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Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front During World War I
By Ann Bausum
National Geographic
$19.95
ISBN: 978-1-4263-0702-7
Ages 10 and up.
On shelves November 9, 2010

Who could have predicted that WWI would become the hot literary topic for child readers in 2009-10? I remember when I was a kid and WWI was glossed over in the midst of my time-pressed teachers’ efforts to explain about WWII. WWII was always the war that got more attention, and for good reason. What is there to say about a war that was fought for no good reason and left a nation ripe for the rise of Hitler? Lately, though, a couple authors have found ways to present WWI for young readers in ways that not only explain the war but also delve into its deeper meanings. There was Truce by Jim Murphy, which talked about the first year of the war and how close the soldiers on the home front came to ending it on their own. Then there was The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman which may be the most thorough examination of the war as written for young readers yet. I like both of those books, but the title that has particularly captured my heart is Unraveling Freedom by Ann Bausum. Taking the war away from the reader’s focus, Bausum places her attention not on the front, but at home. Why does America fight for freedom while simultaneously denying its citizens their own freedom at home? This is more than just a single war Bausum is talking about. When examined under the right circumstances, WWI is just a standard operating plan for a lot of wars fought before the 20th century, and a lot of wars since.

Thousands of Germans lived in America on the eve of WWI. Then the hysteria began. It is easy to forget that even as the United States fought abroad for freedom, back at home many of its citizens were oppressed for their beliefs, customs, language, and heritage. Mobs created to “root out spies and enemies” ended with 70 dead and lynched Americans (and not a single one a true spy). Businesses died, the German language was no longer taught, and lives were destroyed. Ann Bausum chronicles with amazing clarity what happens to a country when freedoms are allowed to disappear in the name of war. The parallels between WWI and what’s happening today are unavoidable, and teach a definite lesson about what we should remember when we find ourselves fighting. Backmatter includes a Guide to Wartime Presidents, a Timeline, a Bibliography, and a Resource Guide.

As I mentioned earlier, WWI got kind of glossed over when I was in elementary/middle/high school. As such, I was a bit sketchy on the whole Lusitania business. Even after reading the aforementioned Truce I was still unclear. I knew it was a big boat and it was blown up by Germany but did anyone actually die? Did Germany mean to blow it up or was it an accident? Bausum rightly gives over a full chapter to the Lusitania disaster. And though she mentions 9/11 in passing, the parallels between Lusitania’s sinking and the destruction of the World Trade Towers is remarkable, both in terms of life lost and how small elements contributed to a gigantic disaster. Kids are often so wrapped up in how the Titanic sank that they might never know how much worse, in some ways, the Lusitania’s sinking was. As a result

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook
By Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter
Illustrated by Matt Phelan
Roaring Brook Press (a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-628-2
Ages 9-12
On shelves now

I was child writer. Which is to say, I was one of those kids who wrote endless stories between the ages of nine and fourteen or so. Of these stories, I finished only one. And I remember taking a writing class over a summer once that I enjoyed, but otherwise I didn’t have a lot of direction when it came to my writing. I dabbled a bit in high school, but for the most part my creative side floundered for many years before getting a bit of a revivification in adulthood. So it’s impossible for me not to wonder how all of that might have been different had I encountered a book like Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook as a child. As far as I can tell, there wasn’t anything like Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter’s book back in the 80s or 90s. For that matter, there hasn’t been much like it in the 2000s or 2010s! Mazer and Potter have essentially come up with a juvenile-friendly version of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. I don’t invoke that standard of inspirational writing lightly when I compare it to this book, either. Though there might be the occasional detail I’d expand upon or move about in this title, for the most part Spilling Ink is the perfect book (or gift, for that matter) for any child who dabbles in putting their words in other people’s heads.

Kids may know author Anne Mazer best from her [title: The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes] series. Ellen Potter, on the other hand, is better known for the Olivia Kidney series or her individual books like SLOB. Now these two authors have joined forces to provide their young readers and incipient writers with a bit of guidance. Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook splits into three neat and tidy sections: “Part I: Ready, Set, Go!”, “Part II: Crafting Your Story”, and “Part III: The Writer’s Brain”. Within those sections, the authors discuss everything from voice and revision to writer’s block and writing partners. The result is an exhaustive but not exhausting series of practical points of advice for kids interested in becoming that most glorious of occupations: writers.

Mazer and Potter work as well as they do together partly because their written voices meld well and partly because they consistently make good points. For example, right from the start they make it clear that in your book the main character is going to have to want something. I can’t tell you how many published children’s books I read where the characters noodle about, not wanting anything in particular while interesting things happen to them. Some adult writers could benefit from the advice in this story, I think. Another good point is made about making sure your title matches your text. You don’t want a funny title on a serious book, a