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You know how on television you sometimes see ads for an organization called Heifer International? If you have ever wondered how it all began, your curiosity will find the answer in this charming picture book about one of the first "seagoing cowboys" at the end of World War II. These are the cowboys who delivered livestock to countries in desperate need to being rebuilding after the war's devastation.
By 1945, Poland had been ravaged. Its cities and farmland had been bombed badly, the people who had survived were starving and help is desperately needed. In the United States, a young man who is looking for adventure decides to sign up to become a "seagoing cowboy" along with his friend John.
Their adventure begins with a train ride to the city, where they will board their ship, the
Woodstock Victory. They arrive just as the horses and heifers are being loaded onto the ship. John is one of the young men assigned to caring for the horses on their week-long journey to Poland, while our un-named narrator cares for the heifers they were bringing over, heifers that will provide milk, cheese and butter to the hungry Polish people.
Sailing to Poland isn't an easy journey what with seasickness and a bad storm, but at last they arrive at their destination. The cowboys and their livestock are welcomed with smiles and open arms, especially by the children who want the gum and chocolate the Americans carry (and who can blame them for wanting to things after years of having nothing). And the cowboys are happy to give, but what really leaves a strong impression and saddens them most is the devastation they witness everywhere they go.
I have to be honest and say that although I have heard of Heifer International, I had never heard of seagoing cowboys, and of sending livestock to Poland and other European countries hard hit by war, so this picture book was a real eye-opener for me.
And I found
The Seagoing Cowboy to be a fascinating, reader friendly account of such a little-known part of WWII history. Although it is a work of fiction, it is made compelling because it is based on some photos that were given to Peggy Reiff Miller by her father. The photos belonged to her grandfather who had been a seagoing cowboy and they sparked her curiosity about what it was like for the men who volunteered to do this work. After lots of research and talking to some former seagoing cowboys, Peggy took their stories and wrote about the trip of a composite un-named young man and his adventures in
The Seagoing Cowboy.
Claire Ewart's full-color watercolor illustrations are bright, light and airy, reflecting the optimism of the seagoing mission while also capturing the full range of emotions felt by humans and animals alike on this voyage. I love the little smile on Queenie, the horse that John's father had donated to the program without telling his son and John and Queenie see each other on the ship for the first time.
The Seagoing Cowboy is a wonderful, uplifting story about the men who delivered more than just livestock to those in need, they delivered hope for the future, too. You can discover more about this program in Peggy's
Author's Note, along with some photographs she has chosen to share.
Be sure to download the extensive
Curriculum Guide proved by the author.
You can also discover much more information and history about the seagoing cowboys on Peggy Reiff Miller's website
HERE
This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Br
ethren Press
Please, enjoy the book trailer:
It's June 1964 and Sara Barry, 18, has been living at the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls ever since she was a baby. But now, after a fire completely destroys the building, it is time for Sara to strike out on her own. Before she does that, Mrs. Hazelton, the home's matron, decides it is time for Sara to discover who she is. All she has to give Sara is a certificate from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, a doctor's note written in a foreign language and a small Star of David on a chain.
It seems that Sara's mother, whose name was Karen Frankel, had been in Auschwitz, had actually survived until the camp was liberated, but then succumbed to TB in a DP or displaced persons camp shortly afterwards. Sara was born in Germany soon after the war ended, and sent to the home in Canada. Her Jewish background is a complete surprise to her.
Now, armed with the $138.00 gift from Mrs. Hazelton and her own savings from her waitress job, Sara decides to go to Germany and try to find the doctor who signed the certificate that sent her to Canada. Perhaps he has some information about her mother and father.
Arriving in Germany, Sara immediately heads to Föhrenwald, site of the former DP camp and easily locates Dr. Gunther Pearlman, the doctor who had certified her healthy to travel, even though she actually had TB as well. But as soon as the doctor sees the papers she has with her, he turns on her and tells Sara to get out and go back to Canada, he has no information that would help her. Dr. Pearlman does make a one night reservation at a small inn run by an older lady named Frau Klein, and asks his helper, Peter, a boy around the same age as Sara, to escort her there.
Dr. Pearlman may want Sara to leave the next day, but Sara has other plans and with Peter's help, and Frau Klein's kindness, she decides to stay for the rest of the week. Luckily, Peter speaks perfect English (as does Dr. Pearlman), so he can translate for her. Sara quickly discovers that Föhrenwald is still home to many Jewish survivors and their children, including Frau Klein, the doctor and Peter's parents.
But uncovering information about her parents isn't easy in the country that just wants to forget about what had happened there. Yet, perseverance does pay off and while all the loose ends are neatly tied up by the end of the novel, some of what Sara discovers is difficult for her to accept, and I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the ending to twist the way it did.
I found this is a very interesting example of a post-war historical fiction novel. By setting it in the 1960s, Kathy Kacer shows the reader a world that wants to forget what happened, others who, like Sara, really don't know about what happened under Hitler's tyranny, even as racial prejudice is still openly practiced. Mrs. Hazelton didn't keep Sara's Jewish identity secret because she didn't like Jews, but because she wanted to protect her from any lingering anti-Semetism. And Luke, Sara's loser boyfriend in Canada, proves the point, with his hatred of Jews and blacks, seen in the way he goes after Sara's friend Malou.
