Sunday, November 24, 2013

Titanic: Voices From The Disaster byDeborah Hopkinson



The genre of narrative nonfiction has hit an all time high in the publishing world.  Previously, there were so few engaging nonfiction books for children and teens, yet now the genre has virtually exploded.   This Titanic book is unlike any you’ve read before.  On one hand, it is the same old Titanic story…the boat still sinks and thousands of people still perish.  However, in this version, we get to follow real people and learn their stories as they travel on the fated ship’s maiden voyage.  Some were there by chance and some were there on purpose.  Some were rich and some were traveling in 3rd class.  But, each of them has a rich story and Hopkinson follows each intriguing sea biography to its end. 

For instance, while we know there were not enough life jackets on board the vessel, this rendition takes it one step further to show how difficult it was for some of the men to find safety and how some of them bravely sent the rest of their family on while they went down with the ship.  I even learned something-- as I thought that all of those who stayed on the Titanic as it sank perished, but there were survivors who were not on the lifeboats as well.

Filled with pictures, diagrams and real time drama, this novel will keep the interest of students not just because the story of the Titanic is interesting, but because they become caught up in the lives of those on the ship.  The novel wraps up with some unconventional pieces in a Titanic book.  The Epilogue begins with a description and pictures of Ballard’s 1985 discovery of the Titanic wreckage.  This is followed by a glossary, details of the lives of the real people followed in the book, a timeline, famous Titanic figures, survivor letters from the Carpathia, facts and figures, how to be a Titanic researcher, the commissioner’s report, launching sequence of the lifeboats, survivor statistics and a bibliography.  The detail in this particular Titanic book is what makes it award worthy.









Saturday, November 23, 2013

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin



If anyone had told me that I would spend five hours on a Tuesday, glued to a book about the making and detonating of the first atomic bombs, I would have told them they were crazy.  But, that’s exactly what I did. Prior to reading this one, I truly wondered how a book about the bomb could have garnered so many awards.  Now I know.

Sheinkin opens in May, 1950, with FBI agents approaching the house of Harry Gold, to arrest him for espionage.  More specifically, providing the Soviets with secrets to create their own atomic bomb based directly off US plans in Los Alamos in the 40’s.

What ensues is a flashback of events, beginning with Robert Oppenheimer’s background and notoriety as an absent-minded, yet brilliant professor at Berkeley and how he came to be a physicist.  As the layers of narrative nonfiction unfold, Sheinkin introduces an entire cast of characters, which clearly took an immense amount of research, from the idea generators right down to the spies and the original Germans who began the work. The sheer volume of names given and stories being told is astounding. Divided into three distinct sections, the book covers everything from the seeds of the idea of splitting atoms to the actual destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. 

What may most appeal to teens, however, is the espionage and detail of the Soviet spies paralleled with the narrative exactly.  It’s mind boggling how many Americans were actually willing to give up weapons secrets in this era, especially those who were working on the project in Los Alamos!  Hindsight being 20/20, it’s hard for adults who know about the atomic bomb, the Enola Gay, testing fallout, the arms race and the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; to read this and not cringe, knowing what will come next.  However, our current teens didn’t live through this era like some of us did.  How many of you cowered, as I did, even in the late 70’s, worrying that the Soviet Union could just bust out some bombs and destroy our lives as we knew them? 

The information presented in this book isn’t just accessible and, dare I say “addictive”, but essential knowledge for students to have.  I could go on for an entire hour just about this book, but I will close with a quote from Robert Oppenheimer on October 16, 1945, as he was given a scroll from the US Government thanking him for his work:  “It is our hope that in years to come we may look at this scroll, and all that it signifies, with pride.  Today that pride must be tempered with a profound concern.  If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima.  The peoples of this world must unite or they will perish.”  Please, put this book in the hands of students as soon as possible.

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu


This is a gorgeous book and I ate. it. up.  Oscar is a Magician's hand who has befriended Callie, who is the Healer's apprentice.  After Wolf, the Magician's apprentice, is killed by a horrible monster (and delivered back to the shop in small pieces a la bag), Oscar decides he must do some investigating.  Soon, the children of the village become sick and it is up to Oscar and Callie to find a cure- magic or not.  

This story is about love, loss, grief, curiosity and courage.  Ursu's language propels the reader through the novel so quickly, one must return to savor the beauty of some of her words. Now, I can't wait to go back and read Breadcrumbs!