LibrisNotes

The inspiring story of Sue Hendrickson and her incredible discovery is told in When Sue Found Sue a picture book for younger readers.

Growing up in Munster, Indiana, Sue was a shy and curious child who loved to read and loved to find lost things. Sue was a very smart child who learned about the world around her through her extensive reading. She would visit the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago to view the exhibits of fossils and other items people had found over the years.

At age seventeen, Sue began travelling and joining teams of other treasure hunters. Her travels eventually led her to the hills of western South Dakota, known for its fossils. Sue spent four summers digging for duck-billed dinosaurs. It was dusty, hot work but Sue loved it. She found herself drawn to a sandstone cliff in the distance. On a day off, Sue and her dog Gypsy hiked to the cliff and it was there that she saw the bones of a T. Rex exposed. It took the team five days of hard work to expose the fossil skeleton and another three weeks to map and carefully remove them. Today the skeleton, named Sue, resides in the Field Museum of Natural History. This remarkable fossil has added significantly to our knowledge about this dinosaur.

Discussion

When Sue Found Sue tells the amazing story of the discovery of the most complete Tyrannosaurs Rex skeleton to date. The fossil skeleton containing about 250 bones was discovered in 1990 by marine archeologist, field paleontologist and professional diver Sue Hendrickson. There are believed to be about 380 bones in a T. Rex skeleton, meaning Sue is ninety percent complete.

The new Sue with gastral basket and shifted stance.

Although there are now over thirty T. Rex skeletons that have been discovered, only five are approximately forty percent complete. This makes Sue Hendrickson's discovery that much more important. The T. Rex Sue does have some missing bones including one foot and one hand as well as about eight inches of her tail. And unlike many other fossil bones, Sue's bones were in very good condition.

Although the dinosaur is named Sue, scientists do not know if this skeleton is that of a male or female T. Rex. Dating from the Cretaceous period (about 67 million years ago) the skeleton was discovered with rib like gastralia bones that scientists were not sure exactly how they were connected to the skeleton. Scientists have now determined that the gastral bones were probably a feature that helped the T. Rex breathe. They have added the 26 bones that comprise part of the dinosaurs gastal basket to the skeleton.

When Sue Found Sue presents the story of Sue's discovery in easy to read prose, emphasizing Sue Hendrickson's determination to do in life what she found most interesting - search for things. But unlike her childhood, Sue became part of teams that searched for lost boats, planes, for prehistoric fossils and finally for dinosaurs. Sue is an inspiration for young readers to follow their interests, challenging them to really look at the world around them. Sue's observations of the world inspired her and filled her with wonder and curiosity. There are many more discoveries waiting to be made!

Artist Diana Sudyka's earthy illustrations help the story of Sue Hendrickson come alive. Gouache and watercolours made from earth pigments were used to create the Dakota scenes in the picture book.

Buzzeo includes a short Author's Note about Sue Hendrickson and her discovery, a Resources For Children section and also lists some Additional Resources.

Readers are encouraged to check out The Field Museum of Natural History's webpage on Sue.

Sue image: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/fresh-science-makeover-sue

Book Details:

When Sue Found Sue by Toni Buzzeo
New York: Abrams Books For Young People 2019

"Drawing is not what one sees, but what one can make others see."

Degas, Painter of Ballerinas is an exquisite biography for young readers of this famous artist, known for his sketches, paintings and sculptures of dancers.From 1852 to 1912, Degas produced over a thousand dance pictures. While many artists were part of the Impressionist movement, Degas' interest was much different. Impressionists painted landscapes outdoors. Degas spent hours indoors at the Paris Opera observing dancers.The dancers were known as petits rats or "little rats" because they were always hungry. The petits rats would practice different ballet moves over and over to perfection. Degas would sketch their poses as they stretched, rested on a bench or worked at the barre.

Because he spent so much time at the Paris Opera, Degas was very familiar with the different ballet moves and would sometimes do a pirouette or an arabesque. He formed a fatherly friendship with many of the dancers whom he treated as if they were his own children. He saw how hard they worked and how difficult the art of ballet was.

Degas did his sketching in the ballet studio or his own studio where the dancers were invited to pose. Afterwards he would combine these sketches into his paintings which were done when he was alone.

As time passed, Degas' art changed and developed. He explored different techniques, and as his eyesight deteriorated, Degas moved to creating sculpture. The result was art that is timeless, beautiful and now considered very valuable.

Discussion

Degas, Painter of Ballerinas is an fascinating exploration into the process and technique of this famous artist. Rubin keeps younger readers engaged with her simple explanations and with the many wonderful colour plates of Degas' paintings, drawings and sculptures, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rubin informs her readers on some of the different techniques Degas applied to his work. For example, he often used a single color to create an accent, making a canvas "come to life" or mixed pastels with charcoal and tempera paint. He even used bleach and steam to create different effects in his paintings.The layout of the book is such that there is a bit of text on each page accompanied by many wonderful pictures of Degas' artwork. Rubin mentions Degas poor eyesight, something that plagued him even as a young man and how he tried to preserve his eyesight by wearing blue tinted glasses. As his eyesight worsened, Degas turned to sculpture, creating incredible wax sculptures of dancers in certain poses.

While the first part of the book focuses more on Degas art. Rubin also includes a fairly detailed biography of the artist in a separate section at the back of the book. This gorgeous edition with the beautiful cover and the pink satin spine would make a lovely gift for either a young aspiring dancer or someone interested in art and artists.

Book Details:

Degas, Painter of Ballerinas by Susan Goldman Rubin
New York: Abrams Books For Young Readers 2019
60 pp.

Orange For the Sunsets explores the events surrounding the historic order by Ugandan President Idi Amin in 1972 to banish Ugandans with Asian ancestry from the country. In the novel,

Uganda, initially isolated from outside influence due to its position in Central Africa, saw an influx of missionaries in the early 1800s. This led to conversions to Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam. The country became a British Protectorate in 1894 after years of civil war between Catholic and Protestant converts. The presence of South Asians in Uganda was the due to the British who brought in workers in for the construction of the Ugandan Railway and also to work in the civil service. By 1972 when Ugandan President Idi Amin issued his order, there were approximately eighty thousand Asian Ugandans living in the country. They were given ninety days to leave.

Idi Amin's order was essentially the ethnic cleansing of the country. Its purpose, according to Idi Amin, was to give back to Ugandans their country. During British rule, preferential treatment was given to the South Asians they brought in from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Asian Ugandans were generally better educated and better off than African Ugandans. As a result they commonly worked in the banking and business sector and were not integrated into Ugandan society. This resulted in friction between the two ethnic groups and the growth of "Indophobia".

Idi Amin's predecessor, Milton Obote attempted to help African Ugandans through a series of laws restricting the rights of Asian Ugandans. Idi Amin's edict would mean big changes in Uganda and ultimately would result in the destruction of Uganda's economy as Asian Ugandans fled the country taking their money and expertise with them.

In Orange For The Sunsets, the story focuses on the friendship between two tweens, Asha Gomez who is a well off Indian Ugandan and her friend Yesofu, who is a much poorer African Ugandan. Yesofu had received an invitation to Asha's twelfth birthday party and had wanted to go but his mother reminded him that "You and Asha are from different worlds." So Yesofu doesn't attend her party at the Indian club but instead waits outside for Asha to leave so he can give her the birthday gift. But Asha refuses Yesofu's gift out of anger that he did not attend her party and made her look foolish. In her anger she breaks the bracelet, infuriating Yesofu who runs off.

After Sunday Mass the next day, Asha recovers all ten beads from Yesofu's bracelet and repairs the bracelet so she can wear it. At school she shows Yesofu the repaired bracelet and tells him it's the best birthday present she's ever received. After school at Asha's home, Yesofu tells her that the school cricket team's newly chosen captain will get to throw the first pitch at the India-Uganda cricket match. He hopes to be chosen captain.

The following Friday, Asha and the Gupta twins, Neela and Leela are making their way to Sari House to shop for the upcoming dance at the Entebbe Club when Mr. Bhatt, the owner of Cafe Nile ushers them quickly into his shop. On India Street, what looks like a parade turns out to be a demonstration by African Ugandans in support of Idi Amin who has just made a big announcement ordering all Indian Ugandans to leave the country.

Disobeying Mr. Bhatt, Asha drags Neela and Leela into the street only to find her and her friends caught up in the demonstration where the Africans are chanting "Indians go home." Terrified and realizing that their lives are at risk Asha and her friends try to get to safety.Meanwhile Yesofu and his brother Esi ride to the demonstration and meet Akello there. They are thrilled by the prospect of a brighter future, however Yesofu recognizes Asha in the crowd and that she is in trouble. Asha is saved by Yesofu's brother Esi who gets her out of the crowd on his motorcycle and takes her home.

At school when Asha tries to convince Yesofu and Akello that Idi Amin's order is wrong, she finds the African Ugandan students push back telling her that they deserve better in their own country. With seventy-five days to go before the deadline to leave, Asha's father wants to leave before the situation gets worse. However, her mother is convinced that things will settle down especially since Idi Amin has exempted government workers like Mr. Gomez. Asha doesn't want to leave her friends in Uganda.

Asha and her family attend the India-Uganda cricket match. However, the match never happens. When Idi Amin arrives, he announces to a cheering crowd that he has sent the Indian team home and that he has also revoked the exemption for professionals like Mr. Gomez. With the crowd chanting "Africa for Africans!", Asha's family and the many other Indian families flee the game in panic. Asha's father insists that they must now leave Uganda, but once again her mother refuses, insisting that this crisis will pass.

Two weeks later, Asha calls her sister Teelu in London asking her to help in convincing their father to stay. During the call, Asha discovers her parents' passports in her father's home office and decides to hide them. As the days pass and the deadline draws nearer, it becomes increasingly evident that Asha and her family cannot stay. Her friend Yesofu finds himself equally conflicted, not wanting to lose his best friend but at the same time hoping for change that will lead to a better life. Leaving will mean letting go.

Discussion

Orange For The Sunsets is an important novel that explores the 1972 expulsion of tens of thousands of Asian from Uganda through the dual narratives of Asha an Indian Ugandan and Yesofu who is African. Through these two characters, Athaide is able to effectively portray the vast disparity between the two ethnic groups in Uganda and their experiences during this difficult time in a way that is meaningful and invites young readers to thoughtful consideration.

From the very beginning of the novel, Athaide portrays the significant economic and social disparity that exists between the two main characters, Asha Gomez who is an Indian Ugandan and her best friend, Yesofu who is African Ugandan. Asha's father who is from Goa, India works in the Ministry of Tourism, arranging "special passports and visas for important dignitaries and other visiting government officials."Asha lives "in a pale yellow two-story house. Twice ...no, triple or quadruple the size..."of Yesofu's home with a "wraparound verandah". Their sitting room has "thick brocade curtains" and a "round, leather pouf" . Their Sunday lunch is followed by sweets in the sitting room. They can afford to eat kulfi or ice cream and serve their tea on a silver platter. Asha's family have African servants, including Yesofu's mother Fara who works as a housemaid and cook. Asha's older sister Teelu is studying nursing at a school in London, England.

In contrast, Yesofu whose family belongs to the Ganda tribe, lives in a two room shack, "made of wattle and daub -- woven rods and twigs plastered with clay and mud" with a grass roof. Yesofu sleeps on a woven mat and gathers branches for firewood. His mother has very little education having only complete up to primary class three and his Baba works in the fields all day. Yesofu's education is paid for by Asha's father and his dreams of college and playing professional cricket hinge entirely on a cricket scholarship.

Life is more restrictive for Yesofu and his fellow African Ugandans. Although the Indian Club where Asha has her party accepts African Ugandans, the only Africans in the club are those who serve drinks. Even at Asha's home Yesofu has had to come through the back door into her home, or stay in the kitchen if her parents were entertaining guests. And Yesofu and his friend Akello are the first African Ugandans to make his school cricket team. Even though Yesofu is an accomplished player, Rajeev, an Indian is chosen over him to be the team captain.Yesofu is only awarded the title when Rajeev reveals he will be leaving the country.

Readers will realize that Asha's family is very well off and that life holds many more opportunities for her than it does for Yesofu and his fellow African Ugandans. For Yesofu, the path to a better life is a college education but that comes at a cost he cannot afford. He is in school only because Asha's father pays his fee. Athaide's portrayal of life in the country shows how British colonial practices harmed the fabric of Uganda and its indigenous peoples.

Both Asha and Yesofu experience intense internal conflict over what is happening. Asha, who loves her life and Uganda, is in denial about the reality of life in her country. Her life of comfort and privilege means she doesn't understand how being Indian and African makes her and Yesofu different. Her view of the world is very simple and naive.

When Idi Amin's edict is issued, Asha is in denial, "Uganda was home. The president couldn't make her leave." At school Asha is confronted by her African classmates including Yesofu and Akello who points out that Uganda belongs to the Africans and that the Indians merely continued taking from the country after the British left.

Asha doesn't really understand the situation in her country partly because she is well off and partly because her parents do not talk to her about what is happening. When she asks her Papa she is told "Nothing you need to worry about."This isolation from the reality of what is happening leads Asha to believe they are not at risk and that her family won't be affected. She also has a simplistic view that people need to learn to get along. For example, when Asha states that she should wear the traditional African gomesi to the Entebbe Club, her friend Leela reminds her not to forget that she is Indian. But Asha responds,"Indian. African. We're different, so what if people stopped making such a big deal of it, then it wouldn't matter so much."

It is in her classroom when the topic is brought up that Asha begins to learn more about the reality of life in Uganda. For example, Yesofu mentions that his father was refused a bank loan to buy land, Asha wonders,"Had Yesofu's dad always wanted a piece of land? How come she didn't know?" This leads her to other questions like, "Why is Amin punishing us? Whose fault is it? Why are Indians being blamed? How come the British didn't hire Africans?"

For Yesofu, the conflict is much deeper. Upon learning that Amin has ordered the expulsion of the Indians and the possibilities this might create for Africans like himself he wonders, "The man's words turned inside of Yesofu. It wasnt' just the opportunities opening up for Africans but also the bit about Indians being kicked out. Did that mean all Indians -Asha too?" For Yesofu, the possibility of a brighter future, of his Baba being able to buy land, of attending college and having a better life lead him to support the actions of Idi Amin. He is certain his friend Asha will understand "...how the president's plan could help him and other Africans". Yesofu tries to celebrate with other members of his family and his friends, part of the Ganda tribe but "It felt like he was betraying them by not joining in, but wrong if he did." Akello insists that the Indians must go because they don't belong in Uganda. When challenged about the morality of taking from the Indians, Akello tells Yesofu that leaving may be best for Asha. "Her Uganda is changing. It's going to be an Africa for Africans. Not an African for Indians and Africans."

