Monthly Archives: January 2018

Jan29

JUST LOVED READING: Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale

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JUST LOVED READING: Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale

Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale

by G. Neri 

Middle Grade/Fiction

 

Neri, G. Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2017.

Tru moved away from his mother’s cousins home in Monroeville, Alabama. He thought living in New York with his mother and step-father would be fun but after a stint in a military academy, Tru runs away.

He hops on a train with other hobos and heads back to Monroeville. He becomes friends again with Nelle who lives next door to his cousins. It’s the Christmas season but events happen which dampen everyone’s spirits: the house the cousins live in burns down and they move in with Tru’s aunt and uncle on their farm outside Monroeville.

Nelle’s father takes on a case of two black men accused of robbing a store and killing its owner. Nelle blames herself for arrest. Reminiscent of the case in To KIll A Mockingbird, this case doesn’t end happily, either.  The story does reaffirm the better side of the human spirit when Tru and his family and Nelle and her father celebrate Christmas with the accused in the local jail.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

In a surprising twist, Tru’s cousin, Sook, invites a member of the KKK to the celebration. Only his son, the local bully, shows up and demonstrates how beautifully he plays piano.  It doesn’t turn everyone into good friends but the incident highlights how complex race relations were during the Jim Crow era in the South.

Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale is the continuing narrative of the friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee which continued into adulthood (until Truman Capote became jealous of Harper Lee’s literary success).

Monroeville, Alabama was founded in 1815 on lands ceded by local Native americans. It was later formally incorporated in 1899 and named after President James Monroe. Monroeville is the seat of  Monroe County, Alabama. In 1997, the Alabama legislature designated Monroeville as the “Literary Capital of Alabama.”

https://www.monroevilleal.gov./

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/whats-changed-what-hasnt-in-town-inspired-to-kill-a-mockingbird-180955741

www,monroecountyal.com

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Jan21

JUST LOVED READING: Tru and Nelle

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JUST LOVED READING: Tru and Nelle

Tru and Nelle

by G. Neri 

Middle Grade/Fiction

Neri, G. Tru and Nelle. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2016.

Tru and Nelle introduces the reader to the Deep South at the beginning of the Great Depression. The Klu Klux Klan’s influence is at its’ height. Tru  is 7 and Nelle is 6. Tru is living with his mother’s cousins in Monroeville, Alabama, next door to Nelle’s family. Nelle’s father is an editor and a lawyer. She has two sisters and a brother; Tru is an only child largely unloved by his mother and often neglected by his father.

Monroeville is a small town surrounded by forests and farms. Even in prosperous times, there wouldn’t be much for children to do. (There was a movie theatre and a public whites-only swimming hole in the book.) Tru and Nelle play games like pirates and detectives especially detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. When they discover that someone robbed the local drug store, they put their amateur sleuthing skills to the test. Their attempts at solving the crime gets them into some serious trouble.

Why I Loved Reading This Book:Capote

Neri’s characters ring true to life as they play and interact with adults and other children. He used letters, books and other documents to allow the reader a glimpse into the personalities of Truman Capote and Harper Lee as children and recreates some of their real-life experiences. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are also found in Tru and Nelle including Boo Radley ( a character based on an eccentric neighbor) and Atticus Finch (based on Harper Lee’s father).

Children of every generation play games of detective and pirates although nowadays children tend to play games on the computer, X-Box,  iphone, or other technological devices.

But children growing up in the Depression, regardless of class, had little to play with. The Depression hit everyone, some more than others. Tru and Nelle had their love of books, a handful of toys and their imaginations. When they made up their detective stories, they wrote them down (one would dictate and the other would type the stories on Mr. Lee’s Underwood typewriter). Tru especially, constantly wrote (and continued to write stories that he imagined long after he left Monroeville) and like Nelle, they went on to become two of the twentieth century’s greatest writers.

Do today’s children create stories out of their imaginations, act them out and write them down?  Can this book inspire them to do so? Perhaps. Or do technological devices get in the way of children’s imaginations?

Tru and Nelle is a fun book to read even for young readers who don’t know about Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Tru and Nelle get into a mess of trouble and children of all ages like stuff that.

Monroeville, Alabama was founded in 1815 on lands ceded by local Native Americans. It was later formally incorporated in 1899 and named after President James Monroe. Monroeville is the seat of  Monroe County, Alabama. In 1997, the Alabama legislature designated Monroeville as the “Literary Capital of Alabama.”

https://www.monroevilleal.gov./

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/whats-changed-what-hasnt-in-town-inspired-to-kill-a-mockingbird-180955741

www.monroecountyal.com

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Jan14

JUST LOVED READING: Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers

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JUST LOVED READING: Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers
  • Image result for free photo of harriet beecher stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers

Middle Grade/Biography

Fritz, Jean. Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers. New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1994.

            Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, eight years before the start of America’s Civil War.  This is America’s first protest novel (according to many scholars) and is often listed as one of the books that had a profound change on society.

            Harriet came from a large family. Her father was Lyman Beecher, a well-known New England preacher. Lyman Beecher wanted his seven sons to become preachers. Lyman’s goals for his daughters was marriage and motherhood but they weren’t wilted flowers. Lyman’s drive and high expectations drove some of them to become educators, lecturers and writers. Harriet struggled to make her voice heard in this large family of strong personalities which consisted of three sets of siblings to three different mothers. She yearned to achieve something other than being a wife, mother and Lyman Beecher’s daughter. Over time, she transformed from a shy often melancholy young woman whose family struggled financially, to a confident writer, speaker and abolitionist.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

Harriet (and all of her siblings) was taught to think and believe as her father did. Her brothers were not just expected to become preachers but to teach the Calvinist beliefs their father preached. Harriet had been against slavery but was not impassioned by the issue. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act changed her opinions and propelled her to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book’s publication brought her fame and wealth but Harriet never lost sight of the cause.