Stone on a Grave is an emotional, insightful novel about a young woman trying to discover who she really is. It was named a 2016 Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Reader category and I am happy to say that I will be interviewing Kathy Kacer as part of the Sydney Taylor Blog Tour February 11, 2016 on my blog
Randomly Reading. You can find a complete list of winners and the blog tour schedule
HERE
Be sure to read the Author's Note for more information about the aftermath of the Holocaust.
In the Benevolent Home, Sara was one of a group of girls Mrs. Hazelton considered to be her "special seven." Like Sara, each girl is given whatever information Mrs. Hazelton has about who they really are, plus $138.00 she had put aside for them to start them on their way. Sara's story is part of a seven book YA series called
Secrets that follows each girl on their journey towards self-discovery. Each novel is written by a different author, providing a variety of stories and insights.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was purchased for my personal library
It's 1945 and the war is over but not the danger. Felix, now 13, and Gabriek are hiding out in a relatively safe albeit rather wrecked building, and have one simple rule - Stay quiet and out of sight. There are roving bands of men wearing badges that say Poland for the Poles and never hesitate to shoot anyone who is Polish, and that includes Felix, who is Polish, but he's also Jewish.
The war was hard on Gabriek and Felix who lost quite a few people they loved very much, and now Gabriek spends most of his time sleeping off the cabbage vodka he makes in his still, when not doing repair work to get food for the two of them.
Felix, who wants to become a doctor, goes how on the streets with his "medical bag" and the skills he learned from Doctor Zajak, when he and Gabriek joined the partisans before the war ended. While out looking for people to help, Felix runs into two people - Anya, a mysterious girl wearing a filthy pink coat and carrying a gun, and Dimmi, who threatens the lives of Felix and Gabriek because the lock they fixed for him has broken.
Felix isn't out on the street long before he is kidnapped by the Poland for the Poles thugs who require his "medical services." Luckily, Felix escapes and back on the street, a woman throws her baby to him just before she is shot to death. Felix is immediately smitten by the baby and brings him home to an unhappy Gabriek.
It turns out that Anya is living in an orphanage with other kids under the care of Dr. Lipzyk, who invites Felix to visit his medical library anytime he wants to. But things happen that make Felix uncomfortable about the doctor. First, nothing seems to be done about Anya constant vomiting, then, Felix makes a deal with Anya for an endless supply of powdered milk and other baby needs for Pavlo (yes, Felix and Gabriek name the baby a nice Ukrainian name, since his mother was from the Ukraine), and lastly, the doctor cold attitude toward him when he sees Felix without pants on.
In the post-war danger and chaos in Poland, where hate and bigotry still seem to rule the day, will Felix be able to retain his hopeful spirit that the world will someday be a safe and happy place?
I wasn't expecting a 5th book and I may have jumped the gun a little in my need to find out more about Felix's experiences during World War II when I ordered it from The Book Depository. It's out in Australia, New Zealand and Britain, but I don't know when or if it will be published in the US. But is is do worth reading, even though I didn't get any sense of closure when I finished it - but perhaps that is as it should.
Soon is an action packed novel, partly because Felix is able to go out among people in a way that he hasn't been about to for a long, long time. And amazingly, Gleitzman has managed to keep Felix a consistent character in
Once,
Then,
After, and now
Soon even as he matures, and despite some of the horrific things he has witnessed (I don't count Now because it is about Felix at 80 year old and not told from his point of view). Felix is a character who seems to understand human behavior instinctively even if he does still read some behaviors incorrectly at first, but that is just because he is an optimist. And readers can't help but care about what happens to him.
Soon can be read as a stand alone book, but it would be a much richer experience if readers at least read the first three books. And like all of the Felix and Zelda family of books there is violence, but not sex or bad language.
Once again, Gleitzman has explored themes of family and friendship in the worst of times and written a powerful, appealing novel and now I would really like to know what happens to Felix next, but I have a feeling it's not going to happen this time.
You can read an except of
Soon on Morris Gleitzman's website
HERE
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was purchased for my personal library
It's 1953 and WWII has been over for 7 years. In fact, for most of 12-year-old Ella Mae Higbee's life. Her older brother Daniel had been killed in the war in Europe and her cousin Robby Clausen died in the Pacific at Iwo Jima. And while Ella Mae's mother has accepted the death of her son, her Auntie Mildred hadn't accepted that her Robby was gone for good. In fact, she still holds on tightly to Robby's bloody dog-tags.
So when Auntie Mildred heard about a scientist who could re-create a person with just a few drops of their blood in his laboratory, she was ready to welcome Robby back from the dead. There was just one problem - the person who was resurrected using Robby's bloody dog-tags was a young Japanese man. How had a Japanese boy's blood ended up on Robby Clausen's dog-tags? Hysterical, Auntie Mildred, along with Ella Mae and her mother leave the laboratory.
But the lab wants someone to take custody of the Japanese man, whose name is Takuma Sato, and since Auntie Mildred didn't get the son she wanted, it was up to Ella Mae and her mother to bring him home with them, much to the chagrin of Mr. Higbee. By now, Auntie Mildred is convinced that it was Takuma who killed Robby and refuses to speak to her sister for taking care of him.
Indeed, Takuma becomes the unwitting catalyst for long held resentments and hatred in Ella Mae's small California town. While he doesn't remember much about his life before he died, for some who are still coming to terms with family members lost in the war, he brings up their hostile feeling towards the Japanese in general. For others, like the Reverend, the fact that Takuma was created in a lab makes him an abomination on the eyes of God.
