BOOK REVIEW: Informational Books: We are the Ship by Kadir Nelson

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nelson, Kadir.  We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball.  New York: Hyperion Books, 2008.  ISBN 0786808322.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

In the late turn of the 20^th century, racial segregation was still prevalent in the United States. In order to play professional baseball, African American athletes formed their own teams and leagues.  With the help of Rube Foster, the Negro National League was formed. By playing harder and more difficult games, these players honed their skills as ball players and went on to entertain people across America and Cuba.  They barnstormed major teams, played winter ball in other countries, and even formed their own World Series.  Their drive to be the best at the sport they loved put players like Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson in the spot-light to break the color line and re-open Major League Baseball to African American players.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The history of Negro League Baseball is not a pretty one, but it is one that deserves to be told.  Kadir Nelson uses his narrative as if a player is walking you straight through the hardships to the Major Leagues.  From being run out of major clubs and even towns through forming their own teams, leagues, and even World Series, Nelson’s narrator radiates hope and a dogged perseverance displayed by so many of the players he talks about.  The story is heart-breaking, but has a happy ending.  However, it’s the paintings included in the book that keep you turning the pages.  Each is lovingly brushed and at times it seems like the players themselves are looking right at the reader as you share in their little victories.  The two page spread of the first Negro World Series is carefully recreated right down to the names, giving a vitality to the players and coaches.  Nelson provides careful research while still adding in some of the feelings that must have gone through each of the players when only a select few of the players made it into the farm teams and major leagues of baseball.  He even includes a passage on why he chose to narrate the book through a first person rather than just give the facts of the story, which helps this to read more like listening to your grandfather’s tales than a history lesson.

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2009 SIBERT MEDAL

2009 CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD FOR AUTHORS

From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – "The history of the Leagues echoes the social and political struggles of black America during the first half of the 20th century. There were scores of ballplayers who never became as famous as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb and were almost lost in obscurity because of segregation—and Nelson recreates their history here."

From BOOKLIST -- "The narrative showcases the pride and comradery of the Negro Leagues, celebrates triumphing on one’s own terms and embracing adversity, even as it clearly shows the “us” and “them” mentality bred by segregation. If the story is the pitch, though, it’s the artwork that blasts the book into the stands. Nelson often works from a straight-on vantage point, as if the players took time out of the action to peer at the viewer from history, eyes leveled and challenging, before turning back to the field of play."

5.  CONNECTIONS

Gather other books that discuss the history of baseball such as:

•     Kahn, Roger. THE BOYS OF SUMMER.  ISBN 0060883960.

•     Halfon, Mark S. TALES FROM THE DEADBALL ERA: TY COBB, HOME RUN BAKER, SHOELESS JOE JACKSON, AND THE WILDEST TIMES IN BASEBALL HISTORY.  ISBN 1612346480.

Gather other Kadir Nelson books to read such as:

•     NELSON MANDELA.  ISBN 0061783749.

•     HEART AND SOUL: THE STORY OF AMERICA AND AFRICAN AMERICANS.  ISBN 1885008333.

BOOK REVIEW: Informational Books: Invincible Microbe by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Murphy, Jim and Alison Blank.  Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-ending Search for a Cure.  Boston: Clarion Books, 2012.  ISBN 9780618535743.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Did you know that tuberculosis is one of the oldest known diseases? And that skulls of cavemen show signs of being infected by this infectious killer.  Jim Murphy and Alison Blank walk through centuries of fascinating history about this tiny microbe, coupled with drawings from early sufferers evolving along with treatments and trials paired with pictures of the doctors and patients who began to pioneer scientific cures. They bring the reader through the dark ages and leech treatments through to the sanatoriums that spread across the nation like resort hotels. While this book is information packed and the tone is serious and scientific, it never feels like it drags or feels like a text book, which will help readers navigate the history of this disease and mankind inside.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

