Night of the Cossack by Thomas Blubaugh

Cossacks were members of several peasant groups of Russian and Polish descent. They lived in autonomous communal settlements, especially in the Ukraine, until the early 20th century. In return for special privileges, they served in the cavalry under the czars. They were well known for their horsemanship. They raided villages for supplies, women and young men to increase or replenish their ranks. Eventually they became a part of the Russian army. (From the author's website)

  Nathan Hertzfield is a young Russian boy living with his widowed mother and younger brother. During the night a band of Cossacks raid his village. Many are killed while their houses are pillaged and burned. Nathan is kidnapped by one of the Cossacks, a man named Nikolai, and taken back to their camp. At first their relationship is somewhat turbulent.

“You're obstinate, little man. You'll make a fine Cossack.”

 Nikolai said, “I've questions for you. You were born in the village of Gagra, no?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You're Russian by birth.”

“Yes.”

“And you're a Christian?”

“A Christian? No.”

“What then?”

“I'm a Jew,” said Nathan proudly.

“A Jew, you say. You won't be when we return to camp.”

“How can that be? I was born a Jew. How can I not be a Jew?”

“The fact you're a Jew doesn't matter to me. You're young, healthy, and trainable. This is all that matters. You're going to need a new name. What is your name?”

“Nathan, Nathan Hertzfield.”

“Your name will no longer be Nathan Hertzfield. You're Stepan Ivanov now.”

The rest of the story is an exciting adventure where Nathan, now Stepan, becomes like a son to Nikolai. For many years they live together and become very close as they live the gypsy yet war like life of the Cossacks. As a lover of Russian literature I found the descriptions of the culture of the Cossacks informative and very interesting.

Stepan soon comes to understand why Nikolai wanted to hide his Jewish identity. It is 1904 in Russia and the Jewish pograms are underway. Eventually it becomes so dangerous that Stepan can no longer stay with the Cossacks or in Russia.

Living and running and fighting with the Cossacks is only one chapter of Stepan's life. War, political upheaval and danger from another Cossack boy who tries to pin a crime on him takes him across Europe in what is a kind of “Jewish underground railroad” where he meets many other Jews who are trying to make it to freedom and safe from persecution. Having to change his name more than once he finally makes it to America.

Thomas Blubaugh wrote this story about his grandfather who immigrated to America from Russia. He never met him or learned much about him so Blubaugh decided to make up his own story about his grandfather's life.

This book is an excellent coming of age story that would be wonderful for adolescent boys (and girls- I always read 'male' literature as a kid.) It is also a source of good historical fiction as it accurately portrays living conditions in turn of the century Russia, the plight of the Jewish people and how many of them came to America, via Europe.

Blubaugh's writing style is seamless and fluid. His characters are believable and interesting. On top of that it has a great story line. All the ingredients of a great book. It was easy and fun to read. I read it in a couple of days. I recommend this book to everyone.

 

Here is the latest link to the book on Amazon.

I received a free copy of this book by the author.  For more information you can go to Thomas Blubaugh's website:
http://nightofthecossack.com

For another review of this book you can visit the blog Reflections in Hindsight  here

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The following review is written by my son, Derek.  This past year I have begun homeschooling him to get him ready for college.  One particular concern was his writing skills.  I will be periodically posting papers written by him as an exercise to help him improve these skills.  Feel free to give feedback!

  Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury that portrays a nation that has been corrupted by the Government. The message of this novel is shown through the eyes of the protagonist, Guy Montag. Montag is a firefighter in a world where firefighters don’t put out fires but burn books. (Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper burns.) After meeting a man who reads, he wakes up to the fact that everyone is being kept under control and pacified by laws the government has imposed on its people. It accomplishes this in a couple of ways. First, they outlaw books. Second they keep everything, including education on a shallow entertainment level. As a result, the people can no longer think for themselves and do whatever the government tells them.

Books have been outlawed and are burned by the firemen. This is because, according to the government, books cause people to stop and think which causes division and unhappiness in society. If someone is found with books then firemen are sent to their house. The houses, curiously enough, are fireproof which allows the firemen to burn all the books inside without damaging the building. The person found owning books is considered a threat to the happiness of society and is given the death penalty. This is administered by lethal injection through the mouth of the firemen’s dog. This “firedog” is a machine that has eight legs and always accompanies the firemen on their missions.

