910-918 (2019 #37-#45 ). June 2019

Queenmaker by India Edghill - I really enjoyed this historical fiction about King David's first wife, Michal, daughter of King Saul.  In this story, told in first person by Michal, she is a good friend to friend to David's mistress Bathsheba, the mother of the next king, Solomon.  Having no children of her own, Michal takes a liking to Solomon and helps maneuver him into the kingship.  I'm no biblical scholar, so I could enjoy this story entirely on its own merits - and I did.  I'd like to read other novels by India Edghill based on Old Testament women.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, read by George Newbern.  Ove (a Swedish name, as the book was originally written in Swedish, pronounced Oo-vah) is a rule-following curmudgeon - at least at the beginning of the book. Reminds me of my dad - or my husband, who also hates BMWs (albeit for a different reason).  A funny book that's also a little sad.  Ove lost his wife of about 40 years rather suddenly, and six months later his job, and tries to commit suicide multiple times in different ways throughout the book.  Each time, though, some incident with his neighbors interrupts him.  These are interspersed with Ove's backstory, which shows the reader how he became the man he is at the beginning of the book - and at the end. Voice and film actor George Newbern is a marvelous narrator whose droll reading made me laugh.  Liked this so much that I've checked out the audio version of another of Fredrik Backman's books as well as two of his novellas.

Souvenir by Therese Fowler - realistic fiction, advance reader edition - This one wasn't so clearly marked as an ARE, so it sat on my TBR shelf for a while.  Meg Powell and Carson McKay are neighbors who fall in love as teens, only to have Meg marry her boss Brian (who can forgive her father's overdue mortgage payments) after a wedding-eve last fling with Carson.  About 17 years later, Meg is an obstetrician with an almost-16 daughter Savannah, and Carson is a successful musician about to be married to a woman nearly half his age.  You can probably guess where some of this is going.

The story is told from the viewpoints of Meg, Carson, and Savannah.  Savannah's I could do without, as she does some typical stupid-teen stuff, but it's necessary to the plot.  The big part of the story is Meg's recent diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and her desire to admit her mistakes, leave something for her daughter, yet die the way she wants to go.  That part did make me think.

Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis - graphic novel, historical fiction, early reviewer - I'm not a graphic novel aficionado, but I really liked this book.  Loosely based on the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her older half-sister Queen Mary I of England, it's historical fiction nevertheless because of its depiction of life in the sixteenth century.  I especially appreciated all the information about everyday matters in a convent (particularly the observation of the Canonical Hours), saints, embroidery stitches, and playing chess.  Dylan Meconis' mixed media illustrations, most in earth and sea tones but some in bright colors, are appealing, as is the heroine, the orphan Margaret.  The ending signals a sequel to come, and I'd gladly read all 394 (or more) pages of that as well.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, by Kate Clifford Larson, read by Bernadette Dunne.  Biography, audiobook.  Probably more about Rosemary's parents than Rosemary, whose mental disabilities may have been due to a nurse pushing her back into the birth canal for two hours until a doctor finally arrived for her home birth in 1918.  Father Joe was apparently the one who approved her lobotomy in 1941 - he didn't research it enough and came across as having it done because Rosemary's behavior was becoming a potential problem for her brothers' political futures.  Mother Rose rarely visited her institutionalized daughter and often passed off care of her nine children to take vacations instead.  Bernadette Dunne does a good job reading the audiobook, but the print or electronic version is better because it includes photographs of Rosemary, as well as author Kate Clifford Larson's note (which explains her interest in Rosemary - she has a son with a mental illness), extensive endnotes, and an index.

Now What? A Math Tale by Robie H. Harris - This is a cute picture book introducing three-dimensional shapes though a story of a puppy making a bed out of building blocks. The illustrations were done in pencil and colored digitally, although the wooden blocks look like photographs.  Disappointing because the subtitle made me think it would have more meat to it, but it's really aimed at preschoolers.

