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Peterson, A.S. 2009. The Fiddler's Gun. Rabbit Room Press. 293 pages.

The trouble with Phineas Michael Button began the moment she was born.

It continues,

"She had the expected two ears, two eyes, one nose, and dimpled cheeks, but in her father's mind there was a problem. He had twelve children, daughters all, and was convinced that number thirteen would be his long-awaited son. So on the twenty-fifth of September, 1755, when he drew another baby girl from the womb of his long-suffering wife, he declared the discovery of an unacceptable mistake."

Abandoned by her parents, left in an orphanage in Ebenezer, Georgia, Fin, our young heroine has no problem being tough and staying strong. She's needed to be her whole life. But she is not the person the Baab Sisters--especially Hilde--would have her to be. She's not ladylike enough. She's too manly, too strong, too wild in their minds. Maybe a little kitchen duty will do the trick...

At first Fin is angry that she's been thrust into the kitchen, and forced into apprenticing with the orphanage's cook, Bartimaeus. (She's jealous that her best friend, her would-be-could-be husband, Peter, gets the better deal, the better job. He gets apprenticed to a carpenter.) But she soon realizes that this may just be the best thing that ever happened to her. For Bartimaeus --though not a simple man or a perfect man--loves her like she's his own child, his own daughter. He's a man with a past, a history--a dark and tangled mess of a past. But he's a good man, a changed man*.

With increasing hostilities between the colonies and England, it's not an easy time for Fin to come of age. Not with Fin's temperament. Her quick temper leads to...well...a great big dangerous adventure**.

Historical fiction. Action. Adventure. Pirates. Orphans. And a little old war.

What did I enjoy about this one? So very much! I love historical fiction. Usually. And this was no exception. A bit violent at times, yes, but what else would you expect in a sea-adventure filled with pirates?! It was exciting, compelling, hard to put down. It's anything but boring! I cared about Fin from the start. And her companions--especially Jack, Knut, and Tan--became important to me as well. The characters definitely felt human--felt flawed--which is a good thing. I would definitely recommend this one. (Especially if you enjoyed The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.)

The story will conclude in a second book, Fiddler's Green. (I want it now!)

You can order a copy of The Fiddler's Gun book through Rabbit Room Press.

*I will say this part of the story was just awesome for me. Peterson was able to connect the story with George Whitefield. True, it's a very small--very tiny--part of the overall story. But still, it made me happy.
**It probably helped that I love films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk. I think having this background helped me visualize the fighting-at-sea scenes.

© Becky Laney of

4 Comments on The Fiddler's Gun (YA), last added: 12/30/2009

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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves M. T. Anderson

Octavian's not everyone's cup of tea. We know that right? This is not a book with mass teen, or general reader appeal. This is a book for your readers. Your nerdier types. You know who they are.

Sometimes, I think we get too hung up on "appeal." We're always asking who the audience is and if they will like it. We deal in buzz and word of mouth and everyone's trying to be the next Harry Potter or Twilight.

We don't have room for the odd book like Octavian. We wonder if, when books like this get awards, if the awards have lost touch with "what kids are reading today" even if the award is about quality and not appeal.

In our desire to get everyone reading and everyone into libraries we forget the nerds. The ones who've always sought refuge in our stacks. And I always wonder, in our quests to make everything appeal to everyone, if we're pushing away our core audience--the misfit geek crew.

Or, in my snarkier days, I'm wondering if we're just trying to make libraries cool so that the fact we spent every lunch period in our youth in the library will now be cool, and not nerdy, because we obviously still have some unresolved issues from our childhoods.

Anyway, Octavian is for the type who comes to the library even if it's not cool. Octavian is for, well, ME.

You should read the first one first. If you liked it, you should read the second. This one finds Octavian and Dr. Trefusis in British-occupied Boston, and then escaping to British-occupied Virginia, where the governor has promised escaped slaves their freedom if they fight for the Crown.

Octavian is taught harsh truths about the freedom is not equality, and no longer being a slave doesn't mean respect, or that people will value your life as much as they value their own. We see war, gritty horrifying war. We watch Norfolk burn. We hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait.

And I cried as I came to see the type of man Dr. Trefusis really was and lost all respect for him.

This book will be less shocking to readers than the first. While Anderson writes powerful and moving accounts of plantation slavery and war, readers are familiar with these themes, unlike the shock of the twisted ways of the College of Lucidity. But, if you liked the first, pick this one up and slip it to your bookworms.