However Yesofu soon finds that there is a dark side to the explusion as he witnesses the beating of an Indian man in the street and Akello assaulting Asha for calling him a shamba boy. With many countries refusing to take in the Indian refugees, Yesofu remembers the article showing "...The angry white faces holding their signs of hate. Were Africans any different? They didnt want the Indians any more than the British did..."

It is Asha's experience in Katabi, the rural area where Yesofu lives, that ultimately helps her understand events from the African point of view. After she is rescued from the well where she fell being chased by Akello, Asha realizes she does know Yesofu's life. "She'd never worked in the sugarcane fields. She'd never drawn water from a well for cooking. She'd never even had to wash her own clothes. Yesofu deserved to have everything she had or used to have. She wished she'd realized sooner how not having these things did make a difference..." When Yesofu visits her in the hospital Asha tells him that she's been selfish, not really understanding that their lives were different. "I never really thought about what your life was like outside my world."

The title of the novel is taken from the description of the colour of one of the beads from Asha's friendship bracelet that Yesofu gives her for her birthday. Esi is only able to recover four beads from the well. "Red for hibiscus flowers. Brown for sweetgrass. Blue for Lake Victoria. And orange for the sunsets." Although only four beads remain, their friendship endures. Asha is leaving Uganda but the two friends do not say good bye but "Tautakutana tena." Or until we meet again.

Although the characters in Orange For The Sunsets are fictional, Athaide has used her family's experience in Uganda during this time and the stories told during family get-togethers to craft a realistic and informative novel. The novel includes several informative features in the back matter including 90 Days In History: A Countdown to the Expulsion which is a timeline of the events, a detailed Author's Note with pictures from Athaide's family, a Bibliography and an Additional Resources section.

Book Details:

Orange For The Sunsets by Tina Athaide
New York: Katherine Tegen Books 2019
pp. 328

A Wolf Called Wander tells the story of a young wolf who undertakes an incredible journey of survival after his pack is destroyed. The story is based on the real life events surrounding a wild wolf known as OR-7 who was named Journey.

The story opens with the birth of a wolf pup named Swift into a large wolf pack. Swift named because he was the first to stand and walk, has a brother named Sharp who is bigger and a brother named Warm who is smaller, as well as sisters named Pounce and Wag. Although Swift is eager to go into the world outside the den, he is warned not to do so by Mother. Eventually at night, Mother orders the young wolf pups out of the den and into the world.

In the world Swift meets other members of the pack, Song the hunger, pup-watcher Growl and Father who gives him a lump of predigested meat. Swift learns this is elk meat, the "life of the pack".

During the summer, the pack hunts and Swift and his brothers and sisters enjoy the elk meat. Despite his best efforts, Swift can never quite get his larger brother Sharp to drop his tail to him. Swift eats more and runs faster but Sharp is stronger and larger. But Swift sits with Father watching him watch the mountainside that is their home. Swift learns not to hunt skunks, eat mushrooms or white berries nor badgers, wolverines or porcupines. He learns about the ravens and how they work with the wolves, about how men kill wolves and works on his hunting skills.

As summer turns to fall, Father notes there are many more wolves in their area. So he and Mother go off to mark out their territory to warn the stranger-wolves away. During an elk hunt, Father teaches Swift how to run the elk to uncover the weakest one but it is Sharp who helps make the kill and who feeds after Father and Mother. This leaves Swift only more determined to beat his bigger brother. During the winter Father chooses Swift to run the herd while Sharp helps him make the kill.

No longer a yearling, Swift watches as the season changes and Mother has another batch of pups. On the first full moon of summer while the pups are feeding, an enemy pack of silver wolves attack Swift's smaller pack. While Mother escapes up the mountain with the pups, Father is surrounded by the other wolves and attacked. When Swift sees another wolf attempting to follow Mother up the mountain, he gets the wolf's attention by pretending to be a weaker wolf and then leads him on a chase. This wolf dies during the chase, but Swift determined to save his pack, leads several more on chases. However, Swift hears his father's death cry. Although he wants to howl to his pack to learn if any survived he can't because this might reveal them to the attacking pack. Later that night the pale wolves howl. Swift hears Sharp's low howl and knows that he is now their following wolf and that none of his pack remain. So Swift begins a journey that will take him hundreds of miles from his home territory and a new chance at life. Along the way there will be many lessons to learn, new animals to discover and many skills to develop.

Discussion

Remote camera photo of OR7 taken in 2014

A Wolf Called Wander is loosely based on the life of a gray wolf who was collared in Oregon. He was the seventh wolf collared and was named OR-7. OR-7 was born into the Imnaha Pack in Oregon in 2009. He was collared in February of 2011. In September 2011 OR-7 left the Imnaha Pack, travelling four thousand miles through the state of Oregon and eventually crossing into California. He travelled through the Soda Mountain Wilderness, the Klamath Basin and Sky Lakes Wilderness. His presence in California made him the first wolf in that state since 1924. OR7 returned to Oregon, crossing back and forth between the state and California several times before finding a mate and establishing a new pack, called the Rogue pack based in the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest in 2014. Since that time, OR7 has produced five sets of pups, helping to establish more wolves in Oregon.

Swift's story is told from his point of view, in a decidedly "wolf" voice. This makes the narrative that much more interesting and the lovely pencil illustrations by Monica Armino are a refreshing throwback to classic juvenile fiction novels from the 1950's and 1960's. They enhance Swift's story in a very real way.

Ultimately, Swift's story is one of brute survival, as he travels through new landscapes and must deal with a serious wound, lack of food, water and the loneliness of life without a pack. Early on the reader sees Swift's incredible will to survive after he is injured attempting to take down an elk. Unable to to walk and with vulture flying overhead, Swift determination to live is strong. "All creatures eat and all are eaten in the end, but I am not ready to be eaten, not today. I want my pack, my own pack. I want to run, to hunt, to live."

Parry incorporates many interesting facts about wolves into her story. For example, when Swift first leaves his decimated pack he has help from a raven. Ravens and wolves can have a symbiotic relationship, with the raven helping a wolf find food. But Swift, a young wolf without much experience doesn't understand why the raven has been following him. Father knew how to talk to the ravens, but he does not. However, when the raven picks up a bone and continues to drop it in front of Swift he comes to understand that the raven knows how to find food, but needs help from Swift. "Ravens do things for a reason. She is talking to me. She must know where to find meat. For all their savvy, ravens have the wrong beak for opening a hide. They need someone with teeth to get at the meat."

A Wolf Called Wander is an engaging novel that draws readers into the natural world, teaching them about wolves, and helping them to understand the importance of an apex predator like the wolf in the forest ecosystem. It also offers young readers the opportunity to consider the impact of man wolves over the last century. This well written novel will appeal to animal lovers of all ages. It's a book with a refreshingly different theme from the many the fantasy novels written for younger readers.

Parry has included a section titled, "The Real Wolf Behind The Story" which tells about OR7 and includes photographs and a map of OR7's journey through Oregon, into California and back into Oregon. There is also a section titled "About Wolves" which provides readers with information about some of their special characteristics as well as wolf tracks, wolf packs, wolf behaviour, the various habitats that Swift and his real-life counterpart, OR7 encountered on their journeys. Parry has also listed Resources for Young Readers which offers documentaries, books and websites to check out, as well as some General Resources.

OR7 image credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife https://www.flickr.com/photos/odfw/16674012963/in/album-72157623481759903/

Book Details:

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
New York: Greenwillow Books 2019
243 pp.

A young boy lived on a large river island with his family and other families. He began to notice that with each rainy season more and more of his island home was lost to the rising river. His tree covered island was gradually being replaced by empty sandbars where nothing could live. Sometimes he saw animals trapped on the sandbars.

The boy told the village about what he saw and how the homes for the animals were being destroyed. The villagers told him that the way to save the animals was to give them new homes. To help him, they gave him twenty bamboo saplings.

He went to a large sandbar, too sandy for leafy trees to grow and planted all the saplings. Every day he faithfully watered the saplings, an exhausting task for a young boy. But soon the bamboo saplings grew into a bamboo thicket. To enrich the soil he brought in cow manure, earthworms and other living things to help the soil. The boy brought in new seeds from neighbouring villages and planted them. As the years passed and the boy grew up, a wonderful transformation occurred on the once empty sandbar.

A forest covering forty acres, filled with water buffalo, rhinoceros, gibbons, elephants, snakes and birds had grown on the once barren sandbar. When problems occurred such as the appearance of dangerous tigers in the forest, the boy who had now grown into a man found a solution. That amazing boy was Jadav Payeng.

Discussion

The Boy Who Grew A Forest tells the true story of Jadav Payeng. Jadav was born into the Mising tribe in Assam, India. In 1979, Jadav saw many snakes stranded on a large sandbar on Majuli Island which is located on the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India. The snakes were dying as there was no where for them to nest.

Every year during the monsoon rains the Brahmaputra River floods, resulting in severe erosion of its banks and Majuli Island, the largest river island in the world. The erosion which continues today, is so serious that scientists believe the island will disappear entirely unless action is taken .

Majuli Island, Assam India

In 1980, the Golaghat District forestry division began planting trees on two hundred hectares at Aruna Chapori. Jadav Peyand was part of this project. In 1983, when it was decided to terminate the project, Jadav decided to stay on, caring for those trees already planted and continued to plant more.

The result of his efforts is a forest named Molai, after Jadav Peyang that is now home to many varieties of trees including valcol, arjun, cotton trees, moj, silk trees as well as bamboo. The forest has attracted a variety of wildlife including Indian rhinoceros', Bengal tigers, deer, rabbits, monkeys and many different types of birds. The government of India first learned of Jadav's forest in 2008 when a small herd of elephants they were looking for, were discovered to have wandered into the area. The elephants have returned every year, staying for about six months to give birth to their young. Today Jadav, his wife Binita and their three children live in the forest. Jadav believes it is possible to save Majuli Island by the extensive planting of coconut trees. These trees would halt erosion and also provide some economic return for the over one hundred thousand people who live on the island. It would also direct them away from illegal and harmful activities like poaching.

The Boy Who Grew A Forest, tells Jadav's story in a straightforward manner capturing his determination and commitment to the reforestation of a small part of Majuli Island. Gholz's retelling is a bit misleading in that Jadav was not a young boy when he began planting trees (as shown in the picture book), but in fact a teenager of sixteen. Nevertheless, Gholz's portrayal highlights his determination to rehabilitate the Majuli Island ecosystem and and demonstrates that all of us have our own part to play in keeping our planet healthy.

Rejuvenation of the area was not without its own problems. The trees were in danger of being exploited by men who wanted to cut them down. The rhinoceros and tigers were in danger from poachers. Each problem was met head on by Jadav and resolved; people who came to cut the trees were turned away, poachers captured by government officials.

Accompanying Gholz's text are the rich earthy illustrations of Kayla Harren in golden yellows, browns and greens, emphasizing the natural beauty of the Molai forest and its wildlife.

The Boy Who Grew A Forest is a natural fit as a debut picture book for Sophia Gholz whose father was a forest ecologist.It highlights the idea that everyone of us has a part to play in keeping our planet healthy. Children interested in the natural world will find Jadav's story encouraging and fascinating. They might find a short documentary made about Jadav Payeng, titled Forest Man to be interesting viewing. This documentary was made by Jitu Kalita, a wildlife photographer who discovered Molai forest and Jadav while scouting out new areas to film.

Majuli Island Map credit: http://www.indpaedia.com/ind/index.php/Majuli

Book Details:

The Boy Who Grew A Forest by Sophis Gholz
Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press 2019

When We Became Humans traces what scientists be current theory of the evolutionary journey of humans from primates in this book for younger readers. Michael Bright begins by defining a number of terms that readers will encounter in book: hominins, hominids, mammals, primates and halplorhines as well as explaining the nomenclature for assigning names in biology.

From there readers will begin their journey with the earliest known primate fossils from approximately 65 million years ago. These fossils tell us that
Moving on to the Age of Apes, readers learn about the theory that the ability to see colour may have evolved with the eating of fruit.

Questions such as How Do We Know Who Our Ancestors Were?, Why Walk Upright? are asked. Bright also touches on the use of DNA analysis in archeological exploration.

The skeleton of Lucy, a female from the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis (which was discovered in 1974) is over three million years old. It is possible that Lucy was one of our ancestors. The story then moves from Lucy to Homo habilis, "handy man" who lives during the Pleistocene (about 1 to 2 million years ago). The use of fire and of more sophisticated stone tools to hunt and butcher food occurred soon after, around 1 million years ago. Homo erectus, "upright man" was the hominin who is considered to have made great evolutionary strides. Homo erectus had a much larger brain and is considered to be intelligent and "more human like than any who had gone before." Their bodies were considered to have proportions similar to that of modern humans.

The section on Neanderthals, a hominin who lived between 430,000 and 250,000 years ago, but who is not believed to be our direct ancestor, explores how they might have looked, the type of tools they used, what they ate, where they lived and what eventually happened to them. This then takes the reader to modern humans, Homo sapiens who appeared some 300,000 years ago. Homo sapiens are believed to have evolved out of Africa and then traveled throughout the world to Western Asia, Europe, Australia, and eventually to the Americas.

From this point on, Bright focuses on modern humans, detailing the skills prehistoric humans developed to help them survive and thrive. These skills include becoming proficient hunters, developing glue, inventing the wheel, developing agriculture and permanent settlements, domestication of animals and the development of trade. As civilization developed, art, monuments, religious rituals and the written word were developed. How human evolution continues is an interesting and unexplored question.

Discussion

When We Became Humans offers younger readers a good overview of how archeologists believe humans evolved over millions of years. It presents, in very simple format, the series of fossilized skeletal remains of hominins that have been discovered and insight they provide to archeologists. Bright not only describes these hominins and how they may have looked but also portrays how scientists believe they may have lived, and how their surroundings pushed them to adapt and learn new skills. For example he mentions how early hominins lived in warm climates but as they developed and began moving northward from Africa into Europe, the colder climate led them to learn how to build more advanced shelters.

When We Became Humans also portrays the difficulty that scientists have encountered in unravelling the puzzle of our ancestry. For example, the hominin species, Homo heidelbergensis is believed by some scientists to be our most recent ancestor, but others believe that H. heielbergensis is the ancestor of the Neanderthals, while still others believe they are not a separate species at all. As Bright states, "The human story is so complex that nobody is sure who is right."

Many interesting facts and details are incorporated into the text. For example, details about how wolves were domesticated to become the dogs that ancient hunters used, or how"All modern Asian rice varieties can trace their origin back to the Pearl River Valley in China about 13,500 year ago."are just two examples of the many interesting and very relevant facts woven into the story of human evolution.

Bright helps his young readers understand how archeology draws from many other sciences to understand the past. For example he briefly explains how fossils are made, and how scientists use the rocks they are found in to date fossils. This helps archeologists understand new discoveries in relation to previous ones.