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman - novella (76 pages), realistic fiction - sweet, sad short story about an aging grandfather losing his memories, and his wanting to share them with and say goodbye to his grandson while he still can.  I liked this one and will hang on to it for a bit to share with my son when he next visits.

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman - novella (65 pages), realistic fiction - I checked this as well as And Every Morning... out from the library after reading A Man Called Ove, since I liked that book so much.  I read this after And Every Morning and was disappointed.  A fable (because there's a moral) set at Christmas Eve, about a successful man dying from cancer and his regrets about not spending more time with his son.  There's a supernatural aspect to it that ties in with the title.  Did not like this as well as the previous two books.

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman, read by Joan Walker - gave up halfway through.  Reader is terrible on the voices of 7-year-old Elsa and her grandmother - screechy!  Elsa is way too knowledgeable even for a precocious child.  The fantasy and fairy-tale aspects (too much Harry Potter and X-Men) were wearing, and I found myself skipping over many of those, and yet still very little had happened halfway though the book.  So I quit listening.  I did place a hold on the print version; not sure if I will finish the book or not.

© Amanda Pape - 2019

906-909 (2019 #33-36) May 2019

The Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch - historical fiction.  800+ pages and it is just "book 1"!  Russia just before and during the revolution, 1917-1919.  Last part of the book (Part VII, The Ionians, November 1918-Spring 1919) was just too weird.  And the book ends abruptly with an unresolved plot point.  Marina is not particularly likeable.  Not sure if I will read the sequel.

The Wright Brothers, written and read by David McCullough - biography, audiobook.  McCullough is OK as a reader - sometimes his speech is a bit garbled (slurs or mumbles).  Better though to read the print book, which includes lots of black-and-white photos and other images, as well as 33 pages of source notes, a six-page bibliography, a page of illustration credits, and a 10-page index at the end.

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin - early reviewer, historical fiction.  While I generally like Melanie Benjamin's books, this one is not a favorite.  The novel is based on the real manager of the Ritz Hotel in Paris during the Nazi occupation of World War II (when the hotel was filled with Nazis), Claude Auzello, and his wife, American-born Blanche Rubenstein.  Neither character is particularly likable, and their stories, told in third person, alternate and sometimes repeat.

Mischling by Affinity Konar - historical fiction?, audiobook - The audiobook reader, Vanessa Johannson, was excellent, and the audiobook includes an interview (albeit not a particularly insightful one) with the author.  It's a Holocaust novel about twin Jewish girls who become part of Josef Mengele's experiments.


© Amanda Pape - 2019

867-873 (2018 #80-86). The Rest of December 2018

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, read by him, David Sedaris, Nick Offerman, and 163 others - historical fantasy, audiobook, award.  I can see why this was named the 2018 Audie Audiobook of the Year, and was a finalist for Excellence in Production and Multi-Voiced Performance!  It was incredible.  At first, I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I checked out a print copy from the library, and then it made more sense - and I actually preferred the audiobook format.  The confusing parts are the sections that take quotes from real historical sources (and make up quotes from fake ones, according to this NPR article, a practice I did NOT like), and cites them as one would in a formal research paper, to the point of using "ibid." and "op. cit."  Besides the fake citations, I was also bothered by the extensive profanity and references to sex - it felt historically inaccurate, just like it did in the TV show Deadwood.

The Weaker Vessel by Antonia Fraser - nonfiction.  A dear book club friend gave me this book because she thought I would like it - and she was right.  A well-researched documentation of the lives of women in 17th-century England, from the end of the reign of Elizabeth I in 1603 to the beginning of the reign of Anne in 1702 - in other words, most of the tumultuous Stuart period.  Antonia Fraser used many contemporary sources - letters, diaries, etc. - to document the lives of - as it says on the cover - "heiresses and dairymaids, holy women and prostitutes, criminals and educators, widows and witches, midwives and mothers, heroines, courtesans, prophetesses, businesswomen, ladies of the court, and...the actress."  She includes a helpful chronology at the beginning of the book, 470 pages of very-readable text, 24 pages of black-and-illustrations (mostly portraits of some of the book's subjects), 30 pages of end notes, 18 pages of the references cited, and a 26-page index.