Even as tempers flare, even as they are ostracized by family, friends and neighbors for taking in Takuma, Ella Mae and her mother stand firm in their belief that they did the right thing. At school, Ella Mae's cousin and best friend Theo turns his back on her, though when she and Takuma are gone after by the class bully, Theo does get help.
Little by little, Takuma begins to remember his former life, but after a few months, he also begins to physically fail. As he grows weaker and weaker, he starts to draw pictures from the war. Soon the truth about how his blood got on Robby's dog-tags become evident in his drawings. But will Auntie Mildred and everyone else in town be able to accept that what happened on Iwo Jima just didn't happen exactly the way they had thought it had?
The Sound of Life and Everything was an interesting book. It's not often that I get to read speculative fiction that has anything to do with WWII with the exception of time travel books, so this was a welcomed addition. The early 1950s was a time when people were becoming aware of DNA thanks to people like Linus Pauling, Francis Crick and James Watson, all mentioned in the novel. But the science isn't the real focus of the story, merely the means to a way of opening up questions of racism, of forgiveness and of replacing ignorance with knowledge.
I thought Ella Mae was a feisty protagonist in this coming of age story, which is told in the first person by her. Sometimes, though, she is a little too quick with her fists, and yet, she is also a thoughtful young girl willing to admit when she is confused by events and attitudes. She willingly takes Takuma under her wing, teaching him English and showing him her favorite spots to hang out. And when her older cousin Gracie takes over the teaching job, there are some pangs of jealousy.
Ella Mae's mother is wonderful. A deeply religious woman, yet she doesn't hesitate to take on the minister when he refuses to let the Higbees into church with Takuma. And though she acknowledges science, her faith will always be in God, even when it comes to Takuma. But, best of all is how she treats Ella Mae. It's nice to read about a mother who isn't crazy or distant or mean. She is right there in Ella Mae's life, and it's clear she loves and respects her daughter, even when she is mad at her.
The Sound of Life and Everything reads so much like realistic historical fiction, I had to keep reminding myself that it is speculative historical fiction - and while that is the best kind of sic-fi, this is a novel that should appeal to almost anyone.
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
Young Michael had been told by his mother over and over again not to stare at his grandfather whenever he visited his family in London. But Michael couldn't help it, slyly looking at a grandfather he really doesn't know very well and wondering how his face had gotten so disfigured, how he had lost part of the fingers on one hand and all of them on the other. His mother doesn't talk about it and his grandfather doesn't talk about much of anything, let alone what happened to him.
Michael's grandfather lives a relatively isolated life on one of the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast, making a living crabbing and lobstering. When Michael is about 12, he is sent to spend the summer with his grandpa, helping with the fishing, reading, and living a quiet life side by side without electricity, using only a generator that was shut off at night. But Michael liked it there, it was calming and comforting.
One day, while out in the fishing boat, grandpa suddenly told Michael that the thing he liked about him was that he wasn't afraid to look at his face. Before long, grandpa is telling Michael about his life and how things came to be as they are.
After marrying his youthful sweetheart, Annie, war broke out and grandpa joined the merchant navy. One day while crossing the Atlantic in a convoy, his ship was torpedoed several times. With their ship on fire and sinking, grandpa's friend Jim managed to get both of them off it and into the burning water. They swam to a lifeboat, and even though there was no room for either of them, grandpa was pulled into it, and Jim stayed in the water, hanging on for as long as he could.
Grandpa woke up in the hospital, with a long recovery ahead of him. Annie came to visit but grandpa could tell things were different. When he finally returned to Scilly, they did have a baby girl, but things didn't improve. Grandpa started drinking, living with so much hate and anger because of the war. Eventually, Annie left, taking their daughter and never speaking to him again. Father and daughter were estranged until she was grown and sought him out. Their relationship was tentative at best, in part because he had always felt like half a man because people only half looked at him, and his own daughter always avoided looking at him. It was only Michael who wasn't afraid to see his grandpa for who he was, scars and all.
This short story is told in retrospect by a now grown-up Michael. It feels almost like a chapter book, in part because it is only 64 pages, in part because there are so many illustrations, and in part because it is told so simply, but it is a deceptively complicated story and not for such young readers. It is really more for middle grade readers.
The ink and screen print illustrations are done in a palette of grays, oranges, blues and yellows, and are as spare as the story is intense. Most are done from a distance to the subject, and those that are close up show no distinct features. And distance seems to be an underlying theme of the story. The story is told from the distance of time, about people who are just so distant from each other emotionally and physically.
I know Michael Morpurgo is a master at telling sad stories, but I found this to be a sadder story than usual, even though the end does bring closure, at the request of Michael's grandpa, bringing together his mother and grandmother, who have been estranged for years. It really makes you sit back and think. There was so much sadness because of what the war did to Michael's grandpa and the repercussions that resulted leaving these relatives isolated, alienated, even angry with each other, when really it should have elicited kindness, compassion and love.
For that reason, this is a story that will also have resonance in today's world, where we see so many veteran's coming back from war injured, disfigured and with traumatic brain injury. It begs the question: how will we treat these veterans, these men and women and their families.
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
It's January 1950 and for most people, WWII has been over for five years. But not in the Howard household in Tacoma, Washington. It was only fours years ago that Annie Leigh's father, who had been MIA, returned from the war, and spent time in a convalescent hospital learning to adjust to his blindness. Now, he's home, but is starting to withdraw more and more, refusing any more help with his blindness, unlike Uncle Billy, who had also come home from the war with PTSD, and had gotten help for it. Now, the Howard Brothers are planing on starting a carpentry business together - one that won't require Annie's father to leave home.
