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 Pregnancy Project

The Pregnancy Project: A Memoirby Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer
Published by Simon and Schuster
224 pages

Publisher's Description:For her required senior project, Gaby Rodriguez decided to fake a pregnancy to get an inside view of what it's like to deal with the pressures and stereotypes of being a teen mom. The inspiration for the project came from her own mother, who became pregnant with her first child in 8th grade, and her older sisters, who all had children of their own as teenagers.

It started as a school project…but turned into so much more.
Growing up, Gaby Rodriguez was often told she would end up a teen mom. After all, her mother and her older sisters had gotten pregnant as teenagers; from an outsider’s perspective, it was practically a family tradition. Gaby had ambitions that didn’t include teen motherhood. But she wondered: how would she be treated if she “lived down” to others' expectations? Would everyone ignore the years she put into being a good student and see her as just another pregnant teen statistic with no future? These questions sparked Gaby’s school project: faking her own pregnancy as a high school senior to see how her family, friends, and community would react. What she learned changed her life forever, and made international headlines in the process.

In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby details how she was able to fake her own pregnancy—hiding the truth from even her siblings and boyfriend’s parents—and reveals all that she learned from the experience. But more than that, Gaby’s story is about fighting stereotypes, and how one girl found the strength to come out from the shadow of low expectations to forge a bright future for herself.

My Comments:


Faking the pregnancy wasn't easy; she found mentors to coach her on the symptoms that accompany each stage of pregnancy, enlisted a friend as well as her boyfriend to help spread rumors and act along with her, and built a realistic fake belly with some help from her mother. In addition to dealing with negative stereotypes, she also had to face the disappointment of her older siblings and teachers, some of whom were angry when they found out she'd lied to them.

Rather than composing a simple narrative of her life during the project, Rodriguez lays out her family history, how the project itself came about, and the media frenzy that ensued when she revealed her ruse at a school assembly. Those expecting the story to focus solely on her experiences during the fake pregnancy may be disappointed, but the "whys" behind the project, as well as the results, are clearly important. Rodriguez'writing is plain, but her story is compelling.

Her story has also been made into a Lifetime original movie (as advertised on the book's cover): http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/the-pregnancy-project.

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.

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Announced!

Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing by Ann Angel is the winner of this year's Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award! The announcement was made during the Youth Media Awards at ALA's Midwinter meeting in San Diego.

“From the cover art and the interior design to the compelling personal narrative, this is a pearl of a book,” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair Don Latham. (quote found on the YALSA Hub blog). I think this book does feature the most eye-popping design of the year.

I was surprised that They Called Themselves the K.K.K. was shut out of the awards (other than receiving a YALSA Nonfiction honor as a finalist). It had gotten some Printz and Newbury buzz, as well.

A full list of the Youth Media Award honors and winners is included in this press release on the ALA website.

Now that the 2011 award has been announced, it's time to look ahead to 2012. All books published from November 2010 through October 2011 will be eligible, and the list of books in the column to the right will change soon to reflect that. Anyone with suggestions is invited to submit them here! Sugar Changed the World, Tom Thumb, The Notorious Benedict Arnold and Unraveling Freedom are the ones that have caught my eye so far. What other new and upcoming nonfiction books are catching people's interest?

Your comments?

The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton

The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton
by Connie Nordheilm Wooldridge
184 pages
published by Clarion Books

Publisher's description:
Edith Wharton, author of Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and other acclaimed novels, was born into a wealthy family. Beginning in childhood, Edith found ways to escape from society's and her family's expectations and follow an unconventional, creative path. Unhappily married and eventually divorced, she surrounded herself with male friends. She spent much of her life in Paris and was recognized by the French government for her generosity and hard work during World War I. Her literary and personal life, her witty and incisive correspondence, her fondness for automobiles and small dogs--all are detailed in this warm and sparkling account of a woman well ahead of her time.

My comments:
I must confess that (having never been required to read any of Edith Wharton's books as a student and not being inclined to pick them up on my own) I knew almost nothing about her before picking up this biography. I thought that maybe the "brave escape" the title referred to might mean that Wharton would abandon the life of wealth and privilege she was born into to live as a pennliess writer, and at first I was a little disappointed that she merely gave up the stuffy old-money social circle of her parents while managing to hold on to the wealth and privilege.