The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace - nonfiction about a 1787 bottle of wine that supposedly belonged to Thomas Jefferson, and wine collecting.  31 pages of end notes.  More interesting than it sounds.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty - realistic? fiction.  Disappointing.  The premise of the story was too unbelievable.  Didn't really like any of the characters.

Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King - very interesting nonfiction about the painting of the Sistine Chapel, but also about the activities of Raphael and Pope Julius II during the same period.  Includes diagrams and illustrations, some of which are color plates in the center of the book (that I wish had been larger).  28 pages of end notes, 10-page bibliography, and 17-page index (would have been more if font was larger).

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain, read by January Lavoy - biographical novel, historical fiction, audiobook, about journalist Martha Gellhorn, the third wife of Ernest Hemingway.

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - fascinating biography of the scientist told partly through letters his illegitimate daughter, a nun, wrote to him.  black-and-white illustrations, six-page chronology, seven-page bibliography, eleven pages of endnotes, 2.5 pages of art credits, 22 page index, explanation of florentine weights and measures, all in small font.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

860-865 (2018 #73-78). The Rest of November 2018

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict - audiobook, historical fiction about Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein's first wife, a physicist in her own right, who made numerous sacrifices to further his career at the expense of her own, and was not credited for her collaborations with him.  After reading of his poor treatment of his wife, I lost a lot of respect for Albert Einstein.

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - audiobook, biographical novel about the inspiration for the painting "Christina's World."

Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs - biography, award, children's, Newbery, about Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women.

Varina by Charles Frazier - historical fiction about Varina Howell Davis, the second wife of Confederate president Jefferson Davis.  She is a very interesting character.  One passage that caught my eye (on page 136):  "On the Senate side, Sam Houston roamed the halls flirting with every young woman he met.  He wore a cougar hide vest and left his coat open to display it, hoping to be asked what the material was.  He introduced himself to V[arina] the same as to all the young ladies, with a set of moves like a fencing exercise.  He lunged an aggressive step forward - pushing up much too close - then bowed low, and in a deep voice said, Lady, I salute you.  Then he stood and took a snakeskin pouch from the pocket of his cougar vest and plucked out a little carved wooden heart.  He spent his days on the Senate floor whittling dozens of them.  He reached it out and said, Let me give you my heart."  This passage is apparently based on Varina's memoir about her husband (referenced in a biography of her) and a 1921 newspaper article about Houston.

City of Secrets by Stewart O’Nan - It would have helped this historical fiction audiobook (well-read by Edoardo Ballerini) to have the author's historical note (from the end of the print book) as I knew very little about post-WWII Jerusalem and the British occupation there, and had never heard of the Irgun or the King David Hotel bombing of 1946.

The Room on Rue Amélie by Kristen Harmel, read by Madeleine Maby and Jacques Roy - historical fiction, audiobook.  Supposedly based on the true story of Virginia d'Albert-Lake, it is set in occupied Paris just before and during World War II.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

853 (2018 #66). Dr. Jo

Dr. Jo is a picture book biography about someone I'd never heard of before - Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, one of America's earliest female physicians and a pioneer in public health, especially in urban immigrant communities in the early 1900s.  This book is similar to those in author Monica Kulling's Great Ideas series, which are picture book biographies of lessor-known inventors, such as Lillian Gilbreth and Frank Zamboni.  Most of those are written at about a fourth-grade reading level, and my guess is that this book falls there as well.  The watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations by Julianna Swaney are pretty; maybe too pretty when picturing gritty immigrant tenements.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

[I received this hardbound book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.  It will be added to my university's curriculum collection for the use of future teachers.]