Everyone is constantly being entertained. Schools focus mostly on sports rather than education. There’s one room in every house that has huge TV screens built into every wall. Wherever people go they are listening to music on their headphones, paying no attention to the world around them. Because everything is seen as fun and games, no one seems to be able to value life. A group of teenagers hit and kill a young girl with their car and think nothing of it. Neither does anyone else.

The government tells the people that they are happy through entertainment. The people believe this without question. However, since the average person cannot think rationally or judge anything for themselves, everyone is rendered helpless under the government’s control. The country falls apart as the value for life, the earth’s natural beauty and intact families disappear. They are replaced with chaos, injustice, broken homes and a nuclear war but no one cares.

Except Montag. At the end of the story Montag meets an old professor who, it turns out, possesses many books that he has memorized. The story concludes with Montag and the professor traveling to an underground community that has also memorized the books. In this way, Fahrenheit 451 concludes with a glimmer of hope. Fahrenheit 451 is an excellent example of a government controlling its society by robbing it of its ability to think for themselves. It is a warning against a people putting themselves under the government’s power as they mindlessly follow the lies they are fed. Without good literature and education, people’s minds will atrophy as they only dwell on TV shows and music.

 Michael Moore's movie Farenheit 9/11 was a sad irony as it was everything Bradbury had warned against in his novel, i.e. allowing the media to think for you under the guise of "entertainment".  Bradbury fought against Moore using the title in court but unfortunately lost. -S.H.

or buy on kindle $9.99

The Togetherness Routine by Margaret Pearce

Synopsis: Gail is suffering from a lot of typical fourteen year old drama. Her mother has remarried and ruined the comfortable threesome of just her, her mother and her brother,Garry. Her stepfather, Allen is cold and unreasonable. He expects her to clean up after herself, improve her grades by studying-something she hates and-worst of all- break up with her long time boyfriend, Kelvin. Fourteen is too young to have a serious boyfriend-especially a boy a few years older, he insists.

If this isn't bad enough, her mother supports Allen in everything he demands of Gail. Most shocking of all is when her boyfriend, Kelvin, decides that her mother and stepfather are right and breaks up with her. Don't they understand that Kelvin is the only stable male relationship she has in her life? Her real father trades in a new wife every few years and has no time for her. She doesn't want girlfriends because the girls at school are mean and spiteful. Gail hates everyone!  She hates her life! Can we smell the fragrance of burning martyr?

What I like about this story: Ms. Pearce has successfully gotten inside the head of a fourteen year old girl and drawn an accurate picture of how adolescent females think; how they perceive their situations, the dynamics between themselves and the other people in their environment.  All of us who have been young teenage girls remember how every problem in our life was a crisis of apocalyptical proportions, NO ONE understood us and NO ONE ever, ever, had the same problems we had. No one loved us, everybody hated us-let's run outside and eat some worms...drama, drama, drama.

What I especially found refreshing:  Ms. Pearce has chosen not to walk down the path well trodden by most YA writers paved with hyper dark angst story lines involving seriously disturbed teenage girls with either an eating disorder, suicidal tendencies or sucked into occultic practices (including falling in love with vampires). Yes, I know those are real issues (except the vampires), but are they every single teenage girl's issues? Is every girl's life that dystopian? What about the ones like Gail?  Isn't having to deal with an absent father and learning how to blend into a new family-a family you never asked for- hard enough?

What I didn't like: The story is too darn short!! Ms. Pearce introduces some interesting characters, such as the “mean and spiteful” girls at school who turn out to be not quite so mean or spiteful-at least not all of them. Gail's stepbrother, Matt who is instrumental in helping Gail branch out and get to know these other girls and improve her grades to boot has a lot of potential but just as we become interested in him and the others, the story ends. I sincerely hope there is going to be a sequel.

In conclusion: This is an excellent coming of age story for middle school-aged girls-many of whom can relate to the trauma of divorce and family breakdown and all of whom can identify with boy/girl attraction and girl/girl conflict.

