Alexander Hamilton: The Making of America by Teri Kanefield
Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2017 This book is recommended for young readers from 10 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 1170L (MetaMetrics) Author Teri Kanefield has won numerous awards for her books for young readers. This book on Alexander Hamilton is the first in her series called The Making of America and is a Junior Library Guild Selection. For readers who enjoy the style of this one, the next two in the series feature Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, respectively, and lead the reader through the major events of the first 100 years in our nation’s history. If it’s possible for a Founding Father to be trendy, Alexander Hamilton is practically a Kardashian. Kirkus Reviews notes, “The enthusiasm for Broadway hit and cultural phenomenon Hamilton, The Musical shows little signs of abating…and has generated interest in the country’s first treasury secretary among all ages” (2017). It was actually a classmate of mine who is a fan of Hamilton that spurred me to choose this book. I’m glad I did and I think many a young reader would be as well. There’s much to recommend about this book. For starters, it has great shelf appeal. There’s the rock star portrait on the cover created by Sara Corbett and that “star” theme is carried throughout the book to help divide chapters into manageable bites. The book isn’t a massive tome, just over 200 pages including a detailed bibliography and index, so it’s not going to feel overwhelming to a young reader. There’s also a helpful 2-page timeline that helps the reader better understand when events took place. Inside we see the book is cleverly arranged with comfortable spacing and text. It’s a pretty small book anyway, so there are never more than 3 or 4 paragraphs to a page. The chapters aren’t too long either so it’s easy to find a good stopping point and there are tons of interesting illustrations. Hamilton’s life pre-dated the invention of photography, but the author has put together engravings, drawings, and paintings (all reproduced in black and white) of the people and places she writes of to further tell her story. I can be counted as one of those who didn’t know too much about the gentleman before reading this book. I recognized him from the $10 bill and knew he was killed in a duel by Aaron Burr. Beyond that, I didn’t know much. Hamilton packed a lot of living into his rather short life. Depending upon which source you reference, he was either born in 1755 or 1757 (Kanefield uses 1755) and he died in 1804 so he was only 49 years old when Aaron Burr’s bullet ended his life. Speaking of which, Kanefield uses a clever technique of giving that climax away right at the beginning. In her 5-page prologue, we see an engraving of the moment of that fatal shot and we read part of a heartbreaking letter Hamilton left for his wife before meeting Burr on the dueling grounds. We already know our hero dies the next day before we even read chapter one; I can’t imagine any young reader putting the book down at that point! The first chapter of the book, titled “An Orphan and a Dreamer” takes us through young Hamilton’s early years which were anything but easy. He was born in the British West Indies to a mother who was actually married to another man when she had Alex and his brother. His father James was a drifter who was “lazy and not particularly competent” (p. 11) and who deserted his family. When his mother died in 1768, Hamilton and his brother had to fend for themselves and the story of what their life was like reads like a Dickens tale. Kanefield writes about how fate intervened when sixteen-year-old Hamilton wrote about a devastating hurricane that swept the island. The letter was published in the local paper making him a “literary sensation” (p. 19) and triggering a chain of events that saw the young man leaving the islands with the help of a benefactor, Hugh Knox, and immigrating to New York where he would soon make history. The author gives us example after example of Hamilton’s brilliance and drive. As a teenager surviving on his own he impressed his employer enough that Alex ran the business, “a multinational trading company” (p. 17), in his absence. In New York, he completed a two-year study program to enter college in half the time despite the fact he didn’t know any of the required Latin and Greek (p. 24). Once in college, he studied night and day in order to graduate in two years. We learn that he published his first political treatise in 1774 and so believed in American Independence that he devoted himself to learning everything he could about military tactics and joined a volunteer militia right after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It wasn’t long before General George Washington discovered Hamilton and enlisted him as an aide-to-camp where the young man’s brilliance and gift for communication elevated him to Washington’s “principal and most trusted aide” (p. 40). There is so much to admire in Hamilton’s rags to riches story. He was a persuasive genius whose perseverance on multiple occasions quite literally saved the United States of America. This is a story every young reader should know and it’s one that this older reader never learned in school. I like that the author is able to teach us so much in the book without it feeling teach-y or preach-y. She will address a concept like “tariffs” and then provide a separate bold black box with an easily understood definition (p. 68). This is a tactic she uses throughout the book that helps the reader not only grasp the idea from Hamilton’s time, but provide perspective in our own. She introduces us to the Bank of New York that Hamilton founded in 1784 and within her bonus black box she tells us the bank is still around and that “the Bank of New York Mellon (is) the nation’s oldest financial institution” (p. 99). For readers who just can’t get enough of Hamilton, Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton is a must-read. It’s going to be a bit more daunting for many readers at over 700 