Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith by Deborah Heiligman Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011 This book is recommended for young readers from 12 and up Lexile Reading Level 1020L (MetaMetrics) Awards: YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Readers 2010 Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2010 National Book Award Finalist 2010 I selected this book for several reasons not the least of which because I was in the mood for a LOVE STORY. This biography of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma was the perfect choice in that respect. The love and respect between these two was genuine and breached a divide that for many others might have been insurmountable. Emma Wedgwood was deeply religious while Charles was a scientist and agnostic.
Charles and Emma were first cousins and considered a great match by both of their families. The author explains that it was not uncommon for first cousins to wed in Victorian England. Indeed, two of Charles’s sisters married two of Emma’s brothers! It was sometimes hard to keep up with all the family members and their relationships so it was helpful that the author included a family tree in her book. This book received several awards and it was easy to understand why. Not only is it meticulously researched, but author Heiligman is an expert storyteller. Besides the great love story, there is humor, pathos, angst, and suspense. When the Darwins’s daughter Annie gets sick, Heiligman keeps the reader riveted with worry as we suffer along with the little girl’s parents not knowing whether Annie will live or die. I like the way Heiligman tells her story linearly. It’s popular these days for books and movies to tell much of their stories in flashback which I often find confusing. When we first meet Charles Darwin it is 1838 and the young man makes a list (as we learn is a habit of his) to help him decide whether or not to take a wife. Darwin writes “Marry”, “Not Marry”, “This is the Question” (p. 5) at the top of a piece of paper and proceeds to fill his columns with pros and cons. We learn of Charles’s heartbreak when his first love, Fanny, marries someone else while he is on his famous voyage on the Beagle. Despite his sadness, Heiligman lets us see that his sense of humor remains intact. In a reply to his sister Caroline who broke the news to him Charles wrote, “It may be all very delightful to those concerned but as I like unmarried women better than those in the blessed state, I vote it a bore” (p. 33-34). Heiligman’s subjects were prolific letter writers so she has much first-person information to share with us and much of the book is told in Charles’s and Emma’s own words. Every chapter has a clever title along with a quote from either Charles or Emma that helps us know these two better and hints at the events to come. For Chapter 24 “Terrible Suffering” we read, “Yearly more are bred than can survive; the smallest grain in the balance, in the long run, must tell on which death shall fall, and which shall survive” which Charles wrote in 1844 (p. 166). This scientific observation foreshadows the sad events to follow with the birth of the Darwins’ tenth and last child, Charles Waring Darwin in 1856. The sweet baby was apparently mentally and physically handicapped (the author doesn’t explain exactly) and died at 18 months. As I said, I was attracted to this book because I was looking for a love story. I knew nothing about the Darwins as a couple or as a family. I saw that this book had won multiple awards which made it worthy of examination. I’m interested in Victorian times so the cover art interested me. As you can see it’s a provocative silhouette of an ape, Charles with arms crossed, and Emma holding a cross. I love puns and found the “Leap of Faith” in the title to be especially clever since this book explores their relationship that thrived despite what would seem to be insurmountable odds, their very different religious beliefs. I thought the author did a great job keeping the story moving. If I have any criticism at all it is with Charles himself. I scarcely think a page went by without the word “sick” or “sickly” on it. Charles apparently suffered most of his life with intestinal and digestive problems. It is wonderful he persevered with his work despite all of that, but I did get a little tired of hearing about it. I could never be as dedicated as he was, writing about barnacles for years or studying earthworms. I kept thinking how lucky he was to have Emma because not many women (of any era) would be so patient and understanding. There are hundreds of books about Charles Darwin for all ages for anyone interested in Darwin the scientist. His autobiography was originally published several years after his death. It was edited by his son Francis (known as Frank) who, along with Emma, edited out certain passages that they were afraid would be too controversial and would offend readers and Charles’s admirers (p. 230). Many years later, the unedited version was published so those wanting to know Charles Darwin in his own words should examine that along with his seminal work, The Origin of the Species. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to someone seeking to know Darwin the scientist, however. Who he was as a scientist isn’t key to this story in my opinion. First and foremost this is a love story, set in Victorian times, between two extraordinary people. Charles and Emma overcame great tragedy, including the loss of beloved children, to forge an unbreakable bond of mutual respect, devotion, and undying love that lasted a lifetime. Their story would make a great novel, but is all the more compelling for its truth. In her acknowledgements the author says, “Writing this book was a labor of love” (p. 237) and the result of her efforts was this wonderful love story. Resources: Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith. New York: Henry Holt & Company. Kirkus Reviews. (2011, January 1). {Review of the book Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/deborah-heiligman/charles-and-emma/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780312661045/
1 Comment
Amelia Lost: The life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011 This book is recommended for young readers from 8 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 930L (MetaMetrics) For a recent “LitBit” assignment, I profiled this book about Amelia Earhart and felt it would be a good one to blog about because of my focus this semester on books for young readers about famous people. This was the second book I’d read recently by Candace Fleming, an award-winning author.