I received this book for free by Astraea Press
For more information you can go to:

http://www.astraeapress.com/
The Togetherness Routine
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/133849

Buy on Kindle for $1.99

Book Review for The Sacred Ring by Leah Sanders

  Synopsis: The Sacred Ring by Leah Sanders takes place in Ireland and is a story about a teenage boy, Kynan Murphy who has been informed by his parents that they no longer love each other and his father is moving out. Stunned and distraught, Kynan goes to school the next day in a preoccupied frame of mind. Kynan goes to Catholic school and they are going on a field trip to a Cathedral where the remains of St. Valentine are buried. While there a strange priest appears to him, says something in Gaelic and disappears. His friends Michael and Brianna are standing next to him and are as perplexed as he is, since there is not supposed to be a priest on the site. Brianna knows Gaelic and translates the priest’s words. The gist is that the ring of St. Valentine will bring love back to those who no longer love each other.

Kynan is then determined to find St Valentine’s ring. With the help of his two friends, they undertake a journey that requires research, courage, and a little bit of lying. They travel all the way to the Giant’s Causeway (a string of huge cylinder shaped stones that connect Ireland to Scotland) where they encounter danger and ultimately reward.

What I liked: this is a good age appropriate book for readers age 8-14, depending on the reading level. It would also be a good read aloud at home or in the classroom-probably ideally for 5^th and 6^th graders. The dialogue is well written, the characters sympathetic and the storyline readable and interesting. I looked forward to coming back to the book each evening to read another chapter.

What I didn’t like: For one, it’s a little too short. I think the author could have fleshed out her plot and characters a little more-added a few more twists and turns. Secondly, even though the story takes place in Ireland, the characters talk exactly like American kids all the way down to the slang. It was hard to remember the kids were Irish with all the “dudes” and “cr-ps” bandied about.  That’s the final thing I didn’t like. I didn’t see how inserting that last word on almost every other page added at all to the story or the dialogue. I don’t care if that’s how kids “really” talk. Kids don’t “really” go off on their own, scouring caves in Northern Ireland searching for ancient historical artifacts. Readers don’t want realistic experiences. They want superior ones.

Despite these shortcomings, I still think Sacred Ring is worth checking out. The caliber of the story is as good as any I’ve read in my local youth section of a library. As a teacher, I’ve read many similar books from the Scholastic book fairs that came to our school. It’s a book for students who like adventure, mystery and suspense.

For information you can go to Astrea Press and http://www.astraeapress.blogspot.com/

To read a free sample go here

For other reviews you can go Stressed Rach

Smash Words

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 Buy on Kindle for $1.99

I was given a free copy by Astrae Press for my honest review.

Book Review for The Joker and The Chest by Bruce E. Murphy

 The Joker and the Chest is about a teenage boy, John Marcellus. John has an irresistible compulsion to play “pranks” on handicapped people. He doesn't know why he does it except that he gets a “thrill” doing it. After his third prank his family sends him to a boarding school where he meets up with Morgan Fairway. Morgan is the headmaster's son and they become friends.

While helping to transfer everything out of an old school building into a new one, Morgan and John come across a decrepit chest in the attic of the old building. Apparently there is a mystery surrounding this chest and Mrs. Katanski, the elderly custodian of the school, knows something about it and is anxious for the boys to stay away from this chest. Could the chest contain evidence of a murder committed years ago?

Let me stop right there and say the above two paragraphs contain ingredients for a good story. Unfortunately Mr. Murphy does not develop any of these ideas nor does he tie them together. A plausible explanation is never given to why an otherwise nice, respectful boy like John impulsively plays pranks on helpless people. I might add that Murphy's use of the word “prank” is flawed. John goes beyond pranks. What he does sadistic and cruel. Slamming a child's hand in a door is not playful, neither is taking the crutches of someone with a broken leg or knocking all the books onto the floor of a girl with a broken arm. It's mean and hateful.

After an accident where John almost dies he is finally “cured” of his need to play pranks on others but his reformation of character is rather abrupt. Murphy would have done well to delve deeper in to the psyche of John. Why does he like hurting helpless people? Why is it so out of character for him to do so? These questions are not adequately answered.

