographies; a wise choice since Douglass' writing is so eloquent. Of Douglass' two marriages and five children, I got just the basics. I read far more about his abolitionist activities in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to covering Douglass' life, Adler also discusses major events tied to his life, like the insurrection led by John Brown, the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Back end materials include a timeline, chapter notes, selected bibliography and index. There are also picture credits, which (I was happy to see) are actually presented in a readable format and font size. The chapter notes are important because much of the text relies on Douglass' own autobiographies. The notes tell readers the titles and pages where each quotation can be found. Adler also provides additional interesting information (such as a portion of a letter to a Pennsylvania newspaper following the passage of the 15th Amendment) that perhaps wouldn't have fit with the main text. The selected bibliography includes a number of books and newspapers. The index is quite extensive and includes names, places, major events and many topics such as foods and religion.

If Stones Could Speak

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Screts of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson
64 pages
published by National Geographic



Publisher's description:
What are the secrets of the ancient stones? Were they a burial site, an ancient calendar, a sports stadium, a place of Druid worship... or even a site of sacrifice? World-renowned archaeologist Mike Parker-Pearson recently began a new quest to excavate the wider area around Stonehenge to answer these and many other questions. National Geographic helped sponsor their mission, and now Mike takes our young readers behind the scenes to experience this groundbreaking story first-hand, through the eyes of the experts.
Within the past three years, Mike and his team have revolutionized our understanding of Stonehenge by exploring the surrounding landscape for clues about the stones. The results have been breathtaking: the team recently unearthed the largest Neolithic village ever found in England. If Stones Could Speak brings young readers the inspirational story of the incredible discoveries now taking place at this World Historical Site. The informative and drama-driven text includes tales of dead bodies, cremations, feasting, and ancient rituals, as well as science like carbon dating. The images include some of those featured in National Geographic's cover story on the discoveries, for which the stones were "painted in light" at night with awe-inspiring results.
The expert text, stunning photography, and explanatory maps and illustrations will all help young readers see this ancient monument in totally new ways, and no doubt inspire future generations of archaeological explorers.


My comments:
I found this to be a fascinating book in the vein of Written in Bone, one of my favorites from last year. It combines history, mystery, and the thrill of seeing scientists form and test a theory that leads to exciting discoveries. Concepts important to the archaeologists' work, like carbon-14 dating and strontium analysis, are explained in a clear manner. So is one major problem the scientists in the book encountered when studying Stonehenge, by way of the hypothetical discovery of basketball court 4,000 years from now (p. 27). If most experts agree that the court was used for religious rituals and one suggests that it was used to play a game, who would be believed?

I really liked the middle chapters, (four, five and six) for the story they tell. Mike, an archaeologist from England, brings Ramilisonina, an archaeologist from Madagascar, to Stonehenge to look at the stones with "fresh eyes." In Madagascar, people live in wooden homes and build monuments to the dead out of stone, and this is what Ramilisonina saw: a monument to the builders' ancestors. In chapter seven, their theory bears fruit when they discover the remains of an ancient village.

There are an abundance of beautiful color photographs, as well as an illustrated map of the stone circle and surrounding archaeological sites to give readers a sense of the area being studied. Despite these images, I had a hard time grasping the connections between all the different sites (Southern Circle, the Long Barrow, the Cursus, etc.). I understand what each one was, but not how they are bound together. Maybe this is because there is so much that is yet to be learned about each one of them.

The materials at the end include an annotated factfinder index, a list of archeologists and their theories, a chronology of the riverside project, and a list of its members. Unfortunately, when I wanted to go back and read the basketball court analogy again, I couldn't find it using the index. There's also a timeline for Stonehenge, accompanied by an explanation that this timeline is ever-changing becasue of continued scientific investigations. I was disappointed that the timeline didn't help me to better understand the connections between the different sites. On the very last page is a list of books for further reading (divided into categories for kids and adults) and a few online resources including National Geographic, where you will find more stunning photographs.

Your comments?

This Is Rocket Science

This Is Rocket Science: True Stories of the Risk-Taking Scientists Who Figure Out Ways to Explore Beyond Earth by Gloria Skurzynski
80 pages
published by National Geographic


Publisher's comments:
From the award-winning author of Are We Alone? comes a title to propel young imaginations far into space. This Is Rocket Science explores the past, present, and future of space travel. The compelling text—vetted by NASA scientists—is a combination of history, science, human drama, and future challenges. Readers learn how fireworks in ancient China developed into the fire arrows used by Genghis Khan; we meet Sir Isaac Newton, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and learn how their imaginations shaped rocketry. We revisit the era of Sputnik, the satellite that launched a superpower space race, ending with moonwalks and a rendezvous in space. Finally we look forward to the future challenges of Mars and beyond. We also get a sneak peek at new technologies like space elevators, solar sails, ramjets, and more.


My comments:
The cover of this book is what really attracted me to it. The cover image and title both scream, "Pick me up, there's cool stuff inside!" Inside is a nice balance of the history of rocket science (beginning with alchemists in ancient China) with its future possibilities (new technologies like nano tubes and solar sails could make missions to Mars and beyond a reality and not just fiction).
There are also lots of color photographs and illustrations, pulled quotes and informative captions.

I found one editorial error, at the bottom of page 21. A thought is cut off mid-sentence, and the next page begins with a new paragraph. The meaning of the sentence fragment can be worked out by rearranging the words and the next paragraph is on the same topic, so I think this was more of a forgot-to-rewrite-the-sentence error than accidentally-deleted-two-pages-of-text error.

Skurzynski successfully blends science and history, explaining Newton's three laws of motion and how they apply to rockets, the stories of three men who would become known as the fathers of modern rocketry, the space race between the US and Soviet Union, and the competition between chemical and nuclear propulsion for funding in the United States.

Where rocket science takes us next (and how) is still uncertain. SpaceX, a private company launched by PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk, gets attention for its potential role as taxi service to the International Space Station: after a few more missions, our shuttles will be retired. The dynamics of at least one question raised in the book (whether we would be heading once again to the moon or lighting out instead for Mars) have been altered recently by the approval of Bill S. 3729, which provides a total of a total of $58 billion to NASA through 2013.

The information in this book will eventually become dated, but for now, it sheds light on ideas that are at the cutting edge. There's been a lot of talk about a "new direction" for NASA, and Skurzynski highlights some of the possibilities.

The final pages include a glossary and lists of other interesting books and websites, all in tiny print. Quote sources and illustration credits are squeezed, also in tiny print, on to a single page. Looking at it hurts my eyes. The single-page index is in slightly larger print that is much easier to look at. Would it have been so hard to add a couple more pages, so at the glossary and bibliography were easier to use?

Your comments?