On top of that, her mother, who seems to be extremely most self-absorbed and domineering, has started her own beauty salon, a long time dream finally realized, but a bone of contention between her and her husband. The family needs the money the salon will bring in, but it takes up a lot of her time, or maybe, Annie speculates, what takes up her mother's time is really the florist, Mr. Larry Capaldi, whose shop is downstairs from the salon and who frequently picks Mrs. Howard up and drops her off.
Into all this come Jon and Elizabeth VanderVelde, refugee twins from Holland who have come to Tacoma to live with their Aunt Dee and Uncle Hendrick. They live on the estate of a wealthy family, Aunt Dee is the cook and housekeeper and Uncle Henrick is their driver. Jon and Elizabeth immediately become friends with Annie Leigh, but they are also carrying their own emotional baggage, especially Jon. The twins spent the war living under Nazi occupation, and witnessed the terrible killing of their parents, to which Jon responded in ways that left him with his own nightmares and PTSD.
Luckily for Annie, her beloved Grandma Howard from Walla Walla comes for an extended stay and can offer Annie some support, advice and stability when needed. Meanwhile, Annie gets to know Jon better, and the two find they are attracted to each other, despite his black moods. But after he surprises her by telling her the truth about what happened on his family's farm towards the end of the war. Annie begins to question her feelings for Jon. But, Annie's biggest surprise come when her mother announces that she is pregnant, and Annie can't help but wonder who the real father is.
Yes, this coming of age story is packed with problems that Annie fears might collapse her world. But in the process of seeking solutions, Annie learns to appreciate what those who were directly involved in the war experienced. And in her attempt to find solutions and make everyone's world better again, she must learn to sometimes step back and let things unfold without her help.
A Less Than Perfect Peace has some nice elements to it and creates a very realistic sense of place and time, giving the reader an interesting window into the beginning of the Cold War, which is also a good metaphor for what was going on in the Howard family at the time. At times the story did drag, and it seemed like there were just too many different story threads, but it all works out in the end and it does mimic how real life happens.
When my mother suddenly lost the sight in one of her eyes, I saw how truly panicked she was about it, and the idea of losing sight in both eyes was a really scary thought for her. I could understand Mr. Howard's desire to stay in the safe confines of his home, where he knew his way around, and to be so resistant to admitting to himself that he is blind and therefore handicapped, even when there were programs and guide dogs to help him maneuver the world again. His character shows what a paralyzing emotion fear can sometimes be.
I should mention that this is a sequel to
Annie's War, which I haven't read yet, but enough background information is given by narrator Annie Leigh in
A Less Than Perfect Peace so that it is a nice stand alone novel and a novel that will certainly resonate with many young readers especially those who are or have family members stuggling with PTSD.
This book is recommended for readers age 11+
This book was borrowed from a friend
It's autumn 1945 and young Liz's dad is home after being away for a long time fighting in the war. In fact, he has been gone so long, that he has become a stranger to Liz, who is feeling shy and a little afraid of him.
November is hunting season and father and daughter are going out to look for crows, because crows eat the crops. But first, there is a new rainbow plaid hunting shirt to be bought for Liz, so big it hangs to her knees.
On the big day, Liz and her dad get up very early, drive to the diner for breakfast, and then off to find crow and to maybe become reacquainted with each other. Liz's job is to blow on the crow call whistle just the right way to wake the crows up, her dad's job is to kill the crows with his hunting gun.
As they walk to a good hunting spot, Liz asks her dad if he was ever afraid in the war. he says, yes, he was scared, scared of lots of things, "Of being alone. Of being hurt. Of hurting someone else." When Liz admits to also being scared sometimes, he asks if she is scared now. "I start to say no. Then I remember the word that scares me.
Hunter."
When they stop and Liz blows her crow call, crows from all over come flying over, and the more she blows it, the more crows come. But no shot is fired, instead her dad just watches her delight in what she is doing.
With one more blow, father and daughter head back to their car hand in hand.
Crow Call is Lois Lowry's first ever picture book (surprising for such a prolific writer). It is a fictionalized autobiographically based story, taken from a day she actually did spend with her father after he returned from the war.
Lowry addresses many issues in
Crow Call, but I think the most important is Liz's fear of her father, a stranger has been away fighting and presumably killing other human beings, which is why I think their conversation about being afraid is so important. Liz needs to see her father as a loving, caring person again, not as a hunter. It is such a gentle story of how a father and daughter must find and learn to trust each other again after a long separation and while it takes place in 1945, it is a story that will resonate with so many of today's children who parents are or have been deployed overseas for long periods of time.
The gently muted realistic illustrations done by Russian-born artist Bagram Ibatoulline are done in watercolor and aryl-gouache using a palette of earth tones, which perfectly match the mood set in the text, reflecting the end of autumn, and, metaphorically the war, but highlighting Liz's rainbow colored shirt.
Fans of Lois Lowry will certainly appreciate this lovely picture book for older readers. And
Crow Call would pair very nicely with Suzanne Collin's picture book
Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
After I finished
Speaking from Among the Bones, the fifth Flavia de Luce mystery, I had a hard time keeping myself from reading
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, especially since it was sitting on my eReader already, thanks to NetGalley.