Totally unrelated to this lack of character study is the “mystery” of a chest in the attic. In the end (which isn't long in coming-the whole book is fifty-eight pages) we find out...nothing. The mystery isn't solved, the story of the murder case is never told in full and we never find out why old Mrs. Katanski is so protective of the chest.

All in all a poorly developed plot with poorly developed characters. The makings are there. Maybe Mr. Murphy could go back and flesh his story out. 

I received a complimentary copy of  this book as a member of the
Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit dorrancebookstore.com 
to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.

  

If you'd like to buy this book please do so through my link.  Thanks!

Book Review for Unsinkable: A Young Woman's courageous Battle On the High Seas

Abby Sunderland comes from a unique family. But, as I've come to notice, most homeschooling families don't walk down the well-trod path. They tend to choose the road not taken. In Abby's case, her father didn't want his kids growing up glued to the TV set or addicted to video games. He wanted them to live life, not watch it.


He endeavored to accomplish this by moving his family to a boat and living on it for a number of years. Both Abby and her older brother Zac became competent sailors working with their dad. By the age of thirteen, Abby was single handedly sailing boats to and from  ports. This was also the age when she began to dream of sailing around the world, unassisted and alone.

Abby makes an interesting comment about her age group:

...there are all these minivans driving down the road with bumper stickers that say, “My child was Student of the Week at Smith Elementary”..But guess what? Every child gets to be student of the week. It's like we, as kids, aren't expected or required to reach higher, to be different, to do anything special in order to get some kind of warm, fuzzy award... (pg.93)

By the time she was sixteen, her dream became an ambition.  Her older brother Zac had already  broken the record of youngest person to sail solo without assistance around the world. His record was broken shortly thereafter by another, even younger, sailor but if Abby sailed and succeeded she would hold the record of youngest sailor.

Unsinkable is an account of Abby's endeavors to attain this record: how she raised support, selected and bought a suitable boat and all the people and technology that went into making her dream a reality. Most of the book is a description of the nuts and bolts that go into putting such an ambitious project together. It nevertheless also includes personal accounts of the different people that gave of their time, energy and technical know-how to get a boat designed and geared up to deal with high winds, waves, and keep Abby connected to the rest of the world through satellite communications via her blog and phones.

It's pretty amazing to read Abby's first hand narrative of trouble shooting all the different problems that seemed to consistently arise during her journey. Amazing and suspenseful:

The wintry wind screamed across the deck, and I could tell it was now holding up near fifty knots. Imagine standing on the roof of a car that's driving down the freeway. ...As the mainsail flogged crazily in the racing wind, I had to climb all over the boom and do the monkey thing to try and get it down. But the way I was clipped in to the jack-lines my harness line didn't reach far enough for me to get the job done. So I unclipped it, wrapped it around the boom to shorten the line and clipped it back onto itself. Then I started working to get the sail down.

At that moment, a huge gust slammed into the mainsail like a train. The autopilot snapped into standby.. The boat heeled over to port as if a giant hand had smacked her down and I tumbled over the top of the mainsail toward the water. Terror ripped through me as I was falling, falling, falling toward the sea. Wild Eyes (the name of her boat) was nearly mast down in the water when my harness line jerked me to a stop.....(pg. 125)




That is only one of many instances where Abby found herself in a tight fix but managed to work her way out of it.  Abby conquered wiring problems, autopilot shut downs and taking sails down during storms-problems that would have caused many a grown man to give up.

Still, Abby does not take entire credit for her success. Brought up in a Christian home that knew the power of prayer, Abby did a lot of that during times of crises. She knows that ultimately God protected her on more than one occasion.

At one point in the journey the line that lowered the sail got entangled around around the mast. With a huge storm coming in, it was imperative that she lower the sail. Going up the mast in thirty-five-knot winds was practically suicide. After several sleepless nights and days and troubleshooting with her team back home via phone calls, everyone conceded that she was going to have to pull in somewhere, thus terminating her chances of making her dream happen as youngest solo sailor around the world.

While still on the phone chewing on this decision Abby decided to go topside and see what the weather was doing.