It seemed like the black and white images and newspaper like tone of Invincible Microbe were going to keep this book a slow plod of overwhelming information.  However, Murphy and Blank keep the information light enough to read cover to cover, even when discussing such a heavy topic.  The black and white drawings, prints, and photo reproductions help to give a face to not only the sufferers, but to those who applied the knowledge they had to stopping the spread and seeking a cure for this highly contagious disease.  The writing maintains and easy flow and a positive attitude that life for the patients will get better, just around the next page.  While the outline feels like an old-fashioned newspaper, the text itself keeps the reader from getting bogged down in the abundance of information.  Organized by time frame, from the earliest known (and presumed) accounts toward modern research and medicine, this book marches forward at a steady pace.  Pages of source materials and footnotes throughout the book show the amount of research that went to making this a well organized source of history and information on one of the world’s oldest documented diseases.

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2013 NSTA OUTSTANDING SCIENCE TRADE BOOKS FOR STUDENTS K—12

KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST TEEN BOOKS OF 2012

BOOKLIST TOP 10 BOOKS FOR YOUTH 2012, SCIENCE & HEALTH

ALSC 2013 NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOKS, OLDER READER

From KIRKUS REVIEWS – "Lively text complemented by excellent well-placed reproductions of photographs, drawings, flyers, woodcuts, posters and ads . . . . Who knew the biography of a germ could be so fascinating?"

From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “The writing is crisp and clinical . . . Students researching diseases or medical breakthroughs will find this book both informative and interesting.”

5.  CONNECTIONS

Gather other books about dark times and triumph in America to read such as:

•     Sheinkin, Steve.  BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD – AND STEAL – THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON.  ISBN 1596434872.

•     Scott, Elaine.  BURIED ALIVE! HOW 33 MINERS SURVIVED 69 DAYS DEEP UNDER THE CHILEAN DESERT.  ISBN 0547707789.

•     Rusch, Elizabeth.  THE MIGHTY MARS ROVERS: THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY.  ISBN 054747881X.

Gather other books by Jim Murphy:

•     AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: THE TRUE AND TERRIFYING STORY OF THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793.  ISBN 0395776082.

•     BLIZZARD!: THE STORM THAT CHANGED AMERICA.  ISBN 0590673106.

BOOK REVIEW: Informational Books: What to do about Alice by Barbara Kerley

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kerley, Barbara. What to do about Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy!  Ills.by Edwin Fotheringham.  New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.  ISBN  0439922313.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of beloved President Teddy Roosevelt, has never let anything come in the way of “eating up the world.”  From educating herself and refusing to go to boarding school to jumping into a ship’s pool fully clothed, she has always done exactly as she wanted.  Kerley, with the help of Edwin Fotheringham’s colorful digital art, illuminates the life of this beloved first daughter - from her childhood running around Washington D.C. and the White House, to becoming one of her father’s most trusted advisers and ambassadors around the world.  Alice jumps off the page with text and illustration as active and lively as she is.  As her father once said, “I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice.  I cannot possibly do both.” We can only be grateful for that!

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Kerley does a fantastic job of bringing young Alice Roosevelt to life as she flits across the pages.  Paired with Fotheringham’s art in this colorful large volume format, Alice’s personality fills the pages and bright colors, like Alice’s red dress leap from the pages.  Alice’s zest for trying everything comes across through not only the words, but the juxtaposition of the text with the images.  Using her age as a way to actively organize the narrative, Kerley adds in details from newspapers and biographies to keep the story true to the people, but maintaining a fascinating subject.  From images of her greeting White House guests with a pet snake to driving her little sporty car around a double page spread, the reader gets a feel for her wild-child antics turned into beloved ambassador and adviser. 

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

SIBERT HONOR BOOK

BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK HONOR BOOK

IRMA BLACK AWARD HONOR BOOK

PARENTS CHOICE AWARD

WASHINGTON STATE SCANDIUZZI CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD

CALIFORNIA COLLECTIONS

A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

AN ALA NOTABLE BOOK

CAPITOL CHOICES

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 100 TITLES FOR READING AND SHARING

FROM SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “Kerley’s text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject’s antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp her style, dives fully clothed into a ship’s swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father’s trusted advisers. Fotheringham’s digitally rendered, retro-style illustrations are a superb match for the text.”