And I already knew that although it was set in 1951, the mystery had something to do with WWII. So, I caved…
When the previous book ended, Flavia de Luce, still 11, and her sisters Feeley (Ophelia) and Daffy (Daphne) had just received the stunning news from their father that their mother was coming home to Buckshaw. Harriet de Luce had left on a hiking trip through the Himalayas a year after Flavia was born and had fallen to her death. Now, her body has been found in an icy crevice and is being returned for burial. And accompanying Harriet is none other than Winston Churchill.
Two odd things occur while Flavia is standing on the train platform after Harriet's coffin arrived accompanied by much pomp. First there is Churchill whispering in her ear, cryptically asking if she have developed a taste for Pheasant Sandwiches yet, and second, just as a tall man whispers to her that the Gamekeeper is in jeopardy, he is pushed to his death on the train tracks.
Now, Flavia has two mysteries to solve while trying to sort out her feelings about the mother she never really got to know. And on top of that, Flavia may have met her match when her younger, smart-as-a -whip cousin Undine arrives accompanied by her mother, Cousin Lena de Luce from Cornwall.
If you are a Flavia follower, you already know that Buckshaw, the rundown family estate owned by Harriet and bled dry by His Majesty's Board of Inland Revenue or the Forces of Darkness, as Flavia's father, Haviland de Luce, calls them, is up for sale, since no will of Harriet's was ever found. So when Flavia gets the cockamamie idea that she can resurrect her dead mother through chemistry, the only thing she manages to accomplish is finding a copy of Harriet's until now missing will in a pocket before she must leave the room. Can the will save Buchshaw from being sold?
It doesn't take Flavia long to figure out that Harriet didn't have an accidental fatal fall, but like the man on the station platform, she was pushed to her death. Who pushed Harriet and why they did it add to the mystery of the cryptic Pheasant Sandwiches comment, discovering who the Gamekeeper is and why they are in jeopardy, who pushed the man off the platform and why. And it all harkens back to World War II.
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is a difficult book to properly review without giving too much of the mysteries away, even though by the time I finished reading, I realized that the mysteries were not the central part of the story, merely a vehicle for what was to come next. Because Book #6 in the Flavia de Luce series is really a transition novel.
And while the mysteries aren't great, the tone of the book is much more serious than usual. Cousin Undine and her antics happily provides some relief from that. Undine starts out rather bratty, but ends up as a much better character and a bit of a foil for Flavia. Which is good since Flavia is not her customary smart-mouthed self.
So, all of the open questions that have followed Flavia throughout the series are answered in this novel. Flavia is just about ready to turn 12, and not only do we see Flavia changing, but her circumstances do too. It is the end of the series? No, indeed. Bradley has 4 more Flavia de Luce books planned.
Even though
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches was not the usual Flavia mystery, it is still really good. But, and it's a big BUT, I don't know that it would work well as a stand alone novel. It might be better to read an earlier Flavia novel first, to get more information and a better feel for recurring characters and circumstances, even though now change is in the air.
What will the future hold for our young heroine? I can't wait to see what happens to Flavia de Luce once she turns 12.
This book is recommended for readers 14+
This book is an eARC received from
NetGalley
This is book 2 of my
2014 Crusin' Through the Cozies Reading Challenge hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews
This is book 5 of my
2014 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry
There was just no way a chocoholic such a myself could pass on reading a book called
My Chocolate Year. And I am glad I did.
It is September 1945, the war is over and Dorrie Meyers is starting fifth grade. And the best part is that her best friend Sunny Shapiro is in her class and their teacher is the very popular Miss Fitzgerald. Popular because each year, Miss Fitzgerald has a Sweet Semester, in which each student thinks up a dessert to make, writes an essay about it and in January they all bring in their entries and a prize goes out to one winner dessert and one winning essay.
Dorrie loves chocolate passionately and is very excited about Sweet Semester, except for one problem - she has no idea how to make anything, let alone a prize winning dessert. And this year is a special Sweet Semester because not only will family members be invited, but the winners will also get their pictures in the
Chicago Daily News. In addition, since there are now so many orphans in Europe as a result of the war, the class will has a donation jar set up to collect money to send to a charity which cares for the orphans.
The subject of orphans soon hits home for Dorrie. Her grandparents had all migrated to America, but there were still relatives who had remained in Lithuania. No one knew what happened to them after war. Since they were Jewish the worst was feared and Dorrie's mother has been making inquires to find them. Then, one November morning, good news arrives. Victor Dubin, son of Dorrie's Aunt Mina and Uncle Joseph and grandson of Dorrie's Bubbie, was found living in a Displaced Persons camp. No sooner found, than arrangements begin to be made to bring Victor to America. Sadly, no other family members survived.
Victor, now an orphan, and orphan jar in school get Dorrie to thinking about the Margaret O'Brien and the movie
Journey for Margaret, about a young girl orphaned during the London Blitz. How, Dorrie wonders, did she play such a convincing orphan? So she writes a letter to the actress to ask.
Meanwhile, Dorrie and Sunny experiment with different possibilities for Sweet Semester. The first idea, Chocolate Covered Gum, dissolves into a chocolaty mess. Their chocolate covered nuts and raisins clusters taste delicious, but was that all chocolate in them? Oh, and when you add flour to brownies using the electric mixer, it is much easier if you turn the mixer off.