Suddenly, up in the air, a dark shape caught my eye. It was some kind of seabird and as I watched it fly right over my mast, a burst of joy filled my chest.....I could see the little line that had been knotted around the spreader. It wasn't tangled anymore. (pg. 153)

Of course that sounds like God was going to help Abby with accomplishing her dream. No one can second guess God, however.  Abby's next crisis came in the middle of the Indian ocean. A rogue wave capsized her boat. Luckily her boat was designed to bounce back up when capsized, which it did, but it broke her mast off. It was over.

Looking at the stump where her mast was Abby said out loud,  Lord, how long have you been planning this? (pg. 161)

I didn't realize how sucked into the story I was until I felt my eyes welling up with tears when I realized that Abby had come so far only to be stranded on a truncated boat in the middle of the most isolated part of the world.

The next part of the book is a suspenseful recounting of how rescue teams and a fishing boat that happened to be passing by found Abby which was nothing short of miraculous in itself.

The Sunderlands have been viciously attacked by the news media for allowing their underage daughter to embark on such an undertaking, not to mention the tax dollars involved in the rescue operation. I myself feel ambiguous about it, especially when after reading this book I see how dangerous and risky such an adventure is. It really is  miraculous that Abby survived. I don't, however, like to see myself siding with a  hypocritical pack of media wolves.  I don't believe they give a rip about Abby or any child (where's their hue and outcry for all the youth exploited in Hollywood movies by aggressive stage parents?). Their only concern is keeping their network ratings up.

Still, I wouldn't be willing to give up a year with my son. Or risk his life.

I'll give Abby the last word on the subject:

As I passed weeks alone at sea, especially when watching amazing sunsets or night skies filled with shooting stars, I was so thankful that my parents trusted me enough, and had enough faith in my abilities, to let me follow my passion and try to do something great, even if I might fail. And it was little successes along the way that changed me, built my confidence,and helped me grow.(pg.93)

Unsinkable is a gripping read. Abby's adventure captures the imagination and I think sea dogs and land lubbers alike would enjoy reading her story.
 
I received this book Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for my honest review.
 
If you buy this book please do so through my link so I can receive a small commission, thanks!















Outside of books what's my guilty pleasure?  Chocolate-lots of it!1

Book Review for A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

I don't normally read books for youth but the "Family that Reads" Blog (http://kidlitblog.wordpress.com/) made the book sound so appealing that I decided to get it (which I did for free through http://www.paperbackswap.com/).


This book is told with the right combination of interesting characters and humor. The chapters are short, sometimes only a page long which makes it easy to read “just one more chapter” till you're a third of the way through the book in one sitting.



Urban wrote the book through the eyes of Zoe, the heroine of Crooked Kind of Perfect. We read Zoe's thoughts that are written in the present tense in a streamline of consciousness.  Zoe, as if talking to herself rather than the reader, imagines being a concert pianist. She can see in her mind the beautiful experience it will be:  dressed in a long gown and tiara, the audience dressed up in gowns and tuxedos. She plays perfectly, the audience responds enthusiastically..sigh...

Except that when her dad goes out to buy a piano, he instead returns with the Perfectone D-60. This is an organ that has all sorts of buttons to push so you can play “Green Acres” with a Rhumba beat or “Forever in Blue Jeans” to a Salsa one.

We cannot really blame her dad because he, well, he has challenges. Zoe never reveals what his particular problem is, whether he's borderline autistic, has OCD, agoraphobia or what. We only come to understand that he can't leave the house or function independently. This requires that her mother work full time and pretty much all the time.

Through Zoe's eyes we meet her best friend Emily who soon is no longer her best friend because Emily has found a new best friend; her dad's limitations that cause him not only to buy an organ instead of a piano but also 432 rolls of toilet paper (which, on the plus side negates the need to buy any more toilet paper for the next several years), a flamboyant organ teacher, and Wheeler.

Wheeler is an interesting study. He lives with his dad because his mother is gone (we don't know why). He's rather anti-social but when Zoe loses her best friend, Wheeler, in an offhand kind of way, befriends her. In fact he develops the habit of staying at her house after school and develops a chummy relationship with her dad.