pages, but this New York Times #1 Bestseller is billed as the inspiration for the musical and goes into more depth than Kanefield’s book. It also touches on some of the more unsavory aspects of Hamilton’s life (an adultery scandal for instance) which are omitted from the book for younger readers. Fans of Hamilton may be reaching out to this book because of the popular musical, but those who haven’t seen it may want to attend a touring production of Hamilton: An American Musical when it comes to their town. The soundtrack of the musical featuring the original cast is available from various sources. (Parents should understand that certain tracks have some explicit language.) L.A. Times critic Charles McNulty gives his perspective on what makes this musical so relevant for our times. Writing about Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and composer who portrays Hamilton in the musical, McNulty asks, “How does he connect audiences to characters separated by more than 200 years, funny costumes and vastly different imperatives? By relating the hopes and setbacks, squabbles and seductions, triumphs and tragedies, of these 18th century American rebels in a score that allows the past to speak in the musical language of the rebellious present — rap” (2015). Author Chernow and composer Miranda have given us a hero from the past whose accomplishments inspire a new generation to hope for the future. Kanefield, in her book for youth, has made Hamilton relatable, accessible, entertaining, and inspirational as well. I’m so glad I (finally) learned more about him. Resources: Chernow, R. (2004). Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press. Kanefield, T. (2017). Book 1 in the making of America series. Teri Kanefield. Retrieved from http://www.terikanefield.com/ Kanefield, T. (2017). Alexander Hamilton: The making of America. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. Kirkus Reviews. (2017, February 1). [Review of the book Alexander Hamilton: The making of America]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/teri-kanefield/alexander-hamilton-kanefield/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9781419725784/ McNulty, C. (2015, October 31). [Review of the Broadway musical Hamilton: An American musical]. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-hamilton-hip-hop-notebook-20151031-column.html
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The great and only Barnum: The tremendous, stupendous life of showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2009 This book is recommended for young readers from 8 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 980L (MetaMetrics) Awards
I am struggling with this book recommendation. In our blogs we are supposed to choose “the best of the best” and The Great and Only Barnum has won numerous awards as noted above. The author, Candace Fleming, is a meticulous researcher and compelling writer with many wonderful books to her credit. This is the third book I’ve read by her in recent weeks and all three were lavishly published with period details, illustrations, and photos that bring the stories to life. So why my hesitation? Because I hate this guy! I honestly can’t stand P. T. Barnum! Kirkus Reviews writes of the author, “much as she admires her subject, she does not flinch in revealing Barnum’s notable faults – his cruelty as a husband, indifference as a father, (the) exploitation of animals and the deformities and handicaps of human ‘curiosities’” (Kirkus Reviews, 2009). Let’s look more closely at some of the more egregious “faults” mentioned in the book. In 1835 Barnum bought an old slave woman named Joice Heth. Her owner claimed she was 161 years old, a claim Barnum was pleased to exploit even though it was later learned she was only about 80. He called her an “exhibit” and made as much as $1500 a week “displaying” her to paying customers. When she died, he saw another opportunity to make money and charged admission to her “dissection” (autopsy) in New York (p. 24-26). The author tells us that Barnum was not the only one profiting off of the misfortunes of people like Joice, but that doesn’t make this any less despicable. We learn the definition of the term “humbug” and that Barnum reveled in it. Fleming tells us a humbug is “something fake that is packaged and advertised so cleverly that people think it is real” (p. 54) and that was Barnum’s stock in trade. She tells us about one of Barnum’s most famous humbugs, “The Fejee Mermaid”. In 1842 Barnum made up a fake story and submitted it anonymously to the newspapers about how this “real-life mermaid” had been caught off the coast of the Fiji Islands and he displayed this nasty mummified half monkey/half fish to paying customers. The author tells us that Barnum wrote that he “delighted in having humbugged so many people. It was his life’s monument” (p. 82). So now we know that P. T. Barnum was a contemptible businessman; how was his personal life? Fleming tells us he wasn’t a much better person in private either. Barnum thrilled in providing entertainment for families with children, but largely ignored his own. His youngest daughter Pauline once said, “I always came second to show business’” (p. 79). He treated his wife Charity abominably: ignoring her, making fun of her, and having affairs (“friendships”) throughout their marriage. At last he caps a lifetime of disrespect by leaving the deathly ill woman at home and traveling to Europe. She dies two months after his departure, but when news reaches him in Germany he doesn’t trouble himself to rush home to his family; he sets sail for London where he meets and marries a woman 40 years his junior less than thirteen weeks after Charity’s death (p. 107). Great guy. Do you see my dilemma? However, I keep telling myself one doesn’t necessarily have to admire a character to appreciate a story about him. This book is wonderfully researched with a thorough bibliography of sources in the back. The author tells us that “most of the information…came directly from Barnum” himself (p. 144). Fleming provides us with links to “finding Barnum on