It is really beginning to look like Dorrie isn't going to win that Sweet Semester competition despite the fact that both her mother and Buddie are excellent bakers. She just doesn't seem to have a natural instinct for baking. She really needs a miracle...could that miracle come in the form of both real and movie orphans?
This is a lovely story about the strength and importance of family. It is told in Dorrie's voice and even though it is not written as a diary, it reads like on. The book follows the year though all the Jewish holidays, starting with Rosh Hashanah and Dorrie explains the story and Jewish customs for celebrating each holiday for the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with them. She also talks about the war and it's effect on her family, and when Victor comes, we hear his story in detail, but not so much detail that it would be too much for the targeted age of intended readers. This is a book, after all, that is written for kids who are beginning to learn about the Holocaust.
Now, the 12 recipes. Not all are real recipes, but some are and they are made from scratch. My 10 year old budding chef liked that idea, since she is a cooking purist. We actually make Dorrie's Sweet Semester entry, which was so good that when I went to take a picture, they were all gone. Lesson learned - don't leave good tasting stuff unattended with kids in the house and without telling them hands off.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was purchased for my personal library
Weekend Cooking is a weekly event hosted by
Beth Fish Reads
Imagine you are a German Jew who managed to escape Hitler's Germany during the war. Now, the war is over, but you have been asked to return to Germany by the United States Army to assess what the German children living in that now decimated country need to live a better life. After all that happened to Jews in Germany, could you have done it? It would indeed take a strong, caring, forgiving person to embark on such a task, but that is exactly what Jella Lepmaan did.
As Jella traveled through Germany in an army jeep, she saw that the children needed so much - clothing, food, homes, warmth. But they also wanted books. She spoke to the General at army headquarters where she was stationed about an exhibition of children's books from around the world. The General agreed this was a good idea and, night after night, Jella wrote to publishers to ask for books donations for the exhibition. She called her letters doves of peace. And, amazingly, even after what Hitler had done to the world, publishers around the world did respond.
The books were great, but were for an exhibition, not for the children who wanted them. So, Jella decided to translate
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf into German. Then she had it printed - 30,000 copies on newsprint and a few days before Christmas, they were handed out to Germany's children.
That was just the beginning. By 1949, Jella's first children's book exhibition had grown into the International Youth Library in Munich. This research library still exists today and still collects children's books from around the world.
Sydelle Pearl's
Books for Children of the World: The Story of Jella Lepman is a beautifully written homage to a very courageous woman and the library she founded. Lepman believed that just as her letters were doves of peace, books were messengers of peace and the idea of peace is a clear message in her work. Pearl is herself a librarian and it is easy to see that she believes in the power of books.
 |
Giving out newsprint copies of The Story of
Ferdinand to children in Germany |
Illustrations add so much to a book and those of Danlyn Iantorno are no exception. These bold, colorful realistic illustrations, which appear to have been rendered in oil paint, capture both the bold spirit of Jella Lepman and the varied emotions of the children. I also thought that the tones of the colors used reminded of picture books and readers from the late 1940s and 1950s reflecting the
Zeitgeist of that particular time.
Be sure to read the Author's Note at the end of the book for more information about Jella Lepman and the International Youth Library. There is list of selected sources as well, should you be inclined to explore Lepman and the library further.
Bear in mind that this is a historical biography and not really a picture for young readers.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was provided to me by the publisher.
There is a wonderfully informative lesson plan based on Books for Children of the World: The Story of Jella Lepman which, though produced in 2011, is nevertheless still very useful and can be found
here.
Nonfiction Monday is hosted this week by Wendie at
Wendie's Wanderings
Greenhorn is a heart-warming story of two outsiders who become life-long friends. With lovely folk art type illustrations by Miriam Nerlove, the story is set in a Yeshiva, a boarding school in Brooklyn, NY in 1946 and narrated in the first person by Aaron, a student there and a boy who speaks with a stutter, to the annoyance/amusement of the other boys in the school.
One day, the Rabbi interrupts a class during their recess to announce that twenty boys from Poland, who, unlike their parents, survived the Holocaust, will soon be arriving at the school.
After the Polish boys arrive, one of them, Daniel, is assigned to Aaron's room, already crowded with three boys. The other boys don't really welcome their new roommate, and start going after him for being skinny and not speaking. They nickname him Greenhorn, but there is not affection in the name. Aaron realizes that Daniel doesn't speak English and asks if he understands Yiddish. At first, Daniel doesn't respond to any of the boys, except with fear when they bring up the Nazis.
Eventually, the Polish boys all start speaking English, except Daniel, who, it turns out, does know Yiddish and will only speak it. Yet, no matter what kind of friendly overtures are made to Daniel he never joins in. Nevertheless, Aaron keeps trying to be friends with Daniel. One day, while the boys are picking on him because of his stutter, Daniel comes to Aaron's defense - in English.
Things get better after that, but not much and the other boys begin to really focus on the little box Daniel carries around with him, even putting it under his pillow at night. One night Aaron notices that the box had fallen on the floor, opened and the content had fallen out. It looked like a rock to Aaron, but when he asked Daniel about it, he received no reply. "F-F-Friends don't keep secrets from each other." Aaron tells him. But Daniel was sleeping.
But what's in Daniel's box that he carried all the way from Poland and never let out of his sight? Was this the end of Aaron's attempts to be friends?