842 (2018 #56). Go Show the World

Go Show the World is picture book poetry - although the dust jacket blurb calls it a "rap song," I guess to make it cooler.  As the subtitle says, it does celebrate indigenous heroes, both well-known and lesser-known, from the past and the present.  The author, Native American Canadian Wab Kinew, includes brief biographies of each subject at the end, which is definitely helpful.  I found the poetry/rap song a little awkward, but Joe Morse's illustrations, in watercolor, digital color, and collage, are excellent, particularly the black-and-white portraits accompanying the mini-biographies.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

[This book was provided in exchange for a review by the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  It will be added to my university library's collection.]

837 (2018 #51). Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein

A picture book biography by Linda Bailey of Mary Shelley, with publication timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the publication of her classic, Frankenstein.  The book also helps answer the question - where do authors get their ideas?  There's a nice photograph of Mary Shelley along with a more detailed four-page author's note at the end, as well as a list of sources.  The book neatly avoids all the scandal associated with Mary, her family, and her compatriots.

The people in the illustrations look like a mix of the 1960s Munsters and Addams Family, only with a bit more color.  Readers who remember these series might appreciate that, and the relationship to Frankenstein.  Rendered digitally by Júlia Sardà, the illustrations are incredibly detailed.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

[I received a hardbound copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  It will be added to my university library.]

824-828 (2018 #s 38-42). The Rest of June 2018

The Crossover - audiobook, 2015 Newbery Medal and 2015 Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book

The Door in the Wall - audiobook, 1950 Newbery medal -
De Angeli doesn't ever say exactly what year this story takes place, but since it is during the reign of Edward III, during and after outbreaks of the plague, and at the end of the Scottish wars, I think it has to be between 1350-1365.

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew, by Annejet van der Zijl - e-book, biography

The Beekeeper's Lament - ARC.  Fascinating nonfiction about the honeybee industry in the United States.  I had no idea beehives were moved cross-country by large-scale beekeepers primarily for pollination, and that crops such as almonds depend upon that.  Very interesting and well-written by Hannah Nordhaus - need to read her American Ghost.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - I couldn't finish this audiobook.  An advice book on "tidying up," it was written by a then-single twenty-something with no kids.  I'm a married member of the sandwich generation.  Need I say more?

© Amanda Pape - 2018

799 (2018 #22). Lady Bird and Lyndon

by Betty Boyd Caroli,
read by Amanda Carlin

Despite its title, this book is more a biography of First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson than even a study of her marriage with President Lyndon Baines Johnson.  She comes off looking far better than he does.  Not the typical woman, wife and mother of that era (1930s through 1960s), Lady Bird was the perfect political spouse and a successful businesswoman in her own right.  I enjoyed learning more about her in Lady Bird and Lyndon, far more than I expected.

The print version (as viewed in excerpts on Amazon) has extensive end notes.  Author Betty Boyd Caroli used a number of primary sources in this work, including Lady Bird's White House diary (both the published version and the original stored at the LBJ Library), as well as other source material stored at the presidential library, including recordings and transcripts of meetings and conversations, home movies made by Lady Bird, and the couple's 1934 courtship letters.

Amanda Carlin was a good reader, using Southern accents when quoting Lady Bird or Lyndon, which helped to distinguish that what they were saying was within quotation marks.  However, she mispronounced Pedernales and Llano.  Ideally a top-notch narrator would research correct regional pronunciations of place names, and if not, the audiobook editors should have done it.  Fortunately these words were only used three to four times in the book, otherwise the mispronunciations would have driven me crazy.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

[This electronic audiobook was borrowed from and returned to my university library.]

752 (2017 #50). The Loyal Son

by Daniel Mark Epstein

This dual biography has a very interesting primary subject:  William Franklin, the son of the famous Benjamin Franklin.  I had no idea Ben Franklin's only son remained loyal to the English throne during the Revolutionary War, nor that William Franklin (born out of wedlock in England to an unnamed mother) was also a colonial governor of New Jersey.  Nor that William Franklin had an illegitimate son named Temple, who had an illegitimate daughter.