Readers learn that modern archeology utilizes modern technology such as CT scans and DNA analysis. The use of these tools provides scientists with information they might never have uncovered."In a cave in Belgium, for example, there were no fossil skull fragments or other parts of a skeleton present, yet scientists were able to find minute amounts of DNA in the sediment of the cave floor -- probably from blood, pee, or poop -- revealing that ancient humans had once lived there."

Hannah Bailey's muted artwork illustrates many of the concepts Bright presents without detracting from the text. A chart of the Human Family Tree and a map showing the migration route of humans and our ancestors out of Africa close out the story. As Bright states," The epic story of humans has been long and complex. The family tree is not a neat straight line from one ancestor to the next, but one of many branches and frequent dead ends." He notes that our recent chapter out of Africa, "features a cast of characters that constantly change as new discoveries are made."Those interested in human history and who wonder about how we came to be, are sure to find When We Became Human an engaging read.

Readers looking for more information on human evolution are directed to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History website.

Book Details:

When We Became Humans: Our Incredible Evolutionary Journey by Michael Bright
Lake Forest, CA: Quarto Publishing 2019
64 pp.

Up until the mid 19th century, it was generally believed that all life on earth was created within the last few thousands of years, at the same time and had generally remained unchanged. However some scientists began to consider that animals may have changed over time to their present form.

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who enjoyed observing the natural world. During a voyage around the world aboard the HMS Beagle, Darwin began to form ideas about life on Earth based on his observations which he accurately recorded.

After twenty years of writing and researching, Darwin published those ideas in 1859 in a book titled, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection. He defined species as "groups of living things that look alike and can have babies together." Members of a species might have "variations" such as different colouring but overall they resemble each other. A perfect example are pigeons which Darwin believe descended from the rock pigeon but now have many variations.

Variations can occur through domestication, from specialized breeding programs. For example, farmers can breed cows who make more milk. In the natural world, variation also occurs. Darwin had visited the Galapagos Islands and noted that finches on the island had variations in the shape of their beaks, allowing them to eat specific kinds of fruit. For example, some finches had large beaks for cracking open large seeds, while others had long and sharp beaks to eat only cactus flowers.

Although animals and plants can often easily reproduce and have numerous offspring, it is difficult to survive in the wild. Those best adapted are the ones who succeed. Many adaptations help a species survive and over time small adaptations add up leading to new species better adapted to a new environment.

Darwin did not know how life began on Earth but he believed, based on his observations, that life on our planet is constantly adapting and changing. He called this process "natural selection" which "makes living things better adapted to where they live. Once animals with more useful traits appear, they will compete and replace those that are less adapted." Darwin also believed that all living things were interconnected in a vast tree of life.

His theory, unique and earth-shattering in the 19th century, also led scientists to ask even more questions? If this process was happening, where was the fossil evidence for the transitional forms as adaptations led to more significant changes? Darwin felt that this could be explained by the fact that the creation of fossils is a difficult process requiring a perfect set of conditions. Animals must be covered quickly by sediment when they die in order to be preserved and even then the soft parts of animals are rarely fossilized. The conditions for fossils to be preserved must be ideal.

Natural selection also works on instinct, or how animals inherently behave. Darwin also believed that migration, that is a species moving from one area to a new area, also plays a role in change. Darwin also noted that embryos, the very first stages of new life, all show common features suggesting a common beginning. The process of evolution continues today as all life on earth adapts to the constantly changing world.

Discussion

Author Sabina Radeva presents a picture-book adaptation of Charles Darwin's famous work, On The Origin of Species. Radeva who has an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the Max Planck Institute, was intrigued by an illustrated copy of On The Origin of Species. However, she realized that most people would never read it because of the dense text. Having switched careers and now working as a graphic designer, Radeva was still interested in combining her science background with her talent as an illustrator. She felt that children could better understand the concepts in Darwin['s theory through the use of pictures.

The author admits to leaving out "some information from Darwin's original text because the concepts were too difficult for young readers." but this works to the benefit of the topic of the book. Overall this picture book gives a good summary of Darwin's big idea, that life on Earth is constantly adapting and that this is through a process named natural selection. Radeva presents the basic parts of Darwin's theory, explaining how he came to develop it through his observations. And therein lies the lesson of the book: Radeva believes that from Darwin's story,"...children can learn the power of observation and recognize how curiosity about the natural world can lead to incredible discoveries." In an era where attention is focused almost entirely on the virtual world, Radeva's book, and Darwin's story are reminders that the natural world is full of discoveries waiting to be made.

Radeva avoids most of the controversy surrounding the theory of evolution but does explain some misconceptions surrounding evolution in a separate section at the back of the book. Appropriately titled Misconceptions, she explains what evolution is and is not. In the Appendix, Radeva explains DNA and genes, inheritance, variations and mutations, natural selection, epigenetics ( relatively new field of study in which lifestyle and life events have an effect on gene expression) and comparative embryology. There is also a Glossary and a Recommended Reading section.

Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species is a good starting point for young readers (Grades 1 to 6) to explore evolution and natural selection. To learn more about Charles Darwin and his amazing voyage, young readers are directed to One Beetle Too Many: the Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky.

Book Details:

Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species by Sabina Radeva
New York: Crown Books for Young Readers 2019

Seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan has been working in Mrs. English's milliner's shop as a milliner's assistant for the last two years for a measly fifty cents per day. However, before she can ask for the raise she so desperately needs, Jo is fired by Mrs. English because she's Asian and a "sauce-box" who expresses her opinions about what a client would look best in. Not only that but Mrs. English has spoken with the sixteen other milliners in Atlanta, effectively blacklisting Jo from being hired.

Nevertheless, when Mrs. Bell arrives to have a special Chinese knot embellishment placed on her hat, Jo is made to make the embellishments. Unbeknownst to the Bells, Jo and Old Gin live beneath the Bell's house in what used to be cellar to hide runaway slaves. A listening tube, disguised as a vent allowed those in the basement to hear what was happening in the upstairs.

While Mrs. Bell and Mrs. English are haggling over the price of Jo's work, Miss Melissa Lee Saltworth and Miss Linette Culpepper, whom Jo has nicknamed Salt and Pepper arrive. The daughters of "merchant aristocrats", Miss Saltworth is being courted by Mr. Quackenbush, the son of a financier who lost his fortune backing Confederate dollars"

That night Jo listens as the Bells discuss the dire circumstances of their newspaper The Focus. It has lost readers after the Bell's son Nathan published an editorial against segregating Atlanta's streetcars. They need two thousand new subscribers by April or they will be forced to close and move to New York. This means Jo and Old Gin will likely lose their home too. The Nathan, the Bell's son questions what their newspaper is lacking and his mother states that it is an advice column. Their competitor, The Trumpeter has Advice from Aunt Edna and Mrs. Bell believes that an "agony aunt" column would help greatly.

The next morning, Jo attempts to find work but is unsuccessful. That night she decides that she will be the Bell's "Aunt Edna", writing an advice column for women, anonymously in order to help the Bell's newspaper obtain more subscriptions. Jo writes a letter to Nathan offering her services and sends along her first column which advises women to boldly ask a man to the Payne's eight-furlong race to be held in March in support of the Society for the Betterment of Women. She takes the pseudonym, Miss Sweetie, "...to temper the more provocative nature of the articles..." she will be writing.

While looking for another pair of gloves after losing one when she ran into Nathan Bell and his dog Bear, Jo discovers a man's navy suit, wool coat and shoes. Old Gin returns home and tells Jo that Mrs. Payne will see her about a job as a weekday maid for her daughter Caroline. However Jo is not happy about this because Caroline was always nasty to her when she was younger. She spent her childhood at the Paynes first as a playmate to Caroline and later on working for them as a maid until she was suddenly let go over two years ago. Jo reluctantly agrees, hoping that finishing school has taken the nasty edge off of Caroline.

At the Payne's home Jo settles in as Caroline's maid, working during the week, maintaining Caroline's quarters, her wardrobe and accompanying her when she goes out. Caroline however has no intention of having Jo follow her everywhere. On their first outing on horseback, Caroline tricks Jo sending her to look for a dropped handkerchief, which allows Caroline to secretly meet her lover, Mr. Quackenbach. Mr. Q as Jo calls him happens to be Melissa Saltworth's beau. Afterwards, Caroline threatens to have Jo fired if she reveals her secret but Jo counters with the threat to reveal her dalliance to Miss Saltworth. Her request is to be treated better by Caroline.

Upon returning to the Payne estate, Jo is disturbed to find Old Gin with Billy Riggs, a man with a nasty reputation as a "fixer". Old Gin tells her that one of the Chinese owed Billy's father money and warns her to stay away from him. Old Gin begins spending most of his days and nights at the Paynes helping Jed Crycks train the new Arabian stallion Merritt brought back to the estate.

At home, Jo discovers a partially made red silk garment which leads her to believe that Old Gin is working on finding her a husband. Meanwhile her Miss Sweetie column has become very popular, leading Mrs. Payne to buy extra copies of The Focus for her women's group, the Atlanta Belles. Jo decides to hand deliver her next column to the Bells. When she puts on the wool coat to run her errand, she discovers a note addressed to "Shang" and signed with the letter "e" in the pocket. Jo questions Old Gin about the letter and learns that Shang owed Billy's father a great deal of money. However he refuses to tell her anymore. This mystery and the inconsistencies in Old Gin's story leads Jo to wonder if Shang might be her father. As Jo works to unravel the mystery of her past, Miss Sweetie's fame grows and the hunt is on to discover who is behind the provocative column that is having unexpected social repercussions across Atlanta! Eventually Jo uncovers the identity of her parents, Old Gin's connection to the debt to Billy and devises a plan to wipe out the debt.

Discussion

The Downstairs Girl is a novel with a strange plot. Set in 1890 Atlanta, Georgia, The Downstairs Girl incorporates the themes of racial tension, women's rights, class and identity. The novel, while historical fiction, is also part mystery and a coming of age story. Despite these many themes the wit of main character Jo Kuan, a seventeen-year-old who is half Chinese, half Caucasian makes this novel an enjoyable and intriguing read.

In 1890 Atlanta, racial discrimination is common towards black citizens. The Reconstruction Era in the southern United States is over and the southern states are back to governing themselves. Although black men were given the right to vote by the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1870, many obstacles were enacted to limit this right in many states. At this time women were also unable to vote, but were beginning to agitate for greater involvement in society and for more rights. Women were beginning to see themselves as having a greater role in society and in the political process. Somehow Lee manages to incorporate bits of all these themes into her story, through her varied cast of characters.

For example there is Jo, who is of Chinese heritage, a talented milliner-in-training who is fired and blacklisted simply for being Chinese. There is also Old Gin, who turns out to be Jo's grandfather, who works at the Payne estate as a groom for years. There is Robby Withers, a black man who is a delivery man at Buxbaum's simply. But as Jo notes, "We all must abide by the rules, but some of us must follow more than others. Robby can be a deliveryman but not a clerk. Mrs. English would never have promoted me to milliner, just as Mr. Payne will never promote Old Gin to head groom. Like Sweet Potato and her twisted let, we have been born with a defect -- the defect of not being white. Only, unlike in Sweet Potato's case, there is no correcting it. There is only correcting the vision of those who view it as a defect, though not even a war and Reconstruction have been able to do that."

The character of Caroline Payne represents the privileged white class and the Southern gentry, but she is also used to portray the social restrictions placed on women. Caroline is a mean, thoughtless girl who is wealthy, lives in comfort and can go wherever she wants. However, her freedom is an illusion because her path is life is mostly determined by social convention. She is expected to marry a wealthy man. Despite the opening of the debutante season, Jo notes that Caroline doesn't want to marry and she begins to understand that Caroline's situation is just as constraining if not more so than her own. "Caroline's scowling visage appears in my mind. With her wealth, every door is open for her. But maybe what she wants is not for doors to open, but for the walls to come down. When one grows up with walls, it is difficult to dream of a world beyond. Who knows what Caroline - what any of us -- could accomplish without the constant pressure to get married?" It is these observations that lead Jo to encourage her father to involve Caroline more in the family printing business which she appears to have an aptitude for.

One of the many plotlines in the novel involves Jo's search into her past. All she knows at the beginning of the novel is that she was abandoned by her father and that she was left in the care of Old Gin. However, there are soon hints that not all is as it seems. "Wondering about my parents is a strange kind of agony, an itch that I can't help scratching until it causes pain." The revelation of the identity of her parents is devastating to Jo but she decides to show her mother that she won't be bound by the chains of shame but will live life on her own terms. Jo is determined, resourceful and forthright, with dreams of becoming more than what society tells her she can be. She represents the struggle for both women's and civil rights.

The Downstairs Girl is recommended for older readers because of some sexual innuendo as well as a scene involving male nudity in a house of prostitution. Those familiar with Lee's writing will find The Downstairs Girl similar in tone to her other novels with their unique settings

Book Details:

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons Ltd. 2019
374 pp.

Encounter tells the story of a meeting between two people from very different worlds long ago. The story begins on a morning in which the "sun rose to light all Creation." Creation includes seagull, mouse, mosquito, crab and other animals as well as two men, Fisher and Sailor.

Fisher awakes on the edge of the forest by the sea to the new day, gets into his canoe and paddles out into the ocean planning to let out his nets. Out on the ocean, Sailor awakes too, with plans to explore this new world. He lowers a boat and rows toward shore. Fisher sees Sailor and wonders if his eyes are playing tricks on him. Sailor realizes this unknown land is not new and empty.

Pulled by the tide, they land together on the beach. They greet one another in their own language but cannot understand what the other is saying. Sailor tries to explain his journey with a picture in the sand. When he becomes hungry, he eats one of his biscuits and offers it to Fisher. But Fisher would"rather chew wood". He in turn offers Sailor sunflower seeds. Sailor spits them out, thinking he "would rather eat pebbles". But Fisher shows him how to open the seed's shells.

The two go swimming to cool off from the hot summer sun. They see beluga whales in the bay. As night approaches, each must return to their lives, and the two say goodbye, hopeful they can meet again.

Discussion

Encounter is a story about two people from different lands and cultures meeting for the first time and finding ways to build the beginnings of a friendship. As Luby whose heritage is from the Anishinabeg, explains in her historical note at the back, the story "is based on notes kept by Jacques Cartier, a real French explorer, on his first expedition to what is now known as North America. Cartier anchored his ship in what we now call Gaspe Bay, in 1534. While Mi'gmaq territory included this region, records suggest that they shared fishing grounds with Stadaconans in the sixteenth century. " For Luby, "imagining an open and friendly meeting between a French sailor and a Stadaconan fisher"was the vehicle for showing that people from very different cultures can find common ground.

This message is presented throughout the picture book through the various animals who watch the encounter. Although Fisher notes that he and Sailor do not sound the same, seagull observes that they both cast long shadows. The mosquito likes that they both taste delicious, crab notices that they both "found a shell to suit them" and beluga decides that they both together"make a strong pod".