From BOOKLIST – “Irrepressible Alice Roosevelt gets a treatment every bit as attractive and exuberant as she was....The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art.”

5.  CONNECTIONS

Gather other informational books by Barbara Kerley such as:

•     Ills. Edwin Fotheringham.  THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY).  ISBN 0545125081.

•     Ills. National Geographic photographers.  A COOL DRINK OF WATER.  ISBN 0792267230.

Gather other informational biographies about famous people, such as:

•     Davies, Jacqueline.  THE BOY WHO DREW BIRDS:  A STORY OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. ISBN0618243437.

•     Bryant, Jen.  Ills. Melissa Sweet. THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS.  ISBN 0802853854.

•     Berne, Jennifer.  Ills. Éric Puybaret. MANFISH: A STORY OF 

BOOK REVIEW: Poetry: Orchards by Holly Thompson

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thompson, Holly. Orchards. Ill. by Grady McFerrin.  New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBN 038573977X.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Fourteen year old half-Japanese, half Jewish American, Kana Goldberg is sent to her mother’s ancestral home in Japan after the suicide of one of her classmates – who Kana and her friends weren’t exactly nice to.  Spending the summer months under the watchful eye of her traditional grandmother working in mikan orange groves wasn’t exactly on her list of great ways to spend a vacation. But, the more she learns about her family and their past, the more she opens up about what happened and begins to grow – when news from home throws her for another loop.  Her family and friends from home help her to realize the best thing she can do to honor the memory of those lost is in how she continues to live.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In short phrases and quiet reflection, Thompson walks the reader through one half-Japanese, half-Jewish American girl’s growth as she deals with being sent to spend the summer with her Japanese relatives in the wake of a suicide of a girl from her class.  Kana’s guilt over being complacent in the girl’s treatment and the adjustment of feeling like an outsider in the midst of her traditional family dance the reader through Japanese tradition and running from emotion, only to have them sneak back around.  The verses flow gently with the simple words.  There is a quiet movement of thought in the lines without the harshness of what she is dealing with breaking the surface - like gentle water meandering around the page.  She is coming to terms in her own time, through reflection and piecing it together rather than forced ideas.  Her internal growth mirror the orchards of mikan oranges she must help her family tend – at first they are small and crowded, and the excess must be trimmed away repeatedly to get to the good fruit that is waiting to grow.  She must even return to the states before seeing the fruit ripen, walking the path toward her final growth once she is home and ready to continue to live in the wake of a second death.  Small ink illustrations of bento boxes, Mt. Fuji, orchards, and mikan trees interspersed throughout the poems and chapters pair with the simplicity of the verses without taking away from the impact of the words.

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2012 APALA ASIAN/​PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE
A YALSA 2012 BEST FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS TITLE
A BANK STREET 2012 BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR TITLE
SCBWI 2012 CRYSTAL KITE WINNER
2012-2013 ISINGLASS TEEN READ AWARD NOMINEE
A 2011 LIBRARIANS' CHOICE: POETRY TITLE
SHORTLISTED FOR A RED DOT BOOK AWARD 2011-2012
SHORTLISTED FOR A SAKURA MEDAL AWARD 2012

From PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY – "Eloquently captures a teenager's anger, guilt, and sorrow after a classmate takes her own life.... Understated yet potent verse."

From BOOKLIST -- "Readers will want to talk about the big issues, especially the guilt of doing nothing."

5.  CONNECTIONS

Gather other poetry and verse books about fitting in to read such as:

•     Lai, Thanhha. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. ISBN 0061962783

•     Mccall, Guadalupe Garcia. UNDER THE MESQUITE.  ISBN 1600604293.

•     Hopkins, Ellen. IMPULSE. ISBN 1416903569.

Gather other Holly Thompson books to read such as:

•     THE LANGUAGE INSIDE. ISBN 0385739796. 

•     Ills. Kazumi Wilds. THE WAKAME GATHERERS.  ISBN 1885008333.