I was also surprised to learn just how much time Ben Franklin spent (in relative comfort) in London (before the war) and Paris (during the war), and just how much (unnecessary) violence occurred in America during the Revolutionary period.  I was rather appalled by the family dynamics, with Ben spending most of her life away from his wife Deborah.

Despite this, it took me nearly a month to finish this book.  I suppose it was because there was a little too much detail.  It felt as though author Daniel Mark Epstein wanted to be sure to use all his sources, which included a number of unpublished letters, papers, and a dissertation about William.

Unfortunately, Epstein's citation format is poor, with no use of superscripts for the endnotes, but instead short quotes from the text with no page numbers for reference.  VERY frustrating to use, even though there are 24 pages of them.

I have to wonder about Epstein's motivations - in his acknowledgements, he said this book was the one "among several projects I proposed in 2011" that his agent preferred and that he "approached with reservations."


© Amanda Pape - 2017

[I received this hardbound book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  It will be added to my university library's collection.]

733 (2017 #31). A Soldier's Sketchbook

by John Wilson,
based on the diary and sketches of R. H. Rabjohn

Historian John Wilson hit the jackpot when he was approached by a third grade teacher after a Remembrance Day presentation on World War I at a Canadian school in 2013.  She showed him a wartime diary self-published by her grandfather's uncle that was filled with detailed sketches.  Russell Hughes Rabjohn (1898-1977) served in the war from February 1916, shortly after he turned 18, until finally getting home in March 1919 after the war's end.

Wilson worked with the Rabjohn family and the Canadian War Museum (which holds his original sketchbooks and diaries) to produce A Soldier's Sketchbook:  The Illustrated First World War Diary of R. H. Rabjohn.   This 112-page book includes selected entries and drawings from Rabjohn's diaries and sketchbooks, carefully edited, with additional material to set them in context.  He's also added maps on the end papers, a timeline of the war, an index, and suggestions for further reading.

This book is filled with excellent examples of primary sources for learning about World War I.  It's appropriate for fifth grade (when many United States schools first cover history) on up, and can be enjoyed by adults just as much as (if not more so than) children.

© Amanda Pape - 2017

[I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  It will be added to my university library's collection.]

721-722 (2017 #19-20). Two More Picture Books

Leather Shoe Charlie is a historical fiction picture book set in England during its 19th century Industrial Revolution. It is part of publisher Eerdmans' Trade Winds series, "an educational series featuring stories set in key periods in the history of economy and culture."  The fictional story is so-so (perhaps a weakness of being translated from Gyeong-hwa Kim's original Korean).  Much better are the four pages of information about the Industrial Revolution at the end - although the reading and interest levels for this information is not a good match to the reading and interest level of the fictional story.  The mixed-media illustrations by twins Anna and Elena Balbusso fit the atmosphere of the story.  Nevertheless, I'm unlikely to add this paperback to my university library's collection for future teachers.

Clean Sweep!  Frank Zamboni's Ice Machine, is another book in Monica Kulling's "Great Ideas" picture book biography series highlighting inventors.  This book should appeal to sports fans - hockey, speed skating, figure skating - and anyone interested in how this ice-smoothing machine came to be.  Renné Benoit's simple illustrations are done in watercolor and colored pencil.  Kulling is a poet, which may explain the poem that opens the book (and otherwise really doesn't fit).  However, this book definitely gets added to my university library's children's literature collection, used by future teachers.

© Amanda Pape - 2017

[I received these books through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  They will be donated to libraries.]

715-717 (2017 #13-15). Three More Picture Books That Caught My Eye

When I was at the public library a few days ago, looking for recent winners of American Library Association Youth Media awards, I spotted a few books on display that looked interesting, that I was pretty sure we didn't have in the children's literature collection I manage at the university.  So I checked them out:

Musicians of the Sun is similar to many of Caldecott Medalist and honoree Gerald McDermott's other traditional literature books.  Like The Princess and the Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh, this book also retells Axtec folklore.  The Lord of the Night (the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca), sends the Wind god (Ehecatl) to bring the prisoners of the Sun god (Tonatiuh, interestingly enough) - four musicians named Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green, to the "gray and joyless," dark and silent earth.  In his author's note, McDermott said "the story became for me a metaphor for the author's journey," and that the illustrations are "in acrylic fabric paint, opaque ink, and oil pastel on paper handmade in Mexico."