Sailor and Fisher's encounter was similar to that of Cartier's initial relationship with the Stadaconan fishers in 1534.It began as a mutually peaceful one. However Cartier took two Stadaconan men with him on the voyage back to France, returning them the following year. This was done against their will and was disrespectful and harmful to the Stadacona and their families. It was this arrogant sort of action that was to colour almost all future contact with Indigenous peoples in North America.

In her Author's Reflection, Luby writes, "By being a hand on Cartier's ship, Sailor helped to build a system that took resources from Indigenous peoples, like Fisher, and delivered them to Europeans." However, Sailor could not really have understood the effects of his actions nor those of his country at the time. Luby and many others are looking at history through the modern lens of tolerance, openness and with a knowledge Europeans could not have had. In the 1500's European explorers saw the world as something to be conquered. They had the mindset that their culture was superior. This would not be surprising since Indigenous cultures in North America were not as technologically advanced as Europeans and their cultures were so very different. They either did not recognize the harm they were doing or most likely were not concerned. Today most of us are no different: no matter how open and accepting we are towards another culture, we still hold the belief that whatever culture we live in is better than other cultures. Otherwise we would adopt those traditions and beliefs ourselves but we do not.

This doesn't take away from the wonderful message of Luby's picture book, that we should be open and respectful to cultures different from our own and that we act in ways that do not harm others. Her message is enhanced by the exquisite artwork of Michaela Goade. Rendered in watercolour, pen, ink and gouache, as well as digitally, the vibrant illustrations show the beauty of the land Sailor has "discovered" (and to him it was a discovery because it was something new and previously unknown) and the land that is Fisher's home.

Book Details:

Encounter by Brittany Luby
Toronto: Tundra Books 2019

Prehistoric Dinosaurs takes readers on a journey backwards in time beginning with our own epoch, the Anthropocene.

Readers start with the Holocene epoch which began approximately 10,000 years ago and is the most recent in the Cenozoic era. During this time, humans evolved, the Earth warmed resulting in the retreat of vast ice sheets. This allowed humans to migrate and settle in most parts of the world.

The Pleistocene which began approximately 2.6 million years ago saw the most recent ice age. With climate cooling, ice caps formed at the North and South poles. There were interglacial periods when the climate warmed allowing forests and mammals to flourish. It was a time of saber tooth cats such as Smilodon. Prior to this, during the Neocene epoch (23 million to 2.6 million years ago), mammals began to dominate the Earth.

The Neocene was preceded by the Paleocene which began 66 million years ago. The climate was warm allowing large rain forests to grow and new types of mammals to evolve. Early primates began living in the trees during this time.

Before the Paleocene, the Cretaceous Period saw the reign of the dinosaurs which were a very diverse group of animals. There were meat-eating dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurs, as well as plant-eating ones such as Spinops. Flowering plants or angiosperms also developed during the Cretaceous Period providing fruits as a food. In the sea, giant mosasaurs, turtles and ammonites flourished. Scientists have evidence that the Cretaceous experienced a mass extinction even that destroyed seventy percent of the life on Earth. The cause is believed to be an asteroid that crashed in what is now Mexico, resulting in the Earth being overwhelmed with dust and smoke, blotting out the sun. This catastrophic event is believed to be responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs.

It was during the Jurassic, 201-145 million years ago, that the largest land animals developed. These were the sauropods. During this time, the super continent known as Pangea began to break up. This began with the break up of North America from Europe and Asia and later Africa from South America.

About 252 million years ago, the ancestors of dinosaurs and other reptiles were evolving. At this time dinosaurs were small, inhabiting most areas of Pangea.

The Permian period (299- 252 million years ago) saw the formation of the supercontinent called Pangea from the collision two great land masses. At this time there were amphibians, reptiles and pre-mammals. Most were predators who ate other predators.Although there were many plants, they were consumed mostly by insects. The end of the Permian is characterized by a great extinction resulting from an extended period of widespread volcanic activity. It is believed over ninety percent of life on Earth was destroyed.

Before the Permian, the Carboniferous was a time of giant trees and towering ferns. These lush forests were filled with many different arthropods, amphibians and the first reptiles.From 419 to 359 million years ago, the Devonian period saw the development of the first trees and forests, the first insects and spiders and the first four-legged animals such as salamanders. Prior to the Devonian, during the Silurian (443 to 419 million years ago), temperatures on Earth were slowly rising, allowing new life forms to develop. The first fish with jaws developed allowing predation to occur, as well as the evolution of eurypterids ("scorpion-like arthropods) which could grow to be very large.

In the Ordovician (485 to 443 million years) most life existed in the oceans. Snails, clams, nautiloids, trilobites and conodonts as well the world's first fish lived in the water. This period was characterized by the expansion of coral reefs across the world. The period before the Ordovician is called the Cambrian and this era saw the explosion of life on Earth. This sudden increase in life forms is called the "Cambrian Explosion". Trilobites, a primitive arthropod, dominated the Cambrian period which is sometimes referred to as the "Age of Trilobites".

Finally, the period before the Cambrian is known as the Ediacaran, some 4.6 billion to 541 million years ago. The amazing story of life on Earth began during this time and little is known about the creatures who lived during this phase.

Discussion

In Prehistoric Dinosaurs, Megalodons and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past, author Zoehfeld has chosen to tell the story of life on Earth beginning with the modern epoch of the Anthropocene (which we are now living in) and moving backwards through time to the very beginning. This makes it difficult to fully understand how life developed from simpler forms to more complex ones, how the climate and the land masses changed over time and how catastrophic events shaped life and the world afterwards. Therefore, it is recommended that readers start at the back of this book and read backwards to the front! Reading in this way works superbly, making the timeline of events more logical and understandable.

Zoehfeld's simple text gives readers a good understanding of the changes that occurred through each period and there are detailed, full colour illustrations which provide a sense of what the Earth may have looked like during each time period as well as the creatures that could be found in the seas and on land. The author includes many interesting facts for each period, and sets aside small areas on each page to explain certain events or to provide more details. For example, there are short, simple explanations of how coal formed, supervolcanoes, how dinosaurs walked, mass extinctions, ice ages and many other topics.

This book was produced in association with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. A more concise title with a more engaging illustration on the cover is also recommended. Overall, an interesting presentation of the development of life on Earth. However, the claim on the book's back cover, "What's the best way to see the past? From the present, of course!" didn't work for this reader!

Book Details:

Prehistoric Dinosaurs, Megalodons, and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Greenbelt, Maryland: What on Earth Publishing 2019
45 pp.

Ngama's village sits at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. One day he sees a car leaving his village. This is so unusual that Ngama races home to find out who the visitor is and why he came. He arrives to find everyone in the clearing at the center of the village. In the center is Ngama's father who is chief of their tribe. Someday, Ngama will take his father's place. Surrounding his father are the men with the women and children on the outside. Between the men and women are the older boys who are not yet grown. This is where Ngama stands. His friends tell him the men are discussing the mountain, which Ngama's people, the Chagga, consider to be sacred.

From his father Ngama learns that the visitor was the leader of their country. This leader has requested that they climb the mountain to mark their people's independence from rule by white men. Ngama's father tells him only the men of their tribe will climb the mountain to mark this historic event.

The next morning Ngama's father leads the Chagga men up the mountain. Each man carries food, water, a blanket and wood for the three day journey. Ngama, unhappy about being refused permission to join the men, decides to follow them at a distance.

Many of the men were veterans at climbing the mountain as they had often served as guides. When some of the men saw that Ngama was following, they advised him to return home but Ngama refused. As the men climbed higher it grew colder and the air thinner making it harder to breathe. But Ngama persisted. Soon all the men knew he was following them. Ngama's father refused to believe the boy following them was his son because he had told his son not to do this.

When the men reached the Uhuru Peak, the highest elevation in Africa, they set up a huge pyre. As Ngama's father was about to light it, he called to his son and had him light the fire because Ngama represented the future. The fire was bright as a candle and could be seen for miles. It represented freedom and the future.

Discussion

Light A Candle tells the story of young Tanzanian boy celebrating the independence of United Republic of Tanzania in 1961, located in East Africa. It gained independence from British rule in December of 1961. The peaceful transition from colonialism to independence was achieved through the efforts of Julius Nyerere who became Tanzania's first president.

Nyerere was born at Butiama, located on Lake Victoria. His intelligence and abilities were recognized by the Catholic priests who educated him despite his formal schooling not beginning until he was twelve years old. He was sent to study at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Educated at Edinburg University in Scotland, Nyerere returned to the British colony of Tanganyika to work as a teacher. He soon left teaching, founded the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party in 1954 and began working towards independence through the use of peaceful protests. Nyerere was first elected in 1958, representing East Province. He was successful in winning the 1960 general election and gaining independence for his country the following year. Tanazania eventually was formed out of the amalgamation of two territories, the mainland of Tanganyika and the islands of Zanzibar.

Unlike Uganda and Idi Amin a decade later, Nyerere worked to establish a peaceful "Africanization" of his country while still respecting the European and Asian citizens in the country. He did this through socialist policies which ultimately were not successful economically and which made Tanzania dependent on foreign aid. Nevertheless, Nyerere unified his country and helped indigenous Africans begin the march towards self government.

The book's title, Light A Candle, comes from Nyerere's words before he became Tanzania's president. In Nkongolo's Afterword he writes that Nyerere, in words reminiscent of St. Francis, stated "The people of Tanganyika would like to light a candle and put it on top of Mount Kilimanjaro which would shine beyond our borders, giving hope where there was despair, love where there was hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation."

Unlike the story in this book, the Uhuru Torch was actually lit by Lt. Alex Nyirenda. However, in Light A Candle the focus is on the journey towards independence as experienced by a young boy. Ngama, who represents the future of the the people of Tanzania, makes the hard climb up Africa's tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro with determination. The climb represents the country's journey towards independence. Despite all the hardships Ngama encounters, being poorly outfitted for the journey, the length of the journey, the cold, loneliness, lack of air, and being hungry, he succeeds. It is Ngama who lights the beacon representing freedom and peace, to be seen all over Africa. Independence, achieved peacefully is the message for the continent beginning to throw off the shackles of colonialism. Accompanying Nkongolo's simple text are the vibrant illustrations of Eva Campbell rendered in oil paint and oil pastel on canvas.

Light A Candle gives younger readers a simple version of a historic event that occurred almost sixty years ago. It reminds us that people everywhere have the right to their culture and traditions and to self government.

Book Details:

Light A Candle by Godfrey Nkongolo
Orca Book Publishers 2019

Harriet is the cinematic dramatization of the amazing story of Harriet Tubman who fled from Maryland as a slave into Delaware to be free.

In 1840, Araminty "Minty" Ross, a slave on the farm of Edward Brodess, has married a freedman named John Tubman. John arrives on the Brodess farm with a letter from a lawyer that he and Minty hired. Brodess's grandfather had willed that Minty mother be freed when she turned forty-five along with Minty and her sisters. But Minty's mother is now fifty-six and Brodess has recently sold her two older sisters to another farm. They give Edward Brodess the letter, requesting that he free Minty and her mother. Brodess is infuriated and orders John off his farm and Minty and her mother back to work in the fields.

Devastated, Minty runs into the nearby forest, and prays to God that he take Brodess because he is an evil man. Minty is followed into the forest by Brodess's son, Gideon who overhears her prayer. Minty and Gideon played together as children on the farm, but now Gideon tells her that his father warned him about having a favourite slave. "Boy, having a favorite slave is like having a favorite pig. You can feed it, play with it, give it a name, but one day you might have to eat it or sell it."

Shortly after this Edward Brodess dies and Gideon takes over the Brodess farm. He promptly puts Minty up for sale. While chopping wood, Minty has a vision of herself fleeing the Brodess farm to freedom. She has had this vision before but decides to act on it as her desire to be free has become so overwhelming. She meets John who shows her the flyer advertising her sale but he also tries to talk her out of running away. Minty however is determined. She races to the field and sings goodbye to her mother and flees to her father's house. He tells her to go to the Reverend Green's home.

The Reverend Green tries to talk Minty out of running away but when he sees how determined she is he tells her she must be miles away from the Brodess farm by morning. He tells her to follow the North Star and when she can't see the star to follow the river. Minty is to follow the Delaware River and travel to Wilmington where she is to seek out a blacksmith named Thomas Garret.

Minty is pursued by Gideon, his men and hounds until they finally meet at a bridge on the Delaware river. Gideon promises to not to sell her but Minty tells him "I'm gonna be free or die." and she jumps. Gideon searches along the river but when he doesn't find Minty, he believes she has died. In fact, Minty survives the jump and is helped by a Quaker farmer in whose wagon she hides. Minty reaches Wilmington, Delaware where she locates Thomas Garret who takes her in. After resting and recovering, Minty is driven by Garret, also a Quaker, to the Pennsylvania border and freedom. He tells her that Philadelphia is twenty-five miles north and to ask for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society led by William Still. Garret gives Minty a card with Still's likeness so she will recognize him.

In Philadelphia, Still records Minty's name and asks her to take a new name in honour of her new-found freedom. She chooses Harriet Tubman. Still takes Harriet to a boarding house run by Marie Buchanon, who was born and raised free. Harriet is given a paid job as a maid but she finds herself lonely and deeply unhappy.

Harriet goes to see Still asking him to have his "angels" bring her husband and family out of slavery, however he tells her that this is too dangerous with so many runaways. Slave owners are frustrated, judges are working to help them and Congress is considering passing laws to help the South. Still is concerned that if Harriet returns to Maryland and is captured she will betray his network. However Harriet is determined and with the help of Marie who teaches her some basic etiquette and loans her a dress and a suit for John, she sets out. Harriet takes the train to Dover, Delaware using false papers identifying her as Dessa Dixon.

Meanwhile at the Brodess farm, Gideon wants to sell Harriet's brothers as the plantation is deeply in debt. Harriet returns to find her husband John, believing her drowned, has taken another wife who is now expecting their child. Devastated, Harriet questions God's purpose in all of this but soon discovers other slaves who do want to leave. Her father Ben takes her to house where her brothers Henry and Junyah as well as Henry's fiance, Jane and a young widow named Pheobe along with her baby are hiding. Robert joins them as well, leaving behind his wife and newborn daughter.

When Gideon learns that he has lost five slaves he is furious and threatens Harriet's sister, Rachel into revealing that it is "Minty" who is stealing his slaves. Gideon hires Bigger John to help him track and capture Minty and the slaves. But Harriet prevails, managing to lead all safely to freedom. Still is astonished at Harriet's success and decides to take her to meet the Committee, the officers and organizers of the Underground Railway.

Harriet soon becomes known as Moses in Maryland, although the slave owners have no idea who the slave stealer really is. She attempts to convince her sister Rachel to runaway but she refuses to leave because Brodess has sold her children. In Baltimore, Maryland Gideon learns from Bigger Lohn that Moses is actually is former slave, Minty Ross, now known as Harriet Tubman.

When Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing slave owners to track slaves in any state in the Union, Gideon and Bigger Lohn pursue Harriet to Philadelphia. With escaped slaves now in danger of being hunted down and brought back south, panic ensues. William Still insists that Harriet must go to Canada for her own safety. Before leaving, Harriet races to say goodbye to Marie, only to find her dying from a beating by Bigger Lohn. Harriet escapes to St. Catherines in Ontario, Canada.

With the death of her sister Rachel, Harriet returns to the United States to the home of Senator William Seward where the members of the Underground Railway are debating whether or not to continue the railway. Instead of helping slaves into free states they must now send them on a 500 mile journey north to Canada. But Harriet insists that they must continue and that likely only a war will end slavery now.

In 1858, Harriet returns to Dorchester County to free her parents and her sister Rachel's children. The group barely escapes with Gideon and Bigger John tracking them. Harriet stays behind to give her family a chance to escape and ends up confronting Gideon. She wounds him and fortells the future, that he and other young men will die in a war over slavery. "The moans of a generation of young men dying around you in agony for a lost cause. For a vile and wicked idea. For the sin of slavery."

Epilogue: When the Civil War breaks out, Harriet becomes a spy for the Union and leads one hundred and fifty black soldiers in the Combabee River Raid, freeing over 750 slaves. Harriet did eventually remarry. She died in 1913 at the age of 91 years of age.

Discussion

Harriet tells the story of Harriet Tubman, an African American woman who escaped slavery and who worked to save her family and others from slavery and end the evil of slavery.

The exact date of Harriet Tubman's birth is not known with a wide range of birth years being given. It is believed she was born sometime around 1822, in Dorchester County, Maryland, to Harriet "Rit" Green and Ben Ross both of whom were slaves. Rit, whose mother Modesty came to America on a slave ship from Africa, worked as a cook for Mary Pattison Brodess while Ben worked nearby on Anthony Thompson's plantation. Rit and Ben had nine children, Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Minty, Ben, Rachel, Henry and Moses. Edward Brodess who was Anthony Thompson's stepson sold the three older girls, Linah, Mariah Ritty and Soph but when he attempted to sell Moses as a baby, Rit threatened to kill him.

Harriet was often loaned out to other plantations working in the fields. When she was thirteen she received a serious head wound that would affect her for the rest of her life. The injury resulted in her having headaches and seizures during which she seemed to experience vivid dreams or visions. Harriet believed these were from God and her faith in God became very strong.

Harriet's father Ben Ross was made a free man ins 1840 by Anthony Thompson's son who honored his father's wishes to free Ben at the age of forty-five. A lawyer hired by Ben discovered that Rit's former owner had stipulated that she would be manumitted at the age of forty-five, along with her children. However, the Brodess family refused to honour this and Rit and her children, including Harriet remained enslaved.

In 1844, Harriet still a slave, married John Tubman who was a free man. This meant that any children born to them would be slaves because the mother's status determined that of her children. When Harriet became ill in 1849, Brodess attempted unsuccessfully to sell her. After praying for Brodess to change his ways, and then changing her prayer that he be taken if he would not, Edward Brodess died suddenly. His death meant that many of the Brodess estate's slaves would be sold. This would break up Harriet's family forever and it was at this point that she decided to escape slavery.

Harriet Tubman ~ 1868 or 1869

Harriet's initial escape was in 1849, with two of her brothers, Ben and Henry but the three returned after her brothers expressed reservations about leaving. However, Harriet was not to be deterred and she escaped a second time. She was aided by the Underground Railroad, a network of "conductors" who were abolitionists helping slaves find safe houses enroute north to free states or to Canada. Harriet's journey from Maryland to Delaware and into Pennsylvania was about ninety to one hundred miles.

Once free, Harriet Tubman was not content to stay in Pennsylvania while the rest of her family including her husband were still slaves. Harriet made many journeys back to Maryland to rescue members of her family and other slaves, guiding them to freedom along the Underground Railway. Her work was made especially dangerous with the passing in 1850 of the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted owners to pursue runaway slaves even into free states and forced law enforcement in free states to arrest runaways.

The film Harriet is not entirely factually accurate in its portrayal of Harriet's life. For example, Harriet's main adversary, Gideon Brodess is entirely fictional. Edward and Eliza did not have a son named Gideon. Instead, the character of Gideon embodies all the evil of the white slave owners, their belief that they could own people and that black people were simply not human. Also fictional is the character of Marie Buchanon, although for the telling of the story, it's quite likely that someone like Marie would have helped Harriet adjust to life as a free woman in Philadelphia.

Harriet does capture the most important aspects of the character and life of Harriet Tubman, focusing on her work against slavery and the traits that made her so successful. Initially Harriet wanted to be free but once she escaped slavery, being free was not enough. She wanted other slaves, beginning with her husband and her family to also be free and this evolved into the overriding purpose of her life. She was so effective in rescuing slaves that she became known as "Moses", although initially her identity was unknown to the slave owners, who believed "Moses" to be a white abolitionist. Harriet would rescue at least seventy slaves over the period of thirteen years.

The portrayal of Harriet Tubman's efforts to help slaves in the film provides viewers with much insight into the character of this remarkable woman. She is shown as determined, courageous in the face of grave danger and with an intense faith that God would guide her every step. Thankfully director Kasi Lemmons did not play down the role Tubman's Christian faith played in her life. Harriet frequently explains to others the role of God in her life when confronted with what seems to be the impossible. When William Still asks, "Who'd you make the journey with?" Harriet tells him, "I left my husband and family. It was just me and the Lord." Harriet explains to Still that the head injury she incurred from an overseer, "...just made God's voice more clear."

Later when Still refuses to help Harriet bring back her husband, she warns him not to tell her what she can and cannot do. "God was watching but my feet was my own." Marie Buchanon, curious about what it is like to hear God, questions Harriet about hearing God's voice. "Sometime it sting. Like a smack in the face. Other time it's soft. Like a dream...."

Cynthia Erivo gives a passionate and believable performance as Harriet Tubman. Joe Alwyn portrays the cold-hearted, relentlessly wicked Gideon Brodess who pursues Hattie, while Janelle Monae is an elegant, demure Marie Buchanon who believes in Harriet to the very end, even sacrificing her life for her. The film has some exquisite cinematic moments such as the glorious sunrise when Harriet arrives at the Pennsylvania border and is no longer a slave, and the dark, mysterious night shots as Harriet leads her groups of frightened slaves through darkened forests to freedom.

Harriet is a film worth watching and will encourage younger viewers to learn more about this remarkable African American heroine. Rated PG-13 with only a few instances of violence.

Harriet Tubman photograph from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018645050/

Even as a small child, Gyo Fujikawa loved to draw. At the young age of five, she may not have yet known what she wanted to be but she knew she loved colours, line and "the feel of the pencil in her hand."

Gyo didn't have many friends when she was young and she didn't seem to be much noticed either. When her parents moved to a small fishing village near San Pedro, California, Gyo began to thrive. Although she still struggled socially at school, her beautiful drawings were noticed by two of her teachers, Miss Cole and Miss Blum.

Because Gyo's family was not well off, continuing school was not an option but Miss Cole found money to pay for her schooling. So Gyo attended art school in Los Angeles. It was unusual in 1925 for a woman and an Asian American to attend college but Gyo was determined.

She decided to continue her studies in Japan. When she returned to America, Gyo created murals and art for magazine. In 1942, with America at war with Japan, Gyo was forced to stay on the East Coast while her family were forced to leave their home on the West Coast and sent to a prison camp. All Japanese were considered enemies, even if they were born in America as Gyo was. This time was a period of great sadness for Gyo and she found it difficult to create art.

When the war was over, Gyo began drawing in earnest again, this time with the intention of having books send a message. A book featuring babies from different races was initially rejected by the publishers but Gyo insisted that they needed to break the rules. She remembered all the times she felt unwelcome as a Japanese American. Her book was published and the stage was set for Gyo to make more art like this.

Discussion

Gyo's are on her book Fairy Tales and Fables

Few people know about Gyo Fujikawa, a ground-breaking Asian American woman artist. Gyo was born in 1908 to Hizoko and Yu Fujikawa. Interested in art at an early age, Gyo received a scholarship to study at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. She became part of the Nisei artist community in that city, that is young people of Japanese ancestry who were born in America to Japanese citizens who had come to the country. After completing her studies at Chouinard, Gyo spent a year travelling in Japan studying traditional art making techniques. She returned to America to work at Chouinard in 1933, staying until 1937. Gyo also began working at Walt Disney Studios in 1933, eventually moving in 1941 to New York City to work in the studio there.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, America declared war against Japan and all Japanese living in America were considered enemy aliens. Gyo's family did not escape the consequences of war, nor the government policies regarding Americans of Japanese heritage and were sent to a prison camp. Yu, Hikozo and Fred were first sent to Santa Anita Park racetrack and then onto a camp in Jerome, Arkansas. Gyo was restricted to living on the East Coast. Like most Japanese Americans, Gyo's family lost everything.

In the postwar years, Gyo worked as a freelancer, creating art for a variety of projects. In 1957 her illustrations appeared in a new edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. In 1963, she wrote and illustrated Babies which portrayed babies with different skin colours. With the success of this first book and second companion titled, Animal Babies, Gyo decided to focus on creating children's books.

Gyo's books were created with the idea that books could be so much more than just stories, that they could uplift and comfort people. Her focus on multiracial children in her books, aimed to send the message that people of different races are all part of the human family. Although the civil rights movement was blossoming during this time, this was a very unique perspective for children's books and one which publishers were reluctant to tackle. Because of Gyo and her family's experiences of racism during the Second World War, Gyo must have seen a need for children to be exposed to the idea that people of all skin colours should be treated equally.

Kyo Maclear tells Gyo's story with using simple text accompanied by the artwork of Julie Morstad. Morstad's illustrations rendered in liquid watercolour, gouache and pencil crayon, are stylistically reminiscent of Gyo's drawings.As both the author and illustrator mention in a note at the back, Gyo's art had a sense of delicacy about it. It is Gyo's use of fine lines to create her characters and her use of colour that give this quality to her art.

Maclear includes numerous photographs of Gyo courtesy of her family in the back matter of the book, but no pictures of her artwork. There is a detailed timeline of Gyo's life as well as a Selected Bibliography and a list of Sources. It Began With A Page is recommended as a read-aloud book and for anyone interested in art history.

Book Details:

It Began With A Page by Kyo Maclear
Tundra Books 2019

Langston lives in Bronzeville, a part of Chicago also called the Black Ghetto or the Black Belt. Langston and his father moved from Alabama one week after the death of his mama. They live in a kitchenette apartment at 4501 Wabash Avenue. It's a room with two beds, a table and two chairs and walls covered with newspapers to hide the holes but it does have running water and an indoor toilet. Langston attends Haines Junior High School while his father works at .
A neighbour, Miss Fulton who teaches high school across town, lives above them and often asks Langson to help her bring groceries up the stairs.

Langston is usually the first one to get to school and sits in the front desk closest to his teacher, Miss Robins. His rundown shoes, overalls and the way he speaks marks him as poor and from the South, with some students calling him "country boy." Every day after school, Langston finds himself confronted by three boys, Lymon, Erroll and Clem but it is Lymon who mostly bullies him. Langston tries to ignore them allowing Lymon to push him around until he gets bored and leaves.

At home, Langston is sad, missing his mama's home cooking and life in Alabama.

One day after school, after helping carry out a box for Miss Robins, Langston manages to sneak unseen through the fence away from school. By the time he stops to catch his breath, he realizes he is in a strange neighbourhood with neat homes and large trees. On the corner is a large building called the George Cleveland Hall Library. Remembering that his mama once told him a "library is a place you borrow books", Langston decides to find out what it's like.

A lady who turns out to be one of the librarians, leads him into the library, telling him he can borrow any book he wants. Langston, scanning the shelves, pulls a book with his first name on the cover. The words in the book resonate with Langston, and he stays until the library closes. When he returns home late Langston lies to his father about the library, telling him he was out playing with some boys.

Langston returns to the library the very next day and asks the librarian, Mrs. Kimble about the photographs of colored people on the walls. She tells him that they are authors from a lecture series held at the library and that the library is named for a prominent Negro physician. Langston returns to the section of the library containing "the book with the words from my heart." When it comes time to leave, Langston learns from Miss Cook, the children's librarian about taking out books using a library card. Langston is overwhelmed at this prospect and signs out the book of poetry by Langston Hughes.

As Langston struggles to adapt to life in Chicago, the library and the poetry of Langston Hughes prove to be the lifeline he needs to move forward.

Discussion

Finding Langston is a wonderful short novel, set in 1946 Chicago, chronicling a young black boy's struggle to adapt to life without his beloved mama in a strange city.

Langston misses just about everything that characterizes life in Alabama. In Alabama Langston had friends, and life was slower, the people more polite. Often Langston finds himself comparing Chicago to life at home in Alabama."Streetlights shine through the window in the front of the room. In Alabama only lights I saw at night were the moon and stars. Sometimes so bright a curtain couldn't block them out...."

He finds the crowded busy city of Chicago difficult to get used to.
"Back home, we couldn't see a neighbor for miles. I'll never get used to people living on top of each other. I'll never get used to everybody knowing what time you get up in the morning and what you're cooking for breakfast. And everyone to busy to say a decent 'Mornin' when you see them on the street. Back home I had space to breathe. Had to walk down the road a ways to get to our nearest neighbor, but if somebody got sick, or was in need of a hand, folks were there to help 'fore you knew it. I knew I had to act right, because someone was always watching, waiting to get word back to my folks....."

Langston misses his friends and the sense of belonging."Back home I had friends. Not a lot, but enough to make me fell like I fit. At lunch, outside, we'd play marbles together, sometimes climb the tree in the back of the school. No one laughed when I talked, or pointed at my run-over shoes and overalls."

But what Langston misses most is his mama. "But Mama made it seem like I was all she ever wanted. Like I filled her up. Like any more would have been too much. ...She loved me hard as she could till she left this world." Langston feels the loss of his mama keenly. "I close my eyes and try to picture Mama. I can still see her smile with the space between her teeth. Smooth brown skin and eyes that laughed along with her. Before I know it, the tears start and won't stop."

In an effort to avoid being bullied, Langston discovers a nearby public library that is open to all people regardless of the colour of their skin. And it is there that he discovers a book by a poet, Langston Hughes who has the same first name. At first, the coincidence of their same first names seems unimportant to Langston, who has no idea why his parents chose his name.