The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover art. One appreciates the iconic photo of Earhart, but the Art Deco lettering is the real attention-getter. I liked that the book uses this special font, called Electra, throughout. For me, it helped bring the era of Earhart’s accomplishments to life. Another interesting aspect of this book is how the author jumps back and forth between a conventional telling of the events of Amelia’s life leading up to her disappearance and first-person accounts of sailors and radio enthusiasts who were listening for any word of the missing flier. The book opens with the men aboard the Coast Guard cutter Itasca as Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan are expected to land at tiny Howland Island in the Pacific. The fliers never arrived and were never seen again. Kirkus Reviews, which named this book one of the 12 Best Nonfiction Children’s Books of 2011, calls this “impeccably researched”, “appealing”, and “stunning”. I admired author Fleming’s passion for the truth. She writes that Earhart, “left behind layer upon layer of myth and legend”, but the author says she spent “two years…chipp(ing) away at those layers” (p. viii-ix). One example of this is found in the prologue where Fleming describes a story that Earhart told about the first time she saw an airplane (p. viii). Fleming could’ve merely repeated the story since it was a first-person account by Earhart herself, but the author did some digging and proved it couldn’t be true. I loved the photos the author uses to illustrate her story including pictures of the young Earhart and her family and photos that compare her to the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. Fleming explains that this similarity is one that Earhart’s husband George Palmer Putnam was more than happy to exploit. The last page of the book reproduces a snippet of a letter in Earhart’s own handwriting where she writes that she understood the risks and danger involved in flying. There’s also a quote by Earhart’s friend and benefactor Eleanor Roosevelt who told reporters, “I am sure Amelia’s last words were ‘I have no regrets’”(p. 110). It is a poignant end to a fascinating story…a story still awaiting that final chapter when Earhart and Noonan are found and the mystery of their disappearance is finally solved. I really couldn’t find fault with this book at all. Fleming provides detailed source notes, picture credits, and a section called “Finding Amelia on the Web” (p. 113) where she provides links to online transcripts of Earhart’s radio transmissions and digitized images of Earhart’s diaries, letters, and other manuscripts from Purdue University’s collection. I liked that the author personalized her bibliography and explained some of her choices including this one where she writes, “Providing a different perspective of historic events, as well as adding to my understanding of Earhart’s marital relationship, were these books written by her husband, George Palmer Putnam” (p. 112). Fleming doesn’t beatify her subject as so many biographers are apt to do. Earhart was a flawed individual (as are we all) and Fleming points that out. In her chapter titled “First Flight”, Fleming writes about the interactions between Earhart and her flight instructor and mentor Neta Snook. Snook was concerned about Earhart’s overconfidence, carelessness, and mistakes and thought that Earhart may have been too focused on “publicity and…looking good” (p. 39). Fleming backs that observation up with a quote from Earhart’s sister as well. For anyone searching for a hero, particularly a brave woman pioneer in a man’s field, Amelia Earhart is an excellent choice. There are many well-written books that tell her story including those she penned herself. For young readers, there’s a book in the acclaimed, “Who Was…” series by Kate Boehm Jerome, illustrated by David Cain. For those very young readers ages 3 to 6, there’s an Earhart book in the “I am…” series by Brad Meltzer. For readers of all ages interested in a well-researched book about a fascinating 20th century icon, one need look no further than Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming. Resources: Fleming, C. (2011) Amelia lost: The life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. Kirkus Reviews. (2011, January 1). {Review of the book Amelia Lost: The life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/candace-fleming/amelia-lost/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780449811696/ Sally Ride: Life on a Mission by Sue Macy Published by Aladdin, 2014 This book is recommended for young readers from 8 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 1170L (MetaMetrics) For a “Read and Discuss” assignment, I picked up the book, Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space. I already knew a little about Ms. Ride and I did enjoy the format of the book that I read, particularly the pictures. It was primarily pictures and was laid out almost like a scrapbook with family photos of Sally, her dog, and her friends overlapping one another along with items of interest such as pages of Sally’s journals and her tennis association membership card.