Matisse's Garden, written by Samantha Friedman and illustrated by Cristina Amodeo, was published by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City in 2014 to accompany an exhibition of the "cut-out" works from the last decade of the life of Henri Matisse.  The artist found it difficult to paint or sculpt after surgery for abdominal cancer (although this is not discussed in the book), and took up his scissors to make cut-paper collages, often on an immense scale.  Author Friedman was an assistant curator at MoMA and co-organizer of the exhibition, while Amodeo is an Italian designer.  I particularly liked the way the way the latter built in references to Matisse's other work (such as Dance) in her cut-paper illustrations.  The book features eight reproductions of Matisse's cut-paper works, some on fold-out pages to better fit the scale of some of these large works.  More details about Matisse's life and these works are in an endnote.

Ada Twist, Scientist, is the third book in a series written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts, that promote STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) careers.  Told in rhyme, Ada Twist is a little girl who starts out quiet and observing, but once she turns three, the questions - mostly "Why?" - flow.  The fact that Ada is a female of color (and has puzzled but supportive parents) is even better for encouraging all young children to question and hypothesize and persevere.  The illustrations use watercolors, pen, ink, and pencil, sometimes on - appropriately - graph paper of different types.


© Amanda Pape - 2017

[These books were borrowed from and returned to my local public library.]

546 (2016 #12). A Very Dangerous Woman

by Deborah McDonald and Jeremy Dronfield

A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy is a biography of Maria (Moura) Ignatievna Zakrevskaya Benckendorff Budberg (ABT 1891 - 1974), a Russian aristocrat turned spy, who had affairs with various famous men:  British diplomat Bruce Lockhart, Russian writer Maxim Gorky, and British author H. G. Wells.  I'm not sure I'd describe her as "very dangerous," though, as it seems her "spying" consisted mostly of passing along gossip.

The subject is not a particularly likable woman, and between that and the excessive detail about her life, I had a hard time finishing this book.  It just didn't grab me.  However, the authors certainly did their research, with 43 pages of end notes supported by an eight-page bibliography (most of Budberg's letters to Lockhart, Gorky, and Wells had been preserved), and there is also an eight-page index.

© Amanda Pape - 2016

[I received this paperback through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  It will be passed on to someone else to enjoy.]

485 (2015 #42). Fur, Fins, and Feathers

story and pictures by Cassandre Maxwell

Subtitled "Abraham Dee Bartlett and the Invention of the Modern Zoo," that's exactly what this picture book biography is about.  Author/illustrator Cassandre Maxwell's mixed media and cut paper collage illustrations have a three-dimensional, old-timey feel to them fitting for the 1800s setting.  With the topics of zoos and animals (including Jumbo the elephant, the source for the word jumbo in the English language), this book should appeal to many ages, from a read-aloud for younger children (and their parents) to an engrossing biography for older youth.

© Amanda Pape - 2015

[I received an advance reader edition through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. I'll be purchasing it for my university library.]

463 (2015 #20). El Deafo

by CeCe Bell

This partial autobiography/memoir in graphic novel format won a much-deserved John Newbery Award Honor Book designation, given "to the author[s] of the most distinguished contribution[s] to American literature for children."

CeCe Bell suffered a severe hearing loss as a result of meningitis at age four.  While she could wear a less conspicuous hearing aid at home, she needed to use a "phonic ear" at school, a rather bulky personal sound amplification system, to best hear the teacher.

Bell, who also did the illustrations (colored by David Lasky), gives her characters rabbit ears and faces, and they remind me of the anthropomorphic characters in Marc Brown's Arthur series -  which, interestingly, came out about the time this book begins, in the late 1970s, when Bell is age four.  The book ends when Bell is in the fifth grade.