Harriet was a fighter and a survivor – for herself and for the abolition of slavery.

A SHORT HISTORY OF HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S NEW ENGLAND:

The period between the War of 1812 and before the Civil War is known as the Antebellum period. The era saw the rise of abolition and of the division between those who supported slavery and those who opposed it. There was an increase in manufacturing in the north. The textile industry grew in New England thanks to development and introduction of the spinning-jenny by British business person Samuel Slater.

Other innovations changed the economy of the north. In 1843, Richard M. Hoes developed the rotary printing press. Soon millions of newspapers could be printed and distributed cheaply as more people learned to read, Newly built canals, railroads and roads improved the way people traveled.

The borders of the United States expanded as fortune seekers and others settled uncharted territory. Between the years 1790 and 1840, the Second Awakening movement grew in influence and popularity especially among Baptists and Methodists and inspired the beginnings of the abolitionist and temperance movements.

Slaves used many passive forms of resistance including damaging equipment and  working slowly but they also rebelled openly. in response to the rebellions, white militias and mobs formed and legislators passed slave codes and other laws. In the north, the slave rebellions, evangelical fervor and the new printing presses galvanized the abolitionist movement.

Against this background, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Harriet Beecher Stowe grew up in New England, moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and returned to New England. To read more about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house visit the following link:

https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/

 

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Jan8

JUST LOVED READING: Audacity Jones to the Rescue

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JUST LOVED READING: Audacity Jones to the Rescue

Just Loved Reading:

Audacity Jones to the Rescue

Middle Grade/Historical Fiction

Larson, Kirby, Audacity Jones to the Rescue. New York: Scholastic Press, 2016.

Set at the turn of the 20th century, Audacity Jones to the Rescue is about a spunky, inquisitive, smart 11 year-old orphan. When her parents died at sea, went to live at Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls in Swayze, Indiana. She was 6. Audacity is the one the other girls depend on for guidance and support. She is also the one who is sent to the Punishment Room daily. She looks forward to the Punishment Room because it is the library and Audacity loves to read. Her favorite books are novels about swashbucklers, pirates and other adventure heroes but she also loves books about science and geography.

When Commodore Critchfield comes to the school to visit and ask for a volunteer for a secret mission, Audacity jumps at the chance. The  Commodore was once well-to-do donor who is (secretly) down on his luck. Audacity slowly comes to learn about the Commodores’ nefarious scheme and with help from her friends, plots to stop him and his accomplices.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

Audacity is a lovable character whose positive attitude propels the story. She doesn’t feel sorry for herself and boosts the morale of the other girls in the orphanage. She makes friends easily. Audacity looks at life as an adventure – an attitude that takes her to Washington DC, inside the White House, and almost gets her into trouble. The reader will root for her as she finds a way to thwart the Commodore’s evil plan (based on true events). The author does a good job of invoking the culture, fashion and other customs of the era and throughout the novel, the reader will feel that they are living in the first half of the last century.

Audacity Jones lived during the presidency of William Howard Taft. Click on the link below learn more about him and his presidency:

https://www.facebook.com/williamtaftnps/

https://www.biography.com/people/william-howard-taft-9501184?_escaped_fragment_=

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/william_taft_nhs.html

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Jan2

JUST LOVED READING: Mr. Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets

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JUST LOVED READING: Mr. Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets

Just Loved Reading:

Mr. Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets

Picture Book

Chang. Pei-Yu. Mr. Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets. New York: NorthSouth Books, Inc. 2016

Mr. Benjamin is an author and a philosopher of ideas. During World War II, his country begins to punish and jail people with ideas.

Mr. Benjamin realizes he must escape not only to save his live but to save his important ideas. How could he do this? The soldiers blocked  and guarded every street.

He went to see Mrs. Fittko who “knew all the hidden paths to everywhere.” Mrs. Fittko had saved many lives. Other people were there to ask Mrs. Fittko for help, too.

On the day of escape, Mr. Benjamin was late. Mrs. Fittko told everyone to pack lightly but Mr. Benjamin arrived lugging a large heavy suitcase. Mrs. Fittko could not persuade him to leave it behind. It contained all his new ideas. “It’s the most important thing to me – more important than my life.”

The group walked over and through olive groves and past blueberry buses.

Eventually they reached the Swiss border. The border guards let the people through – but not Mr. Benjamin.

Mr. Benjamin lived in a hotel in the mountains until he and his suitcase disappeared.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

This is a true story. Mr. Walter Benjamin was a German author and philosopher. His suitcase of ideas may have disappeared but he left many of his writings with his friends or in the public library. Many brave dissidents today escape the countries of their birth because of political instability. Pei-Yu Chang tells Mr. Benjamin’s story so that children of almost any age can understand it. The illustrations are simple, colorful and child-like. Mr. Benjamin’s Suitcase of Secrets tells the story of yesterday’s and today’s refugees.

Switzerland Between the Two Wars:

http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland-second-world-war-ii.html

https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Switzerland-allowed-to-be-neutral-during-World-War-II-when-other-countries-were-attacked-without-provocation

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/world-war-ii.html

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