Eventually I came to see that rejecting her parents' ideals and aspirations is nothing to sniff at, though. Her actions are ones that any independent or rebellious teen can admire. Wharton also had the courage to pursue a career as a writer at a time when it was not respectable for a woman to write. By winning a Pulitzer for The Age of Innocence, she made the writing profession a respectable one for women to pursue.

I found Wooldridge's writing to be clear and engaging. It's clear that she respects Wharton, imperfections and all. The many photographs of her and her beloved bachelor friends and dogs are interesting, and well-captioned. There's nothing fancy about the design of the book, but the paper is high quality, the fonts look nice, and it's just the right size (not too big, not too small).

The book is well-researched, drawing from university archives, Wharton's body of work, and other biographies. The back end materials include source notes, a bibliography, a list of Wharton's works, and an index. I found the index to be very helpful whenever I needed to refresh myself on one of Wharton's many bachelor friends. The abbreviations used in the source notes confused me at first. It seems like there should have been an easier way to keep the length of the note citations manageable without resorting to two pages of abbreviations. The arrangement works well enough, but is a bit clunky.

I think the highest praise I can give The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton is that I'm actually interested, for the first time in my life, in reading Wharton for myself.

Look for this Interesting Article...

If you haven't read it already, look for Angela Carstensen's article in the Spring 2010 issue of YALS, "YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, Year One. " The 3-page feature starts on page 38. Carstensen was the chair of the new award committee, and she presents an enlightening inside view of the process that went into the selection of the 2010 nominations, finalists, and winners.

The committee wrangled with issues like whether to include poetry and books published for the 10-12 age range, readability and accessibility versus appeal, and how to judge books that don't rely on research. Carstensen ends the article by encouraging field nominations. The link to the page where you can nominate a title is: http://yalsa.ala.org/forms/nonfiction.php.

Discussion Scheduled for June 2 Moved to Niles

I haven't posted my thoughts about any new books lately because, unfortunately, I haven't had time to read much during the past couple of weeks. I apologize for that. A couple of good-looking books that I hope to read when I get the chance are Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till by Simeon Wright and Smile, a graphic memoir by Raina Telgemeier. Smile has been checked out almost constantly since it first arrived here, and the excerpts I've seen look promising.

The main news I have this week is that a discussion of current nonfiction books for young adults that I had previously scheduled at NSLS headquarters in Wheeling, IL has been moved to the Niles Public Library in Niles, IL. Just in case you haven't heard about the North Suburban Libray System's dire financial trouble, here's an article from the May 19 Daily Herald that sums up the situation.

The discussion will now take place on Wednesday, June 2nd in the library's board room, from 9:30am to approximately noon. Our address is 6960 W. Oakton St. Click here for a map. Attendees are invited to bring and discuss any current nonfiction titles for young adults that they wish. There's a place across the street that makes great cupcakes.

Why This Blog?

Err, "Welcome!" I should say. Thank you for visiting this nonfiction blog, and I hope that you will leave a comment and maybe even return from time to time to read and contribute.

I've started this blog to foster discussion about nonfiction books for young adults. YALSA has debuted a new Excellence in Nonfiction Award to promote nonfiction, which I think is great! However, just having an award isn't enough. The public needs to acknowledge YA nonfiction for the award to achieve its goals. The work done by the award committee is kept under wraps during the year, so it is important for librarians, teens and other members of the public to hold open discussions.

Books that I've identified "to watch" for 2010 are listed in the column to the right. As more books catch my eye, they will be added to the list. I'm counting on others to contribute titles, as well. If you come across any promising nonfiction titles for young adults then please post them in a comment! Each book will be featured in it's own blog post.

If you're interested in becoming a regular contributor to the blog, then please include an email address so that I can contact you. Who am I? Read my profile, here.

My next blog post will feature The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy by James Cross Giblin, which was just named a finalist for the LA Time Book Prize for young adult literature.

What are YOUR young adult nonfiction books to watch for 2010?