the Web” (p. 145) in her source notes. Another very helpful section is provided of books that help the reader better understand “the nineteenth century’s acceptance of human exhibitions” (p. 145). I believe that there is insight there and while I realize that without displaying themselves, many of these people would have had almost no other way to make money, I still find their exploitation repugnant. I can’t bring myself to celebrate the success of people like Barnum who engaged in it. As I mentioned, Fleming’s books are always laid out so expertly. In addition to the many photos and period drawings in her book, she has reproductions of ads and playbills to lead us into the story. There are a collection of cards on page 121 of some of Barnum’s more famous sideshow subjects like Jo Jo, The Dog-faced Boy. She uses a technique throughout her book of a black box with white typeface to explain a particular subject more thoroughly. One such box is called “Little People in the Spotlight” where Fleming tells us that little people (midgets and dwarves) were popular celebrities dating back to the Egyptian times (p. 65). Often the author will calculate 19th century dollars into 21st century amounts so we better understand them. For instance, Barnum’s American Museum made $136,000 in 1853 which was equal to almost $3.5 million nowadays (p. 38). I think young readers, particularly those around 5th or 6th grade, would be interested in reading this book. I remember when I was in 5th grade I visited the Ripley’s Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. Back then, Ripley’s Believe it or Not! was in our newspaper and I used to read it. That’s an age where oddities and “believe it or not” stories can really intrigue and engage a child. As a classroom project, I would want to encourage a lot of discussion about Barnum’s methods. I can think of several questions to generate discussion with the kids: “How would you feel about being “humbugged?”. “Is it okay to trick someone to make money?” “Are some tricks alright if everyone knows they are fake?” “How would you feel if you were Joice Heth? “How would you feel about having P. T. Barnum for a father?” “What do you admire about P. T. Barnum?” Before reading this book I primarily thought of P. T. Barnum in terms of his circus, but Fleming doesn’t even begin to write about that aspect of Barnum’s life until page 100, almost two-thirds of the way through the book. In The Great and Only Barnum we read about the tragic death of Jumbo the elephant just a few pages after we first meet him. We smile at a lovely, happy picture of the elephant in London (p. 126) and then we see the poor creature dead after being hit by a train (p. 130). Young readers may remember hearing that the world-famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed in May 2017 after nearly 150 years which makes a timely connection to this book for discussion. An article in National Geographic would be an excellent starting point for a dialogue about what it means for a circus to close and what young readers think should become of these animals: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/wildlife-watch-ringling-circus-animal-welfare-photography/ I think it will be hard for many young readers to relate to P. T. Barnum. Much of his life story is going to be so far removed from any of their experiences, but this is an entertaining biography that will probably capture their interest. This book also provides great elements for a current discussion with young readers about how to treat animals as well as our fellow human beings. How children feel about aspects of Barnum’s story would make for appropriate and interesting conversation. Resources: Daly, N. (2017, May 20). Why all of America’s circus animals could soon be free. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/wildlife-watch-ringling-circus-animal-welfare-photography/ Fleming, C. (2017). Books. Candace Fleming – Author - Speaker. Retrieved from http://www.candacefleming.com/books/bk_barnum.html Fleming, C. (2009). The great and only Barnum: The tremendous, stupendous life of showman P.T. Barnum. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. Kirkus Reviews. (2009, August 15). [Review of the book The great and only Barnum: The tremendous, stupendous life of showman P. T. Barnum]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/candace-fleming/the-great-and-only-barnum/ Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780375841972/ Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world by Sy Montgomery Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012 This book is recommended for young readers from 10 to 14 Lexile Reading Level 960L (MetaMetrics) Awards - ALSC Notable Children’s Books, 2013
Back in 2010, an HBO movie called Temple Grandin introduced many people to this fascinating woman, but I’ll confess that I was late to the party. I’d never seen the movie and I’d never read too much about her. This book changed all that and I hope others will read it and be as moved as I was. This biography by Sy Montgomery features a foreword by Temple herself. In those three pages she tells us that she “was one of those kids who did not fit in”, but she found ways to make her unique skills and her different abilities (and she has many) work for her. She encourages young people who might be struggling to find their niche and ends her introduction with these words, “I hope that my story will encourage you to find your own passions and to follow them”. With the very first page, opposite a sweet picture of baby Temple, author Montgomery introduces us to the little girl and describes vividly some of the sensations she experienced. Montgomery calls the chapter, “Senses on Fire”. We learn that for Temple loud noises were actually painful, that much of her every day clothing felt like “sandpaper” or even “needles”, and that scents like perfume could be so overwhelming and distracting that Temple couldn’t focus on anything else. Even every day speech was difficult for the child to comprehend as consonants did not register at all. We learn that in the