When he reads some of his mama's letters to his father, he comes across several lines of poetry,

Langston Hughes 1942

"My black one,
Thou are not beautiful
Yet thou hast
A loveliness
Surpassing beauty."
Langston is moved by these lines but is certain they were not written by his mama who had no time to read, something she did before she was married, and definitely even less time to write poetry. When he signs out a book, The Weary Blues, by Langston Hughes, he finds a poem, "Poem 4: To The Black Beloved" that has the words he saw in his mama's letter. Langston begins to understand that his mama also loved the poetry of Langston Hughes. He knows his father doesn't know the words in her letter were from a Langston Hughes poem, a secret he decides not to reveal.
"She never told him that Langston Hughes made her heart sing the way he does mine. That she wanted to name her baby boy after the poet she copied in her letters."

Langston believes that his mama, in naming him after Langston Hughes whose poetry she loved, gave him a way to deal with the pain of her death and the loneliness of a strange city and ultimately to find a place to belong.

The library and poetry books also bring together Langston and his first friend in Chicago. When the boy who has been bullying Langston rips pages out of The Weary Blues, Clem retrieves all the pages and helps Langston explain to the librarian what happened.

Langston is an endearing character, whose struggles are portrayed in a genuine and affecting way to all readers by Cline-Ransome. In spite of his loneliness, his sadness over the death of his mama and the difficulties of fitting in, Langston stays true to his southern values of honesty, kindness and helping others. But he also begins to find those same values in people like Clem who has also suffered the loss of someone he loves and his neighbour Miss Fulton who shares his love of poetry.

Finding Langston is a truly beautiful story about loss, hope, starting over and belonging. It is about the power of libraries, and the written word and how books help us deal with life. It is as Clem says, after Langston explains why he likes poetry, " So the poetry you read is a way of putting all the things you feel inside on the outside." Poetry and stories will always be a help to understanding both the joys and troubles of life.

Author Lesa Cline-Ransome offers some historical context in her Author's Note at the back, explaining the migration of hundreds of thousands of blacks from the South to cities in the North. The result for Chicago was the development of a rich cultural scene that included people like Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Gwendolyn Brooks and many others including the poet Langston Hughes. The library in Finding Langston is real. The George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library was built due to the efforts of Dr. George Cleveland Hall who wanted a library for the constituents of Bronzeville. Unlike libraries in Alabama in 1946, everyone was welcome.

Langston Hall image: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Langston-Hughes/images-videos#/media/1/274926/11795

Book Details:

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
New York: Holiday House 2018
107 pp.

Words On Fire explores the work of the book smugglers of 19th century Lithuania during the Russian occupation through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl.

It is 1893, and twelve-year-old Audra Zikaris lives on a farm with her father Henrikas and her mother Lina. Audra's father has a travelling magic show that takes him from one village to the next.

On the night of the summer solstice, when the midsummer festivities are being held, Audra's father is getting ready to travel to another village. He suggests to her mother that Audra accompany him but her mother refuses saying that Audra might get lost and it is dangerous.

From the argument between her parents Audra begins to understand that her fathers' travels to other villages as a magician is actually a cover for something else, which at this time she doesn't quite understand.

Her mother relents, agreeing to allow Audra to go but warning her that she must follow their rules. Audra is warned to avoid a particular Cossack, a policeman named Rusakova who strictly enforces the Russian laws. Audra is told she must speak Russian and not Lithuanian like they do at home.

Later that evening, dressed in her finest clothes as Audra goes outside to hang out the laundry she sees Cossack soldiers making their way towards their farmhouse. Running inside the house, Audra sees her father and mother quickly stuffing wrapped packages inside his traveling sack. Her father orders Audra to flee into the forest with her mother while he attempts to stall the soldiers. As they cross their farmland, Audra hears the soldiers break down the front door. When her mother falls, her foot tangled in wire, Audra stops to help but her mother urges her to flee into the forest. She gives Audra her father's bag and tells her she must deliver a package in the bag to a woman in Venska, named Milda Sabiene. Audra's last glance homeward is of her mother being arrested and their farmhouse being burned.

Pursued into the forest by the Cossack soldiers, Audra hides in the underbrush. As night falls, Audra hears the Midsummer's Eve celebrations by a group of young people who have come into the forest. The group is questioned by a Russian, Officer Rusakov who offers them a reward should they find Audra.However, the group ends up helping Audra after they discover her hiding in the ferns. THey form a protective circle around her so Rusakov and the soldiers can't see her and then give her a basket of cakes and directions to get to Venska.

After resting overnight, Audra continues her journey but soon finds herself lost. While attempting to cross a stream, she encounters a strange boy, Lukas who agrees to take her to Venska, after losing at a card trick. It turns out that not only does Lukas know Milda Sabiene but when Audra meets Milda, she discovers they both know her parents. In Milda's house, Audra sees that Milda is a woman in disguise. She learns that the package she has been carrying is a black leather bound book that requires a key to open the lock on the spine. Milda shows Audra the secret her of her home, two rooms beneath the house, one lined with shelves of books and the other a secret schoolroom. Milda offers Audra a place to stay which she initially refuses but then accepts when she learns that most likely her parents will be sent to Siberia. But in order for her to stay with Milda, she is asked to deliver a book her father was to supposed to. Audra refuses and tells her she will stay only until her ankle heals.

In the week that she stays with Milda, Audra begins to understand what is really happening. People come to visit Milda supposedly to buy butter or honey but in fact are coming to get books. One day after being sent downstairs to retrieve a newspaper for Milda, the Cossacks come and search Milda's home. Hidden in the basement, Audra meets a young girl name Roze who has come into the basement by a secret passage that leads out of the house to the shed in the backyard. After this, Audra decides to deliver the book Milda asked her to, in honour of her parents.

Expecting to be sent immediately to deliver the book, Audra finds instead that Milda is training her. And she explains why delivering the books is so important. After the most recent uprising against Russia, almost thirty years ago in which Milda's father was involved, the tsar wanted to ensure there would never be another uprising. To do that he decided to wipe out the Lithuanian culture by banning Lithuanian books. Audra now understands why delivering books to other homes is so important. But as she becomes increasingly drawn into the world of the book smugglers, Audra is faced with a difficult choice: betray her new friends and the work they are doing to save her parents or lose them forever.

Discussion

Words On Fire is set in the late 19th century Lithuania, a country situated on the Baltic Sea. Its history like that of many countries in Eastern Europe, is complicated as it involves connections with Poland, Russia, Prussia and Germany. Throughout it's history, the people of Lithuania have struggled against Russian occupation. A loose commonwealth with Poland was created in the 1500's called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in the late 1700's this commonwealth broke apart, with three partitions happening in 1772, 1793 and 1795. In the latter partition, much of the land was taken over by Russia.

The Lithuanian people attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the Russians in 1831 and again in 1863. Each rebellion was followed by a period of attempted Russification but the period after the 1863 uprising saw a determined effort to destroy the culture of the Lithuanian people. The Catholic church in particular was persecuted and all Lithuanian schools were closed.

In 1863, Tsar Alexander II ordered that all instruction in schools be done in Russian instead of the native Lithuanian. In 1865, the use of the Latin alphabet was banned and replaced with the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. In 1866, books printed in Lithuanian were banned, an order that was enforced up until 1904, schools and Catholic churches were closed.

However the Russification of the Lithuanian people did not succeed in large part due to the "Kyngnesiai" or book smugglers. To preserve the Lithuanian language a network of books smugglers was developed by Jurgis Bielinis. Illegal Lithuanian-language schools were also secretly set up. The purpose of the book smugglers was to bring into the Russian occupied areas illegal Lithuanian language books which were printed in the Latin alphabet. The work of the smugglers was very dangerous because if caught they could be fined, exiled to Siberia or executed. Not surprisingly, the work of the book smugglers was not widely known until after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Words On Fire is set within this historical context, something that should have been presented to the target audience of young readers, in the form of a prologue so as to set the stage for the events in the novel. Also helpful would have been a map showing the region as it's unlikely readers would know much about Lithuania or even where it is situated within Europe. However, Nielsen eventually gives her readers that backstory through the characters of Lukas and Milda. Lukas explains Lithuania's history to Audra while Milda tells her of the role of the book smugglers.

The main character in the novel is twelve-year-old Audra whose parents are book smugglers who are arrested at the very beginning of the story. Audra stumbles onto the work her parents were involved in but is reluctant at first to get involved in book smuggling. Unable to read and having not attended school, Audra doesn't understand the importance of books. She argues,"The Cossacks are here to stay. A few words of protest in a book won't change that." But Lukas explains to her why saving Lithuania's language and books are so important to the survival of their culture. "It's not just wishing, Audra. This is a book of ideas. Someone thought the idea and put it into words on paper. That became a seed, and every time someone reads those words, the seed is planted in their mind, too, and it grows and spreads and soon that tiny seed of an idea becomes belief, and belief becomes a plan, and those plans begin to change the world. Control the books and you will control the people."

While Audra smuggles books she also begins to learn to read and to write stories. With this knowledge comes an understanding of the importance of books in the fight for Lithuanian culture. "The Russian Empire wasn't afraid of a country that spoke a different language. They were afraid of a country whose language denied Russia's right to control it. The words wouldn't lead to our independence --words themselves, their very existence, were our independence. If we surrendered our books to them, we'd surrender our minds, leaving us hollowed-out puppets, ready to be controlled."

Although she is bold, resourceful and intelligent, Audra seems much older and more emotionally mature than a twelve-year-old girl. She shows remarkable courage and integrity when she refuses to reveal the name of the book smuggler Office Rusakov is pursuing even though this means she will be sent to Siberia along with her parents. After she escapes, her determination to continue as a book carrier is even stronger. Audra transforms from the frightened young girl lost in the forest to a girl wanting to take on the Cossacks by the end of the story. Based on the qualities Nielsen assigns her and her actions in the novel, Audra would have been a more realistic character if she were much older.

Nielsen captures the dangers and hardships the Lithuanian book smugglers endured, providing a testament to their determination to save their culture. Words On Fire focuses mainly on events in 1893 including the Kraziai massacre but reaches all the way to 1904 when the book ban was finally lifted. The Kraziai massacre occurred in November of 1893 in a the village of Kraziai. A Benedictine women's monastery, built in the 1600's was located in the village. The Benedictines had also built the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the late 1700's. In 1891, Tsar Alexander III ordered the monastery closed and the nuns transferred to another monastery in Kaunas. This was part of the Russification efforts to destroy the Catholic culture of Lithuania. Despite numerous petitions to save the monastery and the church, the tsar ordered both closed and demolished in June of 1893. When the Governor of Kaunas arrived in November of 1893 to enforce the tsar's orders, the Lithuanians had occupied the church and were successful in defeating the police. The next morning however, three hundred Cossack soldiers arrived and easily overran the Lithuanians. The conflict raged on for two weeks as Catholics were arrested, villages plundered, women raped and people drowned in the Krazante River.

This real historical event portrayed in Words On Fire, forms the climax of the novel, with Audra, Lukas and Ben trapped in the church in the village of Kraziai. While Audra wants to stay and fight both Ben and Lukas tell her that is not their role in the fight for Lithuania. Nevertheless, they are caught in the fighting. Nielsen uses this event to have Lukas and his father confront one another. It is a conflict that is hinted at throughout the novel and eventually revealed later in the story.

Overall, Words On Fire is in interesting piece of historical fiction about events little known outside of Eastern Europe. Fans of historical fiction will be motivated to learn more about Lithuania, its past and its vibrant culture which thankfully survives in an independent Lithuania today.

Book Details:

Words On Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen
New York: Scholastic Press 2019
322 pp.

Life: The First Four Billion Years takes readers from the Big Bang to the beginning of the evolution of humans. Much of the detail and the scenarios presented in this nonfiction book for young readers are speculative, as no humans were alive to witness past events in Earth's history.

Earth's story begins with the "Big Bang" which is described as, "Once upon a time along, long time ago, there was, as far as we know, nothing. And then - no one knows how or why -- something happened. A jumble of matter and energy and antimatter - the universe appeared!"

Nine billion years after the Big Bang our sun began to form from a molecular cloud. While most of the material in the molecular cloud went into the new star, some of it began revolving around that star and clumping together. The star became our sun, and the clumps of material revolving around the sun became the planets of our solar system.

From this starting point, author Margin Jenkins takes young readers through the First Ice Age (Early Proterozoic) explaining the Great Oxygenation Event. Other topics include (but are not limited to):

Boring Billion period in which there were few changes on Earth. The very earliest life-forms were tiny cells known as prkaryotes and eventually eukaryotes.
Second Ice Age (Cryogenian) which happened around 720 million years ago. This period saw the first fungi, animals, brown algae and red (or green) algae.
Edicaran period around 570 million years ago. Organisms that lived during this time "remain mysterious to this day."
Cambrian period which saw many new underwater life forms develop.

Martin discusses the development of burrowing organisms and predators as well as creatures with exoskeletons and the development of jaws and teeth.

Although by the Silurian period fish were the dominant animals underwater, life on land was expanding and evolving. Simple small plants producing spores now offered an escape from aquatic predators and facilitated the move onto land. In the Devonian, giant fungi dominated life on land, while "At some point during the Devonian, fish finally started venturing onto land." Our only evidence is "...preserved footprints, made by creatures walking across mudflats about 395 million years ago."

Jenkins also offers pages that cover a range of interesting topics as he moves through time including

March of the Tetrapods
Continents on the Move which explains the rearrangement of Gondwana and Laurasia into the supercontinent, Pangea
Disaster explores the Permian extinction which coincided with massive worldwide volcanic activity

Jenkins chronicles the rise and fall of the dinosaurs with pages titled The Start of Something Big, The Age of Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs Take Flight, Life Under the Dinosaurs, and The End of The Giants which explores the demise of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, giant sea reptiles and ammonites. He writes,
"Whatever the exact causes, the extinctions seem to have taken place over a short period of time, geologically speaking - almost certainly no more than a few tens of thousands of years, perhaps much less."

In the Age of Mammals and The Continents Taking Shape, the rise of mammals and the evolution of various groups of mammals after the great extinction is presented. The Road To Us explores the beginnings of the primates, our ancestors and moves onto the beginnings of the evolution of man.

Discussion

Life The First Four Billion Years is an informative, large format picture book definitely geared to older readers interested in the history of life on Earth. Jenkins uses lots of technical terms that are explained in the text and also in a Glossary at the back of the book.

Jenkins who is a conservation biologist in England, indicates that he "read hundreds of scientific papers in researching this book". and it certainly shows! His biology background is evident in the use of exact biological terms throughout the text. He also writes that the information presented was the most current available but that new discoveries may change some of what he has written.

Accompanying Jenkins' detailed text are the mixed media illustrations of Grahame Baker-Smith. There are detailed pencil drawings of the fantastical creatures that lived many eons ago as well as many full page, colour illustrations of significant events in Earth history. Some of these events include the Solar System's birth, the Permian volcanic eruptions and the approach of the asteroid that is believed to have been responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs.

