I have never read a novel by Elizabeth George Speare that I didn't like, and Calico Captive is no exception. Like Katherine Paterson's Bread and Roses, Too, this book is based on a true story. The main character is Miriam Willard, a young woman who, along with her family, is captured by Indians, forced to travel on foot to Montreal, and held for ransom there for months. This all takes place in 1754, during the French and Inidian War. At first I thought this story was going to be pretty grim, because it starts out that way. Miriam and her family are kidnapped in a terrifying raid of their home. Poor Suzanna, Miriam's pregnant older sister, is forced first to try to keep up with the group and then to give birth to her child in the wilderness with only Miriam to help her. However, when they reach Montreal, the Indians sell them, and even though the family members are separated, they are at least provided with food and a decent place to live. In fact, Miriam ends up living in the house of a very wealthy family.
It was interesting to explore with Miriam the nature of imprisonment and slavery, because in this book readers witness shades of gray emerge. Although Miriam is not free to leave, she begins to enjoy her new life. She is seduced by a lifestyle that is wildly different from anything she, a woman from a pioneering family, has ever known. I was also fascinated by the history in the book -- the conflict between the English and French, the role the Indians played, and just the idea that holding human beings for ransom seemed to be accepted and supported by the government in Montreal -- it all made for very interesting, if disturbing, reading.
This story might be enjoyed by a slightly older audience than Bread and Roses, Too, though, because there really is a pretty heavy emphasis on Miriam's love life. I really enjoy historical romance, but I can imagine that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.
Bread and Roses, Too, by Katherine Paterson, transports readers to Lawrence, Massachusetts during the 1912 mill workers' strike. Rosa Serutti lives with her family in a tenement near the mill where her mother and sister work. Like all the mill workers, they are extremely poor and often do not have enough to eat. Rosa is lucky enough to be able to attend school, yet her mother cannot afford to buy all the books and other supplies Rosa needs. At the beginning of the story, Rosa meets Jake Beale, a boy who is even worse off than she. Jake's father is pretty much good for nothing, and Jake often is afraid to go home, so he sleeps wherever he can. When Rosa allows him to sleep in her family's home one night, the two kids do not exactly become friends, but they renew their acquaintance later in the story when they meet on a train bound for Vermont. Rosa, along with many other children of the striking mill workers, is sent to live temporarily in Barre, Vermont, where union sympathizers take them in until the end of the strike. Jake was not supposed to be on the train, so he asks Rosa to help him by saying he is her brother. Rosa reluctantly agrees, and of course her first small lie is only the first in a series of lies that become necessary to explain Jake's presence.
With Bread and Roses, Too Katherine Paterson makes this moment in history both accessible and interesting for a young audience. The appalling conditions people like Rosa and her family had to endure are well balanced by the solidarity and hope of the union and the caring people who support the strikers. This one is well worth reading.
As a big fan of Gary Schmidt's books, I was happy to finally get a copy of his latest, Okay for Now. The story is narrated by Doug Swieteck, an 8th grader with many problems, including an abusive father and an older brother who bullies him. At the beginning of the story, Doug's father loses his job and they have to move to Marysville, New York, a town Doug henceforth refers to as "stupid Marysville" because he has such a difficult time adjusting to his life there. Doug has many complaints, but I was never annoyed reading about his troubles because underneath the whining, buried deep under his cynicism, I always sensed a nugget of hope. This small ray of goodness shines through when he describes the positive things in his life, such as his time spent in the library learning to draw, his relationship with his mother, and his relationship with his father's boss, Mr. Ballard. In fact, I think Doug's distinctive voice is one of the things I like best about this book. He tells his story honestly, only holding back when what he wants to describe is just too painful to put into words. He quite often asks his reader, "Do you know how that feels?" Invariably, I had to answer "no" when he asked this question, but I also knew that I had a much better idea after having read what he had to say.
One thing I had to laugh about was particular to my copy of the book. On page 184, when Doug says, "Reader, I kissed her", the word kissed has been covered with white-out! I guess at least one reader disliked mention of romance in his/her stories. This sub-plot is handled with a very light touch, though, so I hope the white-out wielding reader did not give up the book because of it.