The interplay between all the characters, their individual personalities and the overriding plot where Zoe learns how to play and eventually compete on the organ makes for an interesting and enjoyable read.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect will make you laugh but also sympathize with the cruelties of adolescence that nevertheless still allow us to become the independent persons that we're created to be.

What I liked about the book in addition to its humor and storyline was that all the characters were believable and lacked the usual predictable formula.

The only negative is that all the songs that Zoe learns to play on the organ will probably only be appreciated by people my age, thereby reducing the humor element for younger readers. My teenage son didn't know any of the songs. However, that didn't diminish his enjoyment of the book as we read it out loud together.

If you buy the book, please do so through my link as it allows me to get a small percentage back. Thanks!!

Review On Some Books For Teens

I am finally making good on my promise to my young friend Ashley and reviewing some stories for young teens. While mostly positive, I did review a couple of books that I think have some definite negative attributes to them and give my reasons for disapproving of them. The reader, of course, can then make their own decision whether to read them or not. I also did my best to review without actually giving any of the storyline away so I hope my reviews don't come across as vague.









Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle

Written in the late 19th century, Pyle describes life in the middle ages. It centers around a robber Baron and his son, Otto. By Pyle's account, life was ruthless and those with the biggest army had their way, for good or for bad and killing for revenge was common and barbaric. Nevertheless, there is light throughout the whole story. It manifests itself in the monastery that raises young Otto until his father comes for him, and in Otto himself. No matter what happens to him he never loses his innocence, his faith in God, or a forgiving attitude towards those who mistreat him. The storyline and the characters are interesting and one feels as though he has gone back and visited medieval times. It ends with another story about to unfold, a love story (hope I'm not giving anything away) which makes one wish there was a sequel.







Kings Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

King Solomon's Mines was written on a bet that Haggard could write a better adventure story than Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. You have to decide for yourself whether he should have won that bet. I personally am a big fan of Stevenson. Still, I recommend reading KSM because, while filled with quite a bit of detail, the story is suspenseful and exciting, if not horrifying at times. The story takes place in South Africa where an elephant hunter by the name of Quatermain, meets two men, a Sir Henry and a Captain Good. Sir Henry has a brother who, after a bitter argument, left him and England to go in search of Kings Solomon's diamond mines in South Africa. After not hearing from his brother for a long time, Sir Henry asks Quatermain to take him to the mines in the hope that they will find his brother. Quatermain, who happens to have an old map that perhaps may lead to the mines, agrees to take Sir Henry and Captain Good along with a mysterious Zulu named Umbopa, to the legendary mines, if in fact they exist and if it's possible to survive the journey there. Along the way, they have many close encounters with death, trying to survive a desert and a mysterious African tribe that they discover lives high up in the mountains where the map leads them. Having spent a summer in South Africa, Derek and I looked up the places described in the book and we believe that we actually took the same route across desert land into the Drakensburg mountains. We, of course, drove but it is still exciting to think that we actually took the same journey as in the book. For those that like suspense and adventure with some horror added in, this is the book for you.








David Livingstone Chronicles of Faith Series

The Chronicles of Faith series include biographies of men and women who exhibited a life of great faith in God. We also read their biography of Abraham Lincoln which not only was interesting and informative, but revealed a faith in God that you won't get in any public school or secular account of his life. I had heard of Livingston for years but had never read a biography that gave the details of his life. This book chronicles his sojourn into some of the remotest parts of Africa, where he earned the trust and respect of the tribal people there. He did great evangelical work, bringing many to Christ and defeating the fear and power of the tribal witch doctors. He also did a great deal to impede the slave trade at great personal risk. He lost contact with his friends, family and even Church supporters in Europe and for a time was considered dead. Nevertheless, an American, Henry Morton Stanley, goes on an expedition to find the whereabouts of Dr. Livingstone to see if he is alive or dead.
Even though it seems I have practically retold the story, I have left all the detail, adventure and the ending out. These books are written for a younger audience which makes them quick and easy reads. They are still well written and very interesting. You can buy them cheaply at your local Bible book store.