This picture book, rich in scientific detail, will appeal to those who with an interest in Earth history. Readers will get a good sense of how scientists today believe life evolved on Earth while at the same time understanding that there is much we don't know.

Book Details:

Life The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Studio 2019
79 pp.

Jude lives in a small city in Syria with her mama, baba and her older brother Issa. Their town, situated below the mountains and close to the sea, is very supportive of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Jude's father runs a store near a tourist hotel. Jude's best friend, Fatima lives across the courtyard their families share. Although Fatima is only a bit older, because she has her period and now wears a headscarf, Jude feels her friend is "kilometers ahead" of her. Both girls love American movies and want to be movies stars, although Fatima also wants to be a doctor.

Jude's most favourite person in the entire world is her brother Issa who has become involved in meetings about democracy and revolution. He wants something better for Syria and he wants change. Their baba is furious that Issa attends these meetings which he considers treasonous but Issa insists that it is Assad who is treasonous. Their mama tells Issa that they should not tempt fate, that life is good however, Issa reminds her that life is not good for everyone in Syria.

On the day of a huge protest, Jude is forced to stay home. The next day her baba shows her pictures in the newspaper of bloodied protesters. After the protest, police are everywhere, at school, the butcher shop, the beach, and there are rumours of people being rounded up and put in jail. In a nearby town, men with stolen tanks and weapons have taken over and are fighting the Syrian army. In Jude's town, people are now openly showing their support for the president by bowing before his picture which is hung in shops everywhere. Jude's mama is careful to make sure the police are aware of her support for Assad.

Despite the violence, and warnings from Baba, Issa remains committed to the protests. Eventually he moves out of the family home into his own apartment. On the day that Jude is finally allowed to visit him, his apartment is raided by armed police. Issa manages to lead Jude to safety but this leaves their parents terrified. Her father must now stay at his shop to ensure it remains safe.

Amid rising tensions, Jude learns that she and Mama, who is expecting a baby, will be visiting her uncle who lives in America. However, both Baba and Issa will remain behind as Baba must stay to care for their store.

After one final party with friends, Jude and Mama travel to Cincinnati Ohio where they are met by Uncle Mazin, his wife Aunt Michelle who "looks like an American movie star" and her cousin Sarah. Uncle Mazin and Aunt Michelle are very welcoming but Jude's cousin Sarah seems unhappy about their visit. Jude and her mother settle into a bedroom on the third floor of her uncle's huge old home located in a neighbourhood called Clifton.Once they are settled in, they call Baba in Syria. Their town is safe for now but Jude senses fear in her baba.

In the fall, Jude begins attending the same school as her cousin Sarah.Instead of helping Jude, Sarah shuns her and goes off to be with her friends. Jude has seven classes including math and ESL. Although Jude knows how to speak some English, she dreads the ESL class. However, in Mrs. Ravenswood's ESL class, Jude finds a place to belong.

As she struggles to fit in at school, to cope with homesickness and missing Baba and Issa, her aunt and uncle try to help Jude adjust to life in America. Gradually Jude begins to find her way, make friends and to dream again of a future filled with hope.

Discussion

Other Words For Home is a delightful gem of a novel, written in free verse. The story, which covers about nine months, focuses on a twelve-year-old Syrian refugee's experiences as she struggles to adapt to life in America. Fleeing from the violence of the Syrian Civil War, Jude and her mother travel to Cincinnati to stay with her mother's brother, Jude's Uncle Mazin and his family.

When she first arrives in America, Jude is overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a country so different from Syria. Everything is bigger, brighter and faster. So much selection and the feeling that "everyone is trying to sell you something", Jude finds herself "... dizzy with want," But Jude also notices another side to America when she sees the poor on the street. She notes that Americans like to label things because"They help them know what to expect." and that her school is filled with many different types of people, with different skin color and shapes and sizes. Jude is also struck by the boldness of Americans as exemplified in restaurant ads.

Warga's portrayal of the struggles a Syrian refugee might encounter in a new country like America seems realistic. The author states that Jude's story reflects the experience of a family friend who was able to leave Syria by plane, a method most refugees did not have to means to use. (Most fled over land and by sea in rickety boats.) Jude struggles with learning a new language, making friends, understanding a new culture and encounters the ugliness of racism. She must deal with missing her way of life in Syria and with the fear of having her brother missing in Aleppo. Jude must also begin to cope with personal changes as she starts having her period and moves to wearing a head scarf. If her skin colour and heavy accent haven't already set her aside, her head scarf opens her to more visible racism, with unsettling and unkind remarks from both strangers and even her well-meaning Aunt Michelle.

Warga employs the tried formula of a new student who finds herself through participation in a school event such as a concert, competition or school play. In Other Words For Home, Jude gradually attains a sense of belonging, when she takes the bold step of auditioning for a speaking role in the school play, Beauty and The Beast. She is warned by her new Muslim friend Layla, that such roles are not for girls like us.
"Jude, those parts aren't for girls like us...
We're the type of girls that design the sets,
that stay backstage.
We're not girls who
glow in the spotlight."

But Jude is having none of it. She wants to be one of "those girls." The required two minute monologue gives Jude the chance to speak out and speak up.

"Every time I practice,
I think about how wonderful
it feels to speak
for two whole minutes,
with no fear of being interrupted,
with no one saying, Skety.

Just me and my big mouth,
speaking,
being heard."

Auditioning and winning a speaking part, offers Jude the opportunity to be a part of something big, to fit in, to make friends. It is the beginning of her rebuilding her life in America.

One of the themes explored in the novel is that of luck and the belief that those who are able to move to America are "lucky". Jude experiences guilt that she has been able to escape from Syria while so many have not. As the war intensifies and America and other countries begin to close their doors to refugees, Jude tries to find a reason why she deserves to be one of the "lucky" people:
"I search every day for a clue about why I deserve
to be here in Aunt Michelle's kitchen,
safe
and fed.
When so many others
just like me are not.

Lucky. I am learning how to say it
over and over again in English.
I am learning how it tastes --
sweet with promise
and bitter with responsibility."

As Thanksgiving approaches, both Omar who is from Somalia and Jude struggle with how luck has impacted them. When Omar struggles to mention what he's thankful for, Jude understands.
"Omar goes next.
It takes him a moment to speak,
and I wonder if like me,
he is searching for something to say.
If he is struggling with how you can feel so lucky
and unlucky
at the same time...

we are lucky to be here
when so many others aren't
But we don't understand the luck of
why or how
just the luck."

Other Words For Home is a book about journeys both geographical and personal. There is the obvious journey of Jude and her mother by plane from war-torn Syria to safety in America. There is Jude's own inner journey, as she begins to make her own choices like whether or not to wear a head scarf or to apply for a speaking part in the school play instead of accepting what others might expect of her. There is Jude's journey from being told "Jude, skety", meaning "Jude, be quiet" to speaking a two minute monologue in front of an audience.

Jude's cousin Sarah experiences her own inner journey as she moves from shunning her cousin and experiencing jealousy over the cultural connection Jude shares with Sarah's father, to moving towards acceptance. Sarah apologizes to Jude for her unkind remarks, offering to help Jude's friend Layla after their restaurant is targeted in a racial attack and is drawn into a deeper relationship with her cousin after the birth of Jude's sister, Amal. There is Jude's mother's journey towards adapting to a new life by learning to speak English, and encouraging her daughter in her own journey of self-discovery.

Although Other Words For Home may not necessarily reflect the typical Syrian war refugee's experience in fleeing the country, it seems realistic in its portrayal of the struggles that newcomers to America might experience in adapting to a different culture and in dealing with discrimination and misunderstanding. Jude is a thoughtful, strong, intelligent girl, whom readers will come to identify with. Warga has put a face to refugees, those who are different and vulnerable, showing their dignity and humanity.

Book Details:

Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga
New York: Balzer + Bray 2019
342pp.

Antony van Leeuwenhoek lives in the town of Delft, Netherlands. It is a place of tree-lined canals and busy merchants. Antony lives at a time which comes to be known as the Golden Age for the Netherlands. The Dutch own the largest fleet of ships in the world and travel to many countries bringing in many goods from Africa, North America and Asia.

Antony's family are tradesmen: his grandfather was a beer brewer and his father makes wicker baskets used to transport fragile goods on the ships.

Antony's father dies when is he is quite young. With his mother's remarriage, he is sent, at the age of only eight to a boarding school outside of Delft.

At the age of fourteen, his schooling now finished, Antony moves to Benthuizen to live with his uncle. He sends Antony to Amsterdam to train in a linen's merchant's shop. In Amsterdam, Antony meets people from different countries and cultures.

For six years, Antony works as an apprentice to a linen merchant. Finally ready to start his own business, he moves back to Delft in 1654. He is only twenty-two years old and is now a draper, a person who sells cloth.

To check the quality of the cloth he sells, Antony uses a magnifying glass that helps him to see the number of threads in a swatch of cloth.

In 1668, a trip to London, England for vacation changes the course of Antony's life. While in London, he learns about the work of Robert Hooke, an English scientist who uses a microscope to view objects very closely. Hooke has written a book called Micrographia about what he's seen through his microscope. Although Antony cannot read Hooke's book because it's written in English, the pictures intrigue him.

When Antony returns home to the Netherlands, he decides to build his own microscope. This microscope is different from Hooke's. It has a pea-size lens held between two small brass rectangles and a screw mount to hold a specimen. His first subject is a bit of moldy bread. But what Antony sees is more detailed than the picture in Robert Hooke's Micrographia.

After viewing many different specimens through his microscopes, (each specimen is mounted on its own microscope), Antony decides to show his work to a friend, Reinier de Graaf, a scientist who encourages him to share his findings with the Royal Society in London. At first scientists are skeptical because Antony is unknown to them but they find his observations interesting and they request that he write them each time makes a new observation.

This is thrilling for Antony and he begins his work in earnest, hiring a local artist to draw what he sees in each of his microscopes. But Antony's most famous discovery is yet to come. It is one that one hundred years after his death would lead scientists to make important discoveries about disease.

Discussion

All In A Drop chronicles the important work of Antony van Leeuwenhoek, now considered the Father of Microbiology. Written in third person, Alexander brings to life Antony's efforts to learn about the hidden world that surrounds all of us. His work with what was a relatively new instrument called the microscope demonstrated that an invisible and unknown world hidden from human eyes existed. This microscopic was difficult for scientists living in Antony's era to fully comprehend.

In the chapter, The Father of Microbiology, Alexander considers how Antony's discovery of hidden organisms was to eventually play an important role in medicine. Unfortunately, few scientists in Antony's time, including Antony himself failed to recognize just how important this hidden world of microbes was to the health of mankind. It would be one hundred years before the connection between microbes and disease would be made, allowing doctors to save millions of lives. This delay Alexander believes was likely partly the fault of Antony who worked alone, had no rigorous scientific training, and kept his methods a secret. He never passed on his knowledge through lectures or teaching, although his letters were published in the oldest scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions. Nevertheless, as Alexander writes,"...the work Antony did with microscopes forever changed the way we see the world around us."

Alexander's third person narrative is straightforward, easy to follow and enhanced by the illustrations of Vivien Mildenberger which were rendered in pastels, watercolours and coloured pencil. Included are relevant photographs, a Timeline of Events, a Glossary, an Author's Note which explains the importance of Antony van Leeuwenhoek's work, Source Notes and a Selected Bibliography for further reading. This short chapter book is also indexed. A great introduction to microbiology for young readers.

Book Details:

All In A Drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World by Lori Alexander
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 2019
93 pp.

Image credit: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonie-van-Leeuwenhoek/images-videos#/media/1/334699/12567

Allies tells the story of the D-Day invasion of June 1944 over a twenty-four hour period through the eyes of four main characters and a host of minor ones.

Private Dee Carpenter is only sixteen years old. His parents were political refugees from Germany. When Dee was only five-years-old his Uncle Otto vanished in what has become known in Germany as "Night and Fog". His uncle was a labour leader involved in organizing factory workers in Nazi Germany. Dee's parents did not support the Nazi government's policies. But as the Nazis gained more and more support, Dee's parents fled to the United States. Dee's real name is Dietrich Zimmerman.

When the United States was drawn into the Second World War, Dee decided to enlist, something foreign nationals were allowed to do. Determined to return to his homeland of Germany to "beat Hitler", Dietrich decided to change his name at the suggestion of the recruiter.

Now in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, as part of Operation Overlord, Dee finds himself aboard Higgins landing craft on the English Channel, headed towards Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. With him is seventeen-year-old Private Sid Jacobstein, a hulking six-foot four-inches tall Jewish New Yorker bent on revenge.But their landing on Omaha Beach is a disaster as they face a brutal hailstorm of bullets that cuts down many of the soldiers.

Eleven-year-old Samira Zidane and her mother Kenza are racing along the road outside their village in German-occupied northern France. Being outside after curfew is dangerous. If caught it means automatic arrest and jail and even being shot as a spy. Samira's mother is a spy for the French Resistance.

Samira's parents had been students from Algeria at the University of Paris when the Nazis overran Franch. Samira's father was killed in student protests against the German occupation. Only seven-years-old at the time, Samira and her mother fled to the countryside, working as messengers for the Resistance.

Now Samira's mother must let the Resistance, hiding in the forest south of Villers-Bocage know that the Allied forces are set to invade France and begin the liberation of Europe. The message has been broadcast in a code over BBC radio.

In the countryside, Samira and her mother witness Nazi soldiers rounding up French farmers to be executed. This is in retaliation for the murder of a German officer, Major Vogel. When her mother sees a woman lifting her children out the back window of a farmhouse, she rushes forward to help the woman but is captured along with the French family. Samira narrowly escapes capture by hiding in the family's doghouse.Terrified but determined to help her mother, Samira decides to try to find the "Maquis" as the French Resistance is known. She hopes they will help her free her mother.

After managing to outwit a Nazi patrol at a bridge, Samira is found by the Resistance. She delivers the coded message that informs them of the impending Allied invasion. But when Samira begs them to help her free her mother from the Bayeux garrison, they refuse. The Maquis tell her that the message is also an instruction to carry out Operation Tortoise and Operation Green which involve the sabotaging of roads and rail lines to hinder the German response to the invasion. At this Samira decides she will join the Resistance, although they are not keen to have her.

Nineteen-year-old Lance Corporal James McKay of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. With him is Lance Corporal Samuel Tremblay, a Cree Indian from Quebec. Both are in the twin engine Albemarle troop transport aircraft, enroute to France where they will parachute in to support the Allied invasion. Their Alpha Company's mission is "to protect the 9th Battalion's left flank on the Merville Battery, then cover their advance to Le Plein." The Merville Battery is an important bunker with four 100-mm howitzer cannons that are aimed at the Normandy beaches where Allied troops will be landing.