Most American children really didn't comprehend how conditions were in Europe for Jews during the war. Of course, by 1946 they had heard about what happened in concentration camps, but it was still hard for them to grasp the full measure of things. To her credit, Anna Olswanger has depicted this aspect of life even in a place like a Yeshiva. But I think she has done an outstanding job of depicting the kind of trauma kids who were caught of in the actual events and who lost parents, siblings and other relatives suffered from. It seems like it would be just unimaginable, but you do get the idea from this short but powerful story.
Healing is a long hard road, but this is a story of friendship and it is based on a true event. The boy Aaron grew up to be Rabbi Rafael Grossman. He lost touch with the real life "Daniel." But one day, while visiting Israel, he ran into him again, "Daniel" had become a pediatrician, working and living in Israel.
And yes, eventually Aaron/Rabbi Grossman did find out what was in Daniel's box and why it was so important.
This is just my feeling but, although this is a story written for readers around 9+ years old, I think it might be a good idea for them to read this little book with some supervision. Not that the events involved are described in graphic detail, but some of what the Nazis did to people is not always covered in books for kids. That being said, it would still highly recommend it.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was sent to me by the publisher.
A discussion guide for teacher's can be found
here
A discussion guide for parents can be found
here
The author, Anna Olswanger, has written a very interesting guest post about
Greenhorn over at
Cynsations
There is a Goodreads Greenhorn Givaway running until February 17 and you enter to win a copy
here
 |
| Occasionally, on Wednesdays, I review a book written during World War II. It was a time when no one knew what was going to happen from moment to moment, so they offer a very different perspective on the war. |
I found
The Ark to be an oddly pleasant story about a family trying to survive in post-war Germany, not the subject of too many YS novels. And even thought it was originally written and published in Germany in 1948 under the title
Die Arche Noah, and not translated and published in English until 1953, I felt it qualified for a That's The Way It Was Wednesday post.. Some of the books content comes from Benary-Isbdert's own experiences in Germany at the end of the war.
The Ark center's on the Lechow family: Mother, eldest son Matthias, 16, Margaret, 14, Andrea, 13 and Joey, 7, but is, for the most part, Margaret's story. It is October and the Lechow's have been refugees for a long time, after fleeing west from their home in Pomerania just ahead of the Russian Army at the end of the war. Now, after two years of living in refugee camps, they have finally been assigned two rooms in the home of elderly Mrs. Zerduz, and though she can't do anything about it, she has made it clear that Mrs. Lechow and her children are not welcome.
Little by little the Lechow's settle into their new, more stable home. Joey is finally enrolled in school, where he immediately meets a best friend and fellow adventurer Hans Ulrich, an orphan. Andrea is offered a full scholarship at a private girls school, Margaret stays home and helps with the house and shopping (she doesn't want to return to school) and Matthias is assigned to work in construction, where he meets a best friend and fellow musician, Dieter.
And Mrs. Lechow uses her considerable skill as a seamstress to make some additional money. All in all, life has take a turn for the better for the Lechow's. Even Mrs. Zerduz begins to feel very attached to the family. But they still haven't heard from Dr. Lechow, a POW in a Soviet labor camp; Matthias would rather be an apprentice to a gardener than work in construction; and animal-loving Margaret would rather work on a farm.
Just before their first Christmas in their new home, the children, with Dieter, go out caroling and end up at the lovely Almut farm. One thing leads to another and pretty soon Matthias is taken on as an apprentice and Margaret as a kennel maid. Both of them are ecstatically happy with this arrangement, plus they get to live in an old railroad car that Mrs. Almut had purchased many years ago. They fix it up into a lovely home that can sleep eight people and pretty soon find themselves with both human and animal visitors. For that reason, Margaret decides to christen it "The Ark"
The Ark is an easy to digest novel abou
I met Allen Say at a “Meet the Artist” event at the Eric Carle Museum in 2007 when they were running an exhibit of his work called
Allen Say: a Sense of Place. It was very nice to meet him, since he is a really charming, friendly person and one of my favorite author/illustrators.
While all of his books stem from his lifetime experiences,
Drawing from Memory is Say’s first autobiographical work focused on how he became an artist. Born in Yokohama, Japan in 1937, he was taught by his mother to read at a very young age. Soon he was reading lots of comics and copying the pictures from them. He decided that he wanted to be an artist, and luckily, he had talent, but, unfortunately, not his parents blessing.
But then the war came and his life drastically changed. He and his mother left their home in Yokohama to live in relative safety with a mean uncle. Later, this mean uncle shows up in
Once Under a Cherry Blossom Tree (one wonders how many of these kinds of people end up playing a dastardly role in future books.) Say’s father remained in Yokohama.
After the war, however, Say’s parents never got back together. His mother was forced to work financially and Say went to live with his grandmother, who also often and vocally disapproved of his artistic aspirations. But luckily Say got accepted into a school and was allowed to have his own apartment – at 12 years old. There he read about a great cartoonist, Noro Shinpei, and a young boy who had sought this man out and had become his apprentice. Say know at that moment what he needed to do.
Drawing from Memory gives readers an inside look at Allen Say’s development as an artist from childhood on, in both text and drawings. Many of the drawings are done from memory (hence the title of the book) with the exception of one sketch-book he didn’t burn before leaving Japan. The artwork is done in watercolor, pen and ink and various other mediums, all very effectively reflecting the emotions of the artist at the time. The drawings are punctuated with old photos giving credence to the drawings.
The book only covers Says life in Japan, before he came to America. But this was the period of his formation as an artist and was a very important time in his life. I did have a hard time believing he could leave his mentor, Noro Shinpei, with whom he was so happy, even though I know these things need to be done in order for an artist to come into his/her own.