early ‘50s autism was not widely known. The term itself was first published in 1943 and doctors at the time thought it was a form of schizophrenia (p. 20). Over 70 years later we see that “autism is still very poorly understood” and that there is “no definitive medical test” for it (p. 21). The author takes care not only to tell us about what living with autism was like for her subject, but also how it can affect others. But this book is about so much more than autism! I loved how the author shares tons of photos with us of Temple over the years as well as her friends, her home, her schools, and her inventions. Even better, for me, are Temple’s sketches. For example, the front and back endpapers are reproductions of her design for the University of Missouri Large Animal Clinic. (It also appears on page 88 opposite the chapter called, “Humane by Design”.) Sprinkled unobtrusively throughout the book are Temple’s pencil sketches of farm animals like cows, horses, pigs, and sheep. They are so simply rendered, yet the drawings have so much movement and meaning. They feel so peaceful! I feel the drawings are important to Temple’s story. I came to be in awe of her dedication to the creatures we humans raise for food. Temple has an incredible ability to empathize with the animals, what she calls her “cow’s eye view” (p. 85), that she was able to make recommendations for changes that improved the meat-industry processes not only for the animals, but for their human handlers as well. Which brings me to this confession: I love a good steak as much as the next person. I often have to make a conscious effort not to think too hard about what it is I’m eating. Parts of this book were hard for me to read. It was really troubling and difficult to read about the kosher processing plant (p. 101-103), for instance. I don’t know that I will ever be able to get the images out of my head, but I couldn’t help but be encouraged by the work that Temple Grandin is doing. She understands that there are always going to be slaughterhouses and feedlots. I was heartened by her words, “I’ve seen the ranches and feedlots and meat plants…where the people treat the animals right. The animals were happy and healthy. They can live better lives on a ranch than most animals live in the wild” (p. 106). I said this book was about so much more than autism, but it is also about so much more than meat processing improvements. The author writes, “Temple’s story is about far more than overcoming a disability. (She) shows us the courage and creativity of a person who found the…blessings of a different kind of brain, that along with its challenges may also bring extraordinary gifts” (p. 9). The author shares a quote from Plato right before the foreword, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. There is so much wisdom in that one sentence and so much power in those two words, “Be kind”. What a wonderful place this world would be, for humans AND animals, if we could all follow this advice! Kirkus Reviews calls this, “a well written, admiring and thought-provoking portrait” of “an exceptional woman who, remarkably, made use of her condition to discover her calling”. I think this book is an excellent choice for young readers who might be struggling with self-confidence. This age (10 to 14) is a tough time for many and a lot of kids could relate to much of Temple’s story. She had a devoted and loving mother, but her father was a real jerk. She had close friends in elementary school, but the kids at her new school in 7th grade were cruel and she struggled there. I loved a quote the author used from the director of admissions at Hampshire Country School. Temple’s mother enrolled her there midway through 9th grade after she was expelled from her previous school. Bill Dickerman says, “Think Harry Potter and Hogwarts School for Wizards. Until he went to Hogwarts, Harry Potter was out of place. Nobody understood him. He was weird. The magic talents he had were scary. But then he found a place where he suddenly was in his world” (p. 48; italics are mine). Temple wouldn’t have known Harry Potter back in the ‘60s when she found her “world” at Hampshire Country School, but for 21st century kids, this analogy might be encouraging. This is a great book for anyone trying to find their place. Author Montgomery provides a great list of resources in the book for additional information. I don’t know how many young readers will want to check out www.meatami.com, The American Meat Institute (p. 138), but several of the sites such as www.templegrandin.com and www.grandin.com (p. 136) will be of interest. Another site worth a look is www.wrongplanet.net (p.137) which provides great resources for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families and friends. There is also a link to a Ted Talk where one can “meet” Temple and hear what she has to say about “the gifts of autism” (p. 137). For more on Temple’s story, readers might want to borrow the HBO movie, Temple Grandin, from the library. This 2010 biopic, starring Claire Danes as Temple, is rated TV-PG so it is suitable for children and young adults. This movie received over 30 awards from various organizations and was nominated for many more. The awards it won included a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for lead actress Danes (who also won an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild award for her performance) as well as a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Mick Jackson). Resources: Montgomery, S. (2012). Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. Kirkus Reviews. (2012, February 15). [Review of the book Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sy-montgomery/temple-grandin/ Jackson, M. (Director), & Bellows, G. (Producer). (2010). Temple Grandin [DVD]. United States: HBO Films. Lexile Framework for Reading. (2017). MetaMetrics, Inc. Retrieved from https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780606359870/ Temple Grandin (n.d.) In Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/awards |
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