I had a few problems with that book, even though I thought it was okay, and I believe it would be a good book for a reluctant reader. I felt the writing was uneven and the author, Sally’s partner for the last 30 years of her life, may have been a little too close to her subject to provide an unbiased reporting. I also felt like there were times that O’Shaughnessy inserted herself a little too much in the narrative. Few readers would reach for that book because they wanted to know about Tam O’Shaughnessy. I felt like she should have kept the focus on Sally and Sally’s accomplishments. Which is why my recommendation for a book about this remarkable person is Sally Ride: Life on a Mission by Sue Macy. I felt that it did a good job blending a biography of its subject with a brief history of the times and a ton of interesting information about the space program. Sally Ride was not only the first American woman in space, but after leaving NASA, she became a professor who taught physics and biology at several different universities, made hundreds of speeches all across the country, appeared on TV, authored several books, and even founded a company to help make science interesting for young students. The author opens with a chapter about Sally’s unconventional childhood which included a year in Europe and tells us about Sally’s love of books, science, the L.A. Dodgers, and tennis. Macy writes about the influence of a very special high school teacher who helped nurture Sally’s love of science, particularly physics. Macy quotes Sally saying that this teacher “gave me a lot of confidence in myself at the time when…I needed it” (p. 14). Girls in the ‘60s weren’t encouraged to participate in sports or expected to be interested in science or math. The author tells us that when Sally enrolled at Stanford and majored in physics, there were only a few other female students and no female physics faculty members (p. 17). It was a different time, one that 21st century girls might be surprised to learn about, so it’s wonderful that the author explains this environment to her readers. Understanding this makes Sally’s accomplishments all the more incredible. As one of the first 6 women selected for NASA astronaut training in 1978, we learn that Sally was calm under pressure and was meticulous about learning everything she could about the space shuttle. In 1982, she was selected as one of 5 crew members to fly the space shuttle Challenger. She flew again in 1984, making her the first American woman to fly in space TWICE. She was scheduled to fly on the Challenger yet again, in July 1986, but disaster happened on January 28, 1986 when the Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing all aboard. Sally was appointed to the Presidential Commission to investigate the tragedy and served with legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong. Disaster struck again, to the Columbia in 2003, and Sally was again called to serve on the investigative team even though by this time her days at NASA were over. In one of the last chapters of her book, Macy tells us about Sally’s life after her space career. We learn about the books she wrote, her teaching, research she undertook studying global climate change, and the company she helped found to make science “cool” not just for boys, but for girls as well. She helped create a national competition called “TOYchallenge” where kids brainstormed ideas and created toys and games. Sally called this challenge “engineering in disguise” (p. 106) and was thrilled with its success. I’d mentioned the book weaves NASA facts into Sally’s story. There are some space shuttle “fast facts” (p. 41-42), 8 pages of photos, and a feature called “The Shuttle Fleet” describing all 5 NASA space shuttles in detail (p. 77-78). This book also helps the reader understand Sally’s place in women’s history with “Breakthroughs in Women’s Rights” (p. 58-59) and “Following in Sally’s Footsteps” (p. 95). Finally, the book provides a “Time Line” of Sally’s accomplishments (p. 126) and a helpful section called “Further Reading and Viewing” (p. 127-128) for readers who want to learn more about Sally Ride. A criticism I could share of this book is that it tends to be kind of dry which is a fault many find with a lot of biographies. The O’Shaughnessy book is certainly more fun and is an easier read because of all the photos and the simpler writing style. I’d mentioned that with A Photobiography I thought the writing was uneven. One page felt like it was written for middle-schoolers, but the next felt like a first-grade text. There’s no such problem with Life on a Mission. For serious readers interested in Sally Ride, or the space program, or women doing amazing things in general, Sally Ride: Life on a Mission is a book they’ll want to check out. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A fast-moving, straightforward and up-to-date biography” and says this “slim, empathetic account makes readers see the woman behind the achievement” (Kirkus Reviews, 2014). For readers who enjoy the author’s style and appreciate a well-researched nonfiction work, author Sue Macy’s books have appeared on several “best of” lists including ALA Notable Children’s Books and ALA Best Books for Young Adults. An excellent book by this author that is also about women’s accomplishments is Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) which received several honors including 2012 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalist (Macy, 2017). Resources: Junior Library Guild. (2017). Review of Sally Ride: a photobiography of America’s pioneering woman in space. Retrieved from https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/books/view/9781596439948 Kirkus Reviews. (2014, August 1). {Review of the book Sally Ride: Life on a mission by Sue Macy]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sue-macy/sally-ride-macy/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9781442488540/ Macy, S. (2014). Sally Ride: Life on a mission. New York: Aladdin. Macy, S. (2017). Sue’s news: Honors. Suemacy.com. Retrieved from http://www.suemacy.com/ O’Shaughnessy, T. (2015). Sally Ride: A photobiography of America’s pioneering woman in space. New York: Roaring Book Press. Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Boris Kulikov Published by Viking Books, 2009 This book is recommended for young readers from 8 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 1050L (MetaMetrics) This biography in the Giants of Science series brings to life Albert Einstein as only Krull can. Kirkus Review describes the author’s vocabulary as “playful and collegial” (2010, June 24) and I agree. The author clearly had fun with her subject which helped make this book so interesting. The author kicks off her story with these words, “Albert Einstein had major bedhead” (p. 10). She knows that’s the image that first comes to mind when students think of Einstein so she embraces this description right off the bat and with a smile and a wink introduces us to the famous physicist. The book is written in an easy-flowing and fun narrative style. The author takes us through Einstein’s life from his birth in 1879 in a region of Germany known as Swabia (p. 18). She follows Einstein through his years in school, his life in Switzerland and again back in Germany, through two devastating world wars, and finally his later years in the U.S.. his adopted homeland, where he lived until his death in New Jersey in 1955. She writes of his family, especially his sister Maja and his Uncle Jakob with whom he was very close. Krull teaches us about Einstein’s genius, but also shows us the absent-minded goofball that he could be. He didn’t like to wear socks, for instance; he wasn’t concerned with his appearance at all. If he were working on a theory or an idea, he might forget to eat. She writes of the complicated relationship he had with his first wife Mileva Maric and doesn’t sugarcoat the fact that Albert wasn’t an ideal husband or father and was often sarcastic and even arrogant. Mostly, Krull lets us understand and embrace Einstein the man by offering us his own words in quotes both humorous and poignant throughout the book. In an oft-quoted story, Einstein explains relativity this way, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity” (p. 67). A devoted pacifist, Einstein was deeply troubled about the part his ideas and theories played in the development of the atomic bomb. Once he wrote, “At such a time as this, one realizes what a sorry species of animal one belongs to” (p. 93). Enticing young readers to select nonfiction for fun isn’t easy and it takes great skill to bring a historical figure to life. Krull uses words like “yak” (p. 49) and “gabbing” (p. 61) to describe Einstein talking to his friends. While Krull was fortunate in her choice of subject (Einstein being a fascinating figure who was able to laugh at himself and others) her comfortable way of writing keeps her readers engaged and anxious to read more. If I have any real criticism of the book, particularly compared to others about Einstein, it would be that I would’ve liked to see more of Boris Kulikov’s illustrations. The cover picture of this book enticed me to read it with the silly upside-down image of Einstein looking at the Berne clock tower. Since the book featured no photographs at all, it would have been good to have had more illustrations of Einstein’s friends, family, and foes to literally help illustrate the story and help us appreciate the events. For young readers who can’t get enough of Einstein, an excellent choice for budding scientists is Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids by Jerome Pohlen which is filled with pictures and fun experiments to try. If reading about Einstein has kindled interest in physics in these readers, Physics: Why Matter Matters! by Dan Green is a fun, fast-paced and easy-to-understand introduction to terms like acceleration, mass, and potential energy. Of course, if the young reader really just likes biographies and enjoyed Kathleen Krull’s style, there are several other fun books in the Giants of Science series. She has written books about Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and Marie Curie to name a few. Resources:
Kirkus Review. (2009, October 1). Kirkus Review: Albert Einstein. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kathleen-krull/albert-einstein-4/ Krull, K. (2009). Albert Einstein. New York: Viking. Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780670063321/ |
Archives |