Like all of Allen Say’s works, this is a wonderful book for both kids and adults. Kids, regardless of their future aspirations, if any, will find inspiration in Say’s journey to become an artist in the face of so many obstacles. Adults will learn, as Say’s mother did, to “Let you dear child journey.” (Pg 35)
Though Say doesn’t write much about his life during the war, I found the insider’s picture of post war Japan that he depicts in this book particularly interesting, since it is something we often don’t hear about. The unhappiness and discontent of the people that took place are depicted in the drawings demonstrations and clashes with the police. The people wanted jobs, money to live on, better education, a better government – in general a better world.
Drawing from Memory is a definite must for anyone who likes Allen Say’s previous work and for anyone not familiar with him.
This book is recommended for readers age 9 and up
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL
&nbs
Michelle Magorian is probably best known for her excellent book
Goodnight, Mr. Tom, but she also wrote several other World War II novels for adolescent readers. One of those other books is
Back Home. It begins in the summer of 1945. The war is over and 12 year old Virginia Dickinson is returning to England. Virginia had been a scared, timid 7 year old when she was evacuated to an American family in Connecticut. Five years have passed and she is confident 12 year old who now goes by the name Rusty, the nickname her American family gave her because of her red hair. Rusty isn’t very happy about her return. She barely knows her own mother, who is now a talented mechanic with the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS.) She has a four year old brother Charlie that she has never met and who dislikes Rusty from the beginning. And, she has acquired an American accent, which is greeted with disdain and she is constantly told that she must lose it.
Rusty is temporarily taken to Devon, where her mother and brother have been living with an elderly woman named Beatie. There she meets Beth Hatherly, a girl whose own family seems to resemble the rather bohemian American family Rusty stayed with. She is just beginning to enjoy herself in Devon, when she, her mother and brother move back to her grandmother’s house in London. For Rusty, the move is again temporary, she has been enrolled in a girls’ boarding school, Benwood House, in part to become re-anglicized and hopefully to help her lose her accent.
Rusty’s paternal grandmother is strict, critical and condescending. She intensely dislikes Rusty’s accent, her confidence and her behavior. She also feels Charlie is too coddled by her daughter-in-law and needs to learn to behave like a big boy.
But, if living in her grandmother’s felt like hell on earth, boarding school is worse. Benwood House is definitely not the Chalet School. It is cold, unfriendly, condescending and highly critical of Rusty’s American experience and, of course, the ‘despicable’ accent. Everything Rusty does seems to result in a mark against her and her house, which has the unfortunate name Butt House.
One day, on a trip into town, Rusty overhears some boys calling one member of their group Yank, and she begins talking to him, not realizing that speaking to boys is against the rules. For this infraction, Rusty receives a discipline mark and is called up in front of the whole school and publicly humiliated. The next day she receives the sad news that Beatie has died. Feeling sad and alone, that night, Rusty discovers that she can climb down some scaffolding outside her window, and escape into the woods surrounding the school, feeling free for the first time since arriving in England. She manages to get a note to Yank on her next visit to town, telling him where and when to meet her that night.
The boy, Lance, shows up and they continue to meet at night, exploring and talking. Eventually, they find a bombed out house and Rusty begins to decorate it with the carpentry, painting and stenciling skills she learned in the US. Gradually, however, Lance begins to be accepted by the boys in his school, while things only get worse for Rusty, especially after her father returns home from the army.
It is clear that Rusty’s parents have grown apart during the five years of war. Her mother has become quite independent and refuses to give that up even though she is expected to by bot
The chocolate sticks sound so yummy. And I love the sound of the book and the lessons to be learned.
chocolate...did someone say chocolate?? where..where is it?? :-)
What a fun book. Lots of history and emotion and food.
This sounds like a special book that would be good to share. thanks for the lovely review.
I wouldn't have been able to resist this title either, and those chocolate sticks sound very good!
My niece would love this book... I'm going to see if I can find it for her birthday!
I thought from the title -and knowing what you review - that this would be set in Europe somewhere - maybe even something related to the airlift. But this is fun - seems like a gentle way to introduce a bitter topic.
I really love this concept. And reading the book would be sweet too!
The chocolate sticks are yummy. I also like that there are lessons to be learned.
Yes, very much so.
I totally know what you mean - I am the same way about chocolate. As I told my niece, it is doesn't have chocolate, it is just stuff.
You are right, it is a good book to share. Glad you liked the review.
I know, I like a nice cupcake, but yes, those chocolate sticks are wonderful.
I don't know if this is still available, but you can certainly find new copies online. That is how we got out copy and it had never been read. I'm sure your niece would enjoy it as much as mine did.
I thought the cupcake made it look like a more modern book, since cupcakes have had such a revival. But then again, my mom made cupcakes long before the revival. It was a nice book for introducing the Holocaust, but also for introducing some holidays and customs that are celebrated by Jewish people as well. Reading was sweet, but maybe I consumed a little more chocolate than usual the day I read it.
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As someone who needs to have at least some chocolate every day- this title caught my eye. It sounds like a great book and I look forward to reading it. I wish we were allowed to have food at school so my students could have a sweet sememster. :) I bet they would love it. Awesome that you made a recipe from the book!
Thanks for sharing.
It's great stuff. I get it some new information through your blog. Its really helpful to me.
Estetik