My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

I think many boys would enjoy this book or any young person who dreams about living off the land all by themselves with animals for friends. The book is well written with good, colorful detail of the mountainous environment the boy lives in. For myself I have a hard time suspending disbelief. I know a young boy could not accomplish all the things this boy did: hollow out a tree to live in; hunt deer and make clothes out of the skin; become a great cook of nuts and mushrooms, not to mention tame a baby falcon for a friend. On top of all that, I would go crazy with loneliness. Having said all that, I think that is my problem. My son enjoyed this book and I believe most children, who have no trouble suspending disbelief, would as well.









Joan of Arc by Kathleen Kidlinski
This biography is put out by DK publishers. They have many good biographies of famous people. We also have read their biographies of Houdini and Helen Keller. They are easy and quick to read with lots of photographs. I'm glad to finally read about the life of Joan of Arc because she is one of those famous people I've heard about without ever knowing the details of the events that made her famous. Kidlinski writes about this young French martyr in a respectful, sensitive way and ,in our post modern era, that cannot be taken for granted when secular sources write about Christians, I highly recommend these biographies. The scholastic book fairs in school is where we got our copies.


Blood and River: Jamestown 1607 by Elise Carbone, Elephant Run by Roland Smith, The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John

The following three books are, simply put, not my cup of tea. While the writing is filled with vivid detail and the story-lines are interesting, I have some major objections to them. Basically, the authors superimpose modern ideologies on time periods that were during a conservative Christian era. They depict parents getting divorced (Elephant Run) during a time when that was almost unheard of, and Christianity, if it's mentioned at all, is presented as weak and ineffectual.








The first book, "Blood and River", is from a young boy's perspective traveling from England to Jamestown with Captain John Smith. The English are basically caricatured as greedy, self-serving clods and the Indians are presented as superior and noble. What else is new? There is a minister on the ship but he isn't able to put the fear of God in anyone. I also think that writing the story in present tense was a mistake because it almost exclusively limits Carbone's sentences to simple subject-verb construction, which makes for pretty monotonous reading.








Elephant Run is about a young boy, Nick Freestone, who is sent to Burma to be with his father whom he doesn't know (ever read that plot before?) to wait out World War Two. While there, the Japanese invade and capture his dad and his dad's house-hold. Nick barely escapes, thanks to a secret passageway in his father's house. With the help of a Buddhist monk, he is able to rescue his father and others from Japanese POW camps. As is common in many modern stories, Buddhism is presented in a glamorous, alluring and mystical package. Needless to say, the author makes the Buddhist monk out to be the real hero of the story and is depicted as having supernatural powers over animals, especially elephants-or maybe he becomes “at one with them”, I don't know.





In "The White Giraffe", the characters are nihilistic and uncaring about others and the protagonist has “the gift” which is some new agey ability to contact a mysterious white giraffe.





Most disturbing of all is that these books are typical of what is being offered at Scholastic book fairs in our public schools. (Which is where I bought all three.) Nevertheless, I also purchased the following book at the same bookfair:








Iron Thunder by Avi

I want to end on a positive note. This is a well written book that is historically accurate, and faithfully represents the time period, which is the Civil War. Avi uses historical figures such as John Ericsson, the inventor of the first submersible ship called "Iron Thunder" - a kind of precursor to the submarine and he also recounts actual battles of the Civil War. All is seen through the eyes of a young boy, Tom, who gets a job on the Iron Thunder. Avi makes his protagonist an actual person who rode the Iron Thunder and even though he gives him a fictitious background, (all Avi had was the boy's name on a roster of those who served on Iron Thunder) he makes sure that Tom has a historically correct legend. Avi depicts Tom as an Irish immigrant growing up in New York city. He sympathetically portrays the hardships of life new immigrants experienced then: his mother and sickly sister do laundry to eke out a living since his father has already become a casualty of the war. Avi shows them to be Irish Catholics with respect for the religion and resists any temptation to defame its character as is too common in contemporary literature.
Along with being historically faithful and informative, Avi makes a good story filled with suspense. Some rebel spies try to get information about the submersible from Tom. In an effort to escape them, he joins the crew of Iron Thunder which is why he is on the ship in the famous battle with the South's ironclad ship, the Monitor.
All in all, this is one of those books that make you feel as though you are actually experiencing life during the Civil War and Avi makes it an enriching trip.