The rabbit ears, of course, highlight the issue of hearing.  Empty speech bubbles (when Bell can't hear) and random collections of letters (when she can hear but not understand) emphasize some of the issues she had.  The Phonic Ear and her hearing aid solve some of these, but not when they are broken or have dead batteries.  CeCe learns to lip read at in a kindergarten class with other hearing-impaired children.  The summer following, though, her family moves to a smaller town, and CeCe is in a regular classroom for first grade on.

CeCe struggles to find a best friend who will accept her as she is and not make a big deal of her deafness.  She has her first crush.  She imagines a superhero alter-ego she christens "El Deafo" to help her through the tough times.  All in all, though, this memoir is positive, because CeCe remains upbeat.

An author's note at the end of the book explains that deafness has many causes and degrees - and that deaf people choose different ways to deal with it, ranging from trying to fit in, as CeCe does, with hearing aids and lip reading, to embracing the Deaf community or culture, in which sign language (which CeCe resists learning as a youngster) is the preferred means of  communication.  I loved her conclusion:

I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing.  Our differences are our superpowers.

Despite the picture-book like illustrations, at 233 pages, this book is probably most appropriate for third through sixth graders.

© Amanda Pape - 2015

[This book was borrowed from and returned to my local public library.]

461 (2015 #18). Queen Isabella

by Alison Weir,
read by Lisette Lecat

I had previously read five of Alison Weir's books about the British monarchy, four of which are fiction, so when I saw this was available in audiobook format, I had to select it for my library's collection.

Subtitled "Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England,"  the book is about Isabella of France (1295-1358), the wife of England's (probably bisexual) King Edward II.  Frustrated (along with much of England) with the king's promotion of his "favorites," she and Roger Mortimer (who became her lover) overthrew Edward II.  They put her son Edward III on the throne, with Isabella ruling as regent on his behalf.  Unfortunately she and Mortimer became unpopular, partly because of Isabella's greed. When her son Edward came of age, he executed Mortimer, but Isabella lived out the rest of her natural life in peace.  I found much to admire in this queen.

However, Weir is a bit of an apologist for Isabella in this book.  While I knew little about this queen before reading the book, and would agree she has gotten a bad rap in history, Weir seems to go to great effort to rehabilitate her "She-Wolf of France" reputation.  Much of that reputation is based on theories that she and Mortimer had her husband murdered, but Weir presents theories that he did not even die naturally, but lived out his life as a hermit.  There's not a lot of primary source material from that era, other than Isabella's account books - which do provide an excellent record of her movements and travel, as well as interesting detail about life in those days.

Unlike a lot of other nonfiction audiobooks I've tried, I found it pretty easy to follow this one.  I think that's due to the narrator, Lisette Lecat, a native of South Africa, who lived in Spain, France, and England, where she worked as an actress, voiceover artist, journalist and translator.  She now lives in the USA, narrates audiobooks, and writes plays.  Lecat read the book slowly enough that I found I did not have to stop and repeat sections as often as I usually do with nonfiction audiobooks.

Nevertheless, I'd recommend a print copy of the book in addition to or instead of the audiobook, to have access to the many illustrations (most color plates), genealogical tables, extensive end notes and bibliography, and the index.

© Amanda Pape - 2015

[The audiobook, and a print copy for reference, were borrowed from and returned to my university and local public libraries respectively.]

459-460 (2015 #16-17). Two More Award-Winning Picture Books

A Boy and a Jaguar is an autobiographical picture book about and by wildlife conservationist Alan Rabinowitz.  In it, he tells how his stuttering as a child led to his passion to protect jaguars and other animals.  This book won the 2015 American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award in the children's category "for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences."  Catia Chien's acrylic and charcoal pencil illustrations help the reader feel the enormity of the isolation Rabinowitz sometimes felt as a child, as well as the possibilities of the huge forests and jungles he finds so rewarding as an adult.  Rabinowitz's book will be inspiring for any children who stutter (and their friends, families, and classmates).

