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?

2011 Awards Wrap-Up

To make room for books eligible for the 2012 award, the list of titles from last year has been removed. It lives on at Bibliocommons: List of Books read and commented on in 2010. The blog entries for each book can also be found in the archives by using the search box on the right.

The official list of nominations for the 2011 award has been posted on the YALSA website. I found it interesting that there were no works of poetry or graphic nonfiction included. I wonder whether the committee wanted to leave graphic nonfiction to the Great Graphic Novels committee. Yummy and Smile both made the top ten of the Great Graphic Novels list. Yummy also made the top ten of the Quick Picks list. Borrowed Names is a title that stuck in my mind all year, and yet it was not included in any list.

Field suggestions for 2012 are encouraged, and can be made by filling out the nomination form.

The Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children was awarded to Kakapo Rescue, and LaFayette and the American Revolution was selected for an honor. Both books are appropriate for the middle school segment of the young adult spectrum.

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

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?

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty
by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke
published by Lee & Low Books
96 pages

Publisher's description:
Eleven-year-old Roger is trying to make sense of his classmate Robert "Yummy" Sandifer's death, but first he has to make sense of Yummy's life. Yummy could be as tough as a pit bull sometimes. Other times he was as sweet as the sugary treats he loved to eat. Was Yummy some sort of monster, or just another kid?

As Roger searches for the truth, he finds more and more questions. How did Yummy end up in so much trouble? Did he really kill someone? And why do all the answers seem to lead back to a gang—the same gang Roger's older brother belongs to?

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is a compelling dramatization based on events that occurred in Chicago in 1994. This gritty exploration of youth gang life will force readers to question their own understandings of good and bad, right and wrong.


My comments:

For a few days in the fall of 1994, 11-year old Robert "Yummy" Sandifer became infamous for shooting an innocent girl during an attempted gang murder and made the cover of Time magazine. This account of Yummy's short life succinctly illustrates the cycle of gang violence in poor neighborhoods, where kids are groomed to be both bullies and victims.

The events all take place in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's South side. While Yummy's story is true, Roger has been invented to narrate it. So is this a work of fiction or nonfiction? I've seen it reviewed as both, and it is cataloged as nonfiction at my library and a few others. Other libraries have it cataloged as fiction or included in mixed graphic novel collections.

Either way, it's a gripping read and one of the best graphic novels I've seen all year. The black and white artwork by DuBurke digs beneath cliche Chicago images like the Sears Tower, Michael Jordan and Al Capone, presenting the people and events in stark clarity. This is a neighborhood of nondescript brick boxes and ramshackle frame houses. The infamous cover of Time is worked into one sequence, and Yummy's mugshot serves as inspiration for the cover. His small stature is perhaps the most surprising element of the art.

In an author's note at the end, Neri (then a teacher in South Central LA) recalls where he was when Yummy's story first broke, and how he followed it day by day. "Yummy was both a bully and a victim--he deserves our anger and our understanding," he concludes. A list of author's sources includes a blend of news articles from the time as well as more recent critical analysis.

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?