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Megan Branch, Intern

In a time where newspapers are folding and cutting delivery days left and right, it’s easy to forget that the newspaper was once the favorite, and maybe only, way for people to get information. During the American Revolution, journalists were similar to modern-day bloggers. Everyone, it seemed, was starting a newspaper to bring his opinions to the public, including some people who might surprise you. In Scandal & Civility: Journalism and the Birth of American Democracy, Marcus Daniel, associate professor of American History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, offers a new perspective on the most influential, partisan journalists of the 1790s. Daniel reminds us that journalists’ rejection of civility and their criticism of  the early American government were essential to the creation of modern-day politics.  Check back tomorrow for the answers.

1. What early American journalist studied epidemics while taking a break from politics and his newspaper?

2. What grandson of a certain Founding Father used his inheritance to start a newspaper?

3. Which former public-school student, after failing to successfully run a dry-goods shop, decided to “try his luck” at journalism?

4. What Princeton alumnus and early journalist wore homemade clothes to his commencement ceremony?

5. What journalist scandalized Philadelphia with the window dressing in his printing shop and bookstore?

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Today, we return to our regular book reviewing! These are both adult non-fiction titles that were recieved as part as Mini Book Expo for Bloggers, which if you are a book blogger and don't know about, you should totally check out.

Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution Tony Williams

In September of 1775, when the American colonies were preparing for war, a hurricane struck its way up the East Coast, affecting many of the revolutionary players. The hurricane, while taking many lives where it first hit in North Carolina's Outer Banks, did not have much effect on history. Williams uses it as a window in which to view the beginning of the war. Sadly, the window is not big enough to do what he wants to do and, overall, the book lacks cohesion and focus. More than anything, the storm serves as an excuse for an extended metaphor about the brewing political tempest. The book ends with a chapter on a second hurricane that struck Newfoundland shortly after the first struck the East Coast. Where Williams's conclusions that this was a different storm are interesting and new, one must question why they are included on the book of ostensibly about the American Revolution.

Although the premise is weak, and much of the material has been covered before, Williams's writing style is very engaging. For readers who have not yet read their way through the plethora of books on the Revolution, Hurricane of Independence is highly readable and interesting. I'm not just saying that! This book had some organization issues, but really, an excellent writing style and I look forward to reading more by the author.

Williams has a knack for writing about the weather and I wish he would have done a history of eighteenth century North American hurricanes. I firmly believe Williams could write a fascinating account, both due to his writing style and the fact that in this title, that is where he really added to the field.

Published by Sourcebooks.

A Treatise of Mathematical Instruments John Robertson

This is a reprint of the third edition of this title, which came out in 1775. Already I know you're asking, "Jennie, why on EARTH did you ask for this book?" Well... science history is pretty cool.

The parts of this book that I understood were really interesting. It's not an easy book to understand--first off, the font is based on the original, when they used s's that looked like f's. Plus, um... math tools I've never seen. And... math.

It starts off with a publishing history about the Sector Compass, which is what math people used before the slide rule. Now, this might sound dull, but there was much intellectual theft! And Galileo suing people for intellectual theft! Even though maybe he didn't invent the thing after all! Intrigue!

The treatise then discusses basic math tools. After a lengthly explanation of each, and how it might be used, there are several practice problems with long explanations on how to solve the problem using the tool in question. I totally understood the part on how to use a protractor, but when we got to the sector compass? And there were logs and trig functions? I really tried, but my eyes glazed over.

However! There are great discussions on how to make your own carbon paper, eighteenth century style, as well as a ton of information on British naval theory (and a mathematical proof on the most space-efficient way to store ones cannon balls), architecture, and how to draw using perspective. PLUS! When discussing the gunners callipers, Robertson is explaining how to use the conversion tables that are printed on the side. One of the example questions was the following: How long with 33 butts of beer serve a crew of 324 men, allowing to each man 3 wine quarts a day?. Talk about real life examples! This shows how important beer was to the navy (because it's sanitary to drink?) and is just a very practical question because there are a several conversions that need to be done to answer the question.

Also, the lack of standardization! A beer gallon was different than a wine gallon! One of the charts on the callipers was converting English feet to French feet (the measurement, not the body part.)

But, overall, there were many pages of computations I did not understand. The parts of this book I did get were fascinating. The other parts made me feel dumb.

Published by Invisible College Press.














*hee hee* butts of beer *hee hee*

We've already established that I'm 10.

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I ran out of time yesterday, and wanted to add this list of suggested readings to go with my post yesterday about David McCullough's new 1776: The Illustrated Edition, the illustrated and abridged edition of Mr. McCullough's original 1776. All of the children's books listed below are narrative histories and overviews of the period, rather than books about a particular element of the American

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Since the kids are about to start their study of the Revolutionary War for history, I was delighted to see that J.L. Bell at Boston 1775 today posted an entry on Boston's Expanding Borders -- his plans over the next few days to "highlight some free online resources that relate to Revolutionary New England". Nifty, and perfect timing. I'll have to check through Boston 1775's archives and the

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