The Day the Crayons Quit was recently announced as the 2015 winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award, a children's choice award by students in grades 3-6 in my state.   This hilarious fantasy by debut book author Drew Daywalt (who has lots of experience in film writing and directing) has the crayons in the box on strike and writing letters to their owner about their various complaints.  Oliver Jeffers' whimsical illustrations incorporate crayons (of course!) as well as mixed media.  This book would be a great mentor text for a lesson on letter-writing.

© Amanda Pape - 2015

[These books were borrowed from and returned to my university library.]

454 (2015 #11). 41: A Portrait of My Father

by George W. Bush

I've always admired George Herbert Walker Bush, our 41st President, since growing up in his Congressional district in Houston, Texas.  So when I had an opportunity to borrow his son George W. Bush's memoir about his father, I jumped on it.

I classify this book as a memoir rather than a biography.  It has an index, but not the footnotes and reference list you'd expect in most biographies.  George W. (hereafter called 43 for simplicity) is clear from the beginning that he's not going to be objective.  Yet I thought he did a good job analyzing his father's presidency and identifying the lessons he learned from what his father did right and what 43 thought he could have done better - some of the lessons 43 applied in his own political career.

George H. W. Bush has had a remarkable life.  At one time the youngest Navy pilot in World War II, he was shot down over the Pacific (but fortunately rescued).  A post-war graduate of Yale, he was captain of its baseball team and played in the first two College World Series.  Besides U.S. Congressman, he also served as ambassador to the United Nations, Republican National Committee chairman (during the Watergate scandal), envoy to China (back when diplomatic relations were being restored), CIA director, and vice-president to Ronald Reagan, before becoming the 41st President of the United States in 1989.

His son tells 41's story in an easy, conversational tone that sounds like the way 43 talks.  I don't think there was a ghostwriter here.  The book was inspired by a conversation 43 had with the daughter of historian David McCullough, who wrote a biography of John Adams, the only other man whose son also served as president.  Yet John Quincy Adams never wrote any accounts of his father's life.

Even more valuable than the insights into 41's public life are the glimpses into his private one with his family and friends.  His son paints a portrait of a man who was genuinely funny and had deep feelings for those he loved and cared about.

That alone, in my opinion, is reason to read this book, no matter your political feelings about either 41 or 43.

© Amanda Pape - 2015

[This e-book was borrowed from and returned to the public library.]

444 (2015 #1). Sister Queens

by Julia Fox

This was a surprisingly easy-to-read dual biography about two daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain:  Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of England's Henry VIII, and Juana "la loca," the queen of Castile, in the period from Isabella's and Ferdinand's takeover of Granada and the Alhambra in 1492, to Juana's death in 1555 (and a bit beyond, to the death of Katherine's daughter Mary, Queen of England, in 1558).

The book is well researched.  End notes and the bibliography take up the last 14% of the book (27 pages in print), which also includes photographs of relevant portraits, locations, and maps, as well as genealogical charts.  The print book would probably be better for the photographs and charts, as they are too small on an e-reader.

The book provides a balanced portrait of these two queens, Katherine usually portrayed as saintly, while Juana was typically described as crazy.  Both share the misfortune of being female in very male-dominated society and era.  The reader also learns a little about their fascinating mother, about whom I'm now eager to read more.

I felt I knew Katherine pretty well, from the many books I've read on Tudor England, both fiction and nonfiction, that include her as a major or minor character.  Juana was a new subject for me, and it was heartbreaking to read how her husband, father, and son in succession took advantage of her, locking her away with rumors that she had gone mad.

The book reads more like a novel than a dry history, with plenty of detail about ceremonies and clothing, and not much political analysis - which was fine with me.  A good introduction to Juana and another view of the well-known first wife of the infamous Henry VIII.


© Amanda Pape - 2015

[This e-book was borrowed from and returned to my local public library.]