Mushy stuff aside, I really loved this book. I will not be at all surprised if this book wins the Newbery Medal this year. It's that good.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is one of my favorite children's authors, so I decided to read Emily's Fortune, which was published last year. The book features a quiet 8-year-old named Emily Wiggins, who at the beginning of the story finds herself suddenly orphaned when her mother is killed in a carriage accident. Emily's Uncle Victor is her closest blood relation, but she does not want to live with him because she knows he is unkind. Emily's Aunt Hildy offers to become her guardian, so Emily boards a stagecoach to travel to Aunt Hildy's home. It is during this journey that Emily's adventures ensue. Despite its tragic beginning, the book is really very funny. For example, Emily's neighbors are named Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire. Emily's fellow passengers on the stagecoach are a riot. I especially enjoyed Petunia and Marigold's shameless flirting with Uncle Victor, and Jock's tendency to get the names of things wrong.
At 146 pages, with plenty of illustrations and large type, this is a short, easy-to-read story that would be a good one to recommend to middle grade students looking for a quick read for a book report due tomorrow.
A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly, is based on a true story. In an author's note, Donnelly explains:
"On July 12, 1906, the body of a young woman named Grace Brown was pulled from the waters of Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The boat she'd been in had been found capsized and floating in a secluded bay. There was no sign of her companion, a young man who'd rented the boat under the name of Carl Grahm. It was feared that he, too, had drowned. Grace Brown's death appeared to be an accident, and neither the men who dragged the lake nor the staff at the hotel where the couple had registered could have forseen that they would soon be embroiled in one of the most sensational murder trials in New York's history." (p. 381)
Donnelly's book is narrated by Mathilda (Mattie) Gokey, a fictional 16-year-old young woman who lives with her family on their farm near the lake where the real Grace Brown died. When the story begins, Mattie's mother has recently died, and as the eldest girl Mattie is forced to take over much of her mother's household and farm responsibilities. Meanwhile, the family is short on cash because Mattie's father has not been able to leave his children to earn money as a logger, as he used to do when his wife was alive.
Mattie has big dreams, though, that do not include staying on the farm. She is a writer and has been accepted to Barnard College in New York City. When the story begins, Mattie is busy making breakfast for her family, but she is also trying to find the courage to ask her father about going to college the following fall. She needs to earn money, so she also wants his permission to take a summer job at one of the local hotels -- the same hotel where Grace Brown and Carl Grahm were staying.
OK, I'm really having fun now! Here is another video booktalk. This one is about The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R. A. Spratt.
Here is a link to my original review from January 2011.
I recently finished taking an Infopeople class called "Reel in Readers." We were introduced to many tools, such as Animoto, Scratch, and Camtasia, which are available for creating and editing videos. Here is a link to a booktalk I just finished on Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, by Lynne Jonell:
This is a book I first reviewed in June 2010.
Enjoy!
V is for Vengeance, Sue Grafton's latest entry into her alphabet-themed mystery series starring private detective Kinsey Millhone, roped me in immediately, as usual. I haven't read many novels written for an adult audience in the last several years, but Grafton's novels are always an exception to that rule. I dug out my paperback copy of A is for Alibi and discovered that book was copyrighted in 1982. The paperback edition that I have was printed in1987, so that probably means that I have been enjoying Grafton's series for over 24 years. Since she still has four more letters to go, I hope the streak will continue for some time to come.V is for Vengeance pits Kinsey against an organized crime ring that shoplifts from retail stores. Although the time differential that contributed so much to U is for Undertow (one story set in 1967, another in 1988) is missing here, the story follows a similar pattern, alternating chapters about Kinsey and her righteous quest to bring shoplifters to justice with sections detailing the marriage difficulties and social hypocrisies of a wealthy couple. I really enjoyed the shades of gray Grafton uses to paint her characters. Even the mob boss, Dante, comes across as sympathetic, in his own way. I can't wait for W!
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