However, after a dangerous parachute into France, dodging tracer fire in sky and "Rommel's asparagus" on the ground, James and Sam land mostly unharmed, but seven miles from their objective. Eventually they meet up with survivors from B and C Companies and then Major MacLeod from C Company. Their mission now is to destroy the radio station at Varaville as well as the enemy headquarters there.

Private Bill Richards is a nineteen-year-old Sherman tank driver in the Royal Dragoons. Bill who is from Liverpool, England has a crew that includes his tank commander, Lieutenant Walter Lewis, his co-driver Private Thomas Owens-Cook, and tank gunner Private George Davies, Private Bryan Murphy the tank's gun loader. Their tank, named Achilles is on a boat with two other Sherman tanks, the Valiant and Coventry's Revenge. Part of Operation Neptune, they are supposed to be landing at the British sector's Gold beach but have drifted west to the American's Omaha Beach. After watching two other tanks, the Indefatigable and Mama's Boy! sink in the rough seas, Lewis orders the boat to take them in closer to shore.

As they land on the beach, Coventry's Revenge is hit by a shell and destroyed. The Achilles hits a mine which disables it, destroying the tank's left tread. Because their tank is too high to fire on the German 88 mm gun that is taking out the tanks, Bill and the others get out of the tank to dig a pit underneath it. He is helped by American soldiers including Dee Carpenter who has managed to make his way up the beach. They are successful but while the Achilles does take out the one German gun, its crew is killed minutes later by a shell from a second German gun.

Corporal Henry Allen belongs to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, an all black unit, in the segregated US Army. Twenty-year-old Henry is from the South Side of Chicago, Ill. and was a premed student at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania when the US entered the war. He decided to train as a medic when the Army wouldn't place him as an officer because white soldiers didn't trust black officers. Now, on Omaha beach among wounded and dying white soldiers, Henry finds the white soldiers have no such qualms.

Henry sets up his medical station on the beach. The invasion at Omaha Beach has been a disaster with hundreds of wounded and dead American soldiers. His own unit, scheduled to come ashore when the beach was secure is now fighting for their lives. As he works through exhaustion to save soldiers, Henry encounters Lieutenant Richard Hoyte, a white soldier from Georgia. Hoyte who had made Henry's life in boot camp miserable, lies badly wounded on the beach, his right foot destroyed by a mine. Henry helps Hoyte, who now treats him with respect and thanks him for saving his life.

Among the soldiers Henry helps, are Sid who has shrapnel in his leg and Dee who has a bullet in his left arm. Dee and Sid along with other surviving American soldiers decide to get off the beach and try to attack the Germans manning the bunkers. As the invasion continues, each soldier struggles to complete his mission, one step at a time.

Discussion

Allies is an excellent, well-written novel that portrays the reality of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. In particular the novel focuses in on the battle on Omaha Beach, located in the American sector, weaving together five storylines over a time period of twenty-four hours.

The main characters are sixteen-year-old American-German immigrant Dee Carpenter and his Jewish buddy Sid Jacobstein, eleven-year-old French-Algerian Samira Zidane and her mother, Private Bill Richards a British Sherman tank driver and his crew, Canadian paratrooper James McKay, and American medic Henry Allen, a black man working to save lives on Omaha beach. Each of these storylines portray the various aspects of Operation Overlord; the invasion by sea with troops and tanks, by air with paratroopers as well as aerial bombardment by the Allies, and help from within France by the French Resistance.

The novel's focus at Normandy is on the battle at Omaha Beach, one of five landings sites for the invasion. Omaha Beach has the distinction of being the sector which suffered the worst casualties during Operation Overlord. The landing on the early morning of June 6 intially was a disaster. The Allies were misinformed as to the strength of the German defenses in this sector. American bombing of the German bunkers the night before was inaccurate and ineffectual. The heavy smoke from the night's Allied bombardment masked the true situation at the beach - the German bunkers remained intact and operational. Rough seas and troops landed in wrong areas also contributed to the disaster.

The first wave of soldiers were decimated by mortars, artillery and machine gun fire. Their landing was supposed to be supported by Sherman tanks, but many sank in the rough seas, were disabled on the beach or destroyed by German shells. Sappers sent to destroy the beach defenses were unsuccessful, as most were killed or wounded. The second wave of troops fared just as badly, this time jammed on the beach with no where to go, making them easy targets for the Germans. Eventually, some soldiers made their way off the beach and were able to secure some of their objectives. Over two thousand American soldiers were either wounded, missing or dead at the end of the day.

Gratz successfully portrays some of the chaos, terror and death of the assault on Omaha Beach. This is no glamorous portrayal of war, although there are moments of valour and sacrifice. There is blood, grit, agony, terror and death. When Dee lands on Omaha Beach, his experience is brutal, shocking and unforgettable:
"Lungs burning, eyes stinging, Dee kicked again, breaking the surface. This time he floated, and what he saw as the waves took him up and down was a scene from hell. Dead bodies bumped into Dee, and the sea was dark with blood. Men screamed and cried out for medics who weren't there. German pillboxes on the high cliffs laid down a deadly cross-fire. "Czech hedgehogs" - huge three-legged, three-armed anti-tank obstacles made from steel bars welded together into an X shape -- littered the beach, undamaged by the Allied battleship barrage. Soldiers lay crumpled on the wet sand around the obstacles like stones."

Dee's experience of watching the death of a tank crew he had been helping only minutes before is also heart-rending.
"Dee scanned the raging bonfire that had been the Achillies, trying to find anyone who had survived. But there was nothing. Whoever had been inside the tank, and the two soldiers who had dug out the crater with hime -- they were all dead.
What were their names? Where were they from? Who had they left behind in England who would mourn them when they didn't come home?"
All Dee knows is that the friendly soldier was Bill whom he will remember for the rest of his life.

But the soldiers on the beach are not the only ones who encounter danger and stomach churning fear. As paratrooper James McKay fights his way into France to take out German positions, he witnesses death. As they engage the Germans, James's commander and three other men are killed instantly from a shell. The finality of it, shocks James.
"But the way Major MacLeod and the others had been there one moment and then just --- just obliterated the next, chilled James to the bone. The thought that his life might end instantly explosively, in the fraction of a second, scared a stillness into hi he knew would be with him the rest of his life."

However, as the fight continues on the beaches and inland, Gratz shows the tide turning and the Allied soldiers beginning to score victories. With this comes hope as the Allies gain a foothold in France. Gratz neatly ties up his story by having some of his characters meet at the end. Dee and Sid reunite after becoming separated when Sid learns Dee is a German. They both meet Samira and her mother, who was saved by the liberation of Bayeux by the Allies.

Gratz also includes a storyline that portrays the courageous contributions made by the French Resistance in helping the Allies. Their work, as Gratz shows, was not without risk. They were a vital component in helping slow the German response to the Allied invasion.

Allies is populated by a unique cast of characters that represent the major players in the invasion; England, Canada, and the United States. The characters are well crafted with Gratz focusing on their humanity, making them very believable. Some are noble like Henry Allen a black medic who has encountered discrimination both in society and in the army and who chooses to aid the very man who made his life so miserable in boot camp. Some like Richard Hoyte, Allen's tormentor, start out mean, but come to realize Henry's humanity in a moment of intense suffering. Many like James, Dee, Bill and Sid show unwavering courage - acting while filled with fear for their lives, not even certain why they signed up.

Gratz's extensive Author's Note at the back provides good background information on D-Day. On one note however, Gratz is terribly incorrect. He writes, "Canada was slow to send its soldiers into a war so far from home, so many Canadians who wanted to fight joined the US military to see action right away."This is mostly inaccurate. The Battle of Dunkirk, which occurred from May 26 to June 4, 1940, was an operation to withdraw English, Canadian and Polish troops (among others) from France as they were losing the battle for Western Europe to the Germans. Canada already had troops in Europe fighting by mid-1940. On August 19, 1942, the infamous Dieppe raid was launched. Over six thousand soldiers, the vast majority of which were Canadians, were involved. It was a disaster that led to the deaths of over three thousand Canadians. Only about fifty American soldiers were involved in the Dieppe raid.The United States did not enter World War Two until after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, although they did supply material to the Allied war effort.

My own father enlisted in September of 1939, along with his three brothers. He was sent over to England immediately to train and was placed into the signal corps. After the Dieppe disaster, the Allies were reluctant to launch another invasion until they were certain there was a good possibility of success. My father was not part of the attacking forces on D-Day but arrived shortly afterwards and was not involved in the liberation of Holland but stayed on as part of the occupying army in Germany after the war. As an American, Gratz should give Canada.

Gratz provides his readers with an excellent two page map that shows where the events for each character occur. Allies is well written, engaging and tense. This novel will appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction and in particular, those who want to learn more about the Normandy invasion.

Book Details:

Allies by Alan Gratz
New York: Scholastic Press 2019
322 pp.

Village of Scoundrels is a fictional story based on true events that happened in Le Chambon-sure-Lignon and nearby villages located in southern France during World War II. These villages worked together to save countless Jewish children from death at the hands of the Nazis.

The story begins in early December of 1942 with the arrival of twenty-two-year-old Inspector Perdant to the fictional village of Les Lauzes. The region where the village is situated has been "living in its own little way outside the rules of the current government". Perdant is determined to see that change. He knows that the village boardinghouses are likely hiding foreign Jews and other "undesirables".

Leon and Sylvie, brother and sister, live in a boarding house called Sunnyside. Henni, along with Madeleine, lives in a house called the Beehive along with many children who had come from French concentrations camps. Henni had been rescued from the concentration camp at Guz by Madame Desault, who is a Jew. The house is run by Monsieur Boulet. Food and care had transformed the children from being malnourished, angry and prone to stealing to smiling and healthy.

One night Perdant, out walking the deserted streets, catches young Jean-Paul Filon, a seventeen-year-old riding a bicycle without a headlight and tickets him. Later that night, in his boarding house called Sunnyside, Jean-Paul tells Sylvie that the ticket is useful because it acts as a proof of identity signed by a local policeman. This further cements his forged identity as Jean-Paul Filon. He shows Sylvie his identity card, anxious to see if it is good enough. Leon examines it and believes it to be very good.

Jean-Paul tells them about working as an office equipment repairman. His real name is Otto and one day he went to the office of the prefect of Nice on the pretext of repairing a typewriter in the prefect's office. There he was able to type a letter authorizing the release of his mother Eva Grabowski. The letter worked and they were able to come to Les Lauzes, Otto as Jean-Paul Filon and his mother as a middle-aged Turkish-Russian spinster named Mademoiselle Varushkin.

Inspector Perdant's attempt to "pay a friendly call" on the Beehive boarding house one snowy evening is thwarted by Sylvie, Leon and Jean-Paul. They engage him on the doorstep of the boardinghouse. When Perdant mentions that he heard singing, they begin to sing the Marseillaise loudly, drowning out the sound of the Hannukah celebrations going on inside and saving the Jewish children inside from certain discovery.

The next day Jean-Paul is visited by ten-year-old Jules who offers to help him. Jean-Paul warns Jules that helping is risky, that he can't know what the documents he delivers say or who they are for. Jules is undeterred and determined so Jean-Paul takes him on.

By December, 1942, wounded German soldiers are billeted at the hotel next to the boarding house where Jewish children are living. Some of the children believe the presence of the Nazis is due to a letter some wrote protesting the roundup of thirteen thousand Jews in Paris, including four thousand children. However, some of the children believe that they must speak out against the Nazis and their French collaborators.

On Christmas Day 1942, the service at the village church prompts many to think about what is happening in their country and their little village as the pastor recounts the Christmas story. While each of the children have their own thoughts, Perdant is consumed by his thoughts about the teenagers in attendance. "Like that row of teenagers. That redheaded kid, for one. He'd seen him once pulling his sled along in the middle of the night. What had he been doing out at that hour?"

At the end of the service, Pastor Autin invites Perdant to his home for dinner but Perdant turns him down. Instead, Perdant warns Autin that he knows"...there are homes full of non-Aryans and anti-patriots." and that if he isn't careful he may be arrested too.

But Perdant continues his snooping, determined to find out how the Jews are being safely brought to the village. He is determined to do something about the pastors whom he believes are deeply involved in rescuing Jewish children. In the winter of 1942-43 the two pastors and the school director are arrested. More men join the maqisards hiding in the forests. Leon disappears from school. Henni writes her aunt in Switzerland to try to get a visa. Jean-Paul, aided by Leon and Sylvie continues forging documents, ration cards and identities. And Madame Creneau who locates safe houses for the Jewish refugees and who helps them cross into Switzerland, decides that it is no longer safe to hide people. She asks Philippe to take on the task of helping them across the border into Switzerland.

When Jules and his friend Claude Dupont are caught painting anti-German slogans on the road, they are taken to Perdant who questions them. Protecting Claude who is actually giving Perdant clues as to what is going on, Jules maintains that Claude is slow. Perdant lets Claude go but decides to use Jules, whom he suspects of knowing much more than he lets on, as an informant.

As the Gestapo sets up more and more raids, and Perdant becomes determined to sniff out those helping hide the Jewish refugees it becomes necessary to move the refugees out of the village and plateau. As Philippe, Jean-Paul, and others work to help the refugees, Jules works to convince Perdant that he has chosen the wrong side.

Discussion

Village of Scoundrels tells the story of a fictional French village that works together to save thousands of Jewish refugees from certain death during the Nazi occupation of France. The story is based on the real life events that occurred in the village of Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon during the course of the Second World War.

From 1940 until 1944, the residents of Le Chambon, led by Pastors Andre Trecome and Edouard Theis, helped over five thousand refugees, including up to three thousand Jewish refugees. The village is situated on the Vivarais Plateau in south-central France. Its past history of persecution of the largely Huguenot by French Catholics during the 16th to 18th century may have played a significant part in the resistance activities of the villagers who did not support the Vichy government led by Marshal Petain. However the efforts to help the Jewish people in this region involved people from all faiths including Catholics, Jews, Evangelicals and nonbelievers.

Preus tailored many of the characters in her novel after real people. At the beginning of the novel Preus provides readers with a helpful alphabetical list of the cast of characters. At the back of the novel in the Epilogue, she describes the real life people who each character is based on. For example, Jean-Paul was based on Oscar Rosowsky, a Jewish teenager who wanted to study medicine and who became a master forger during the war. Oscar was able to forge a letter ordering the release of his mother from Rivesaltes internment camp. The character of Philippe who leads people to safety in Switzerland was inspired by Pierre Piton, who also was a passeur or people smuggler. Catherine Cabessedes Colburn inspired the character of Celeste, the young girl from Paris who eventually carries messages and contraband for the maquis. Madame Desault, Madame Creneau , Henni and Max are also based on real life people. The character of Jules is based somewhat on Paul Majola who did make deliveries for Oscar Rosowsky. Inspector Perdant is loosely based on policeman Leopold Praly who was shot by the maquis eight months after arriving in Le Chambon.

Village of Scoundrels is a novel whose overarching theme is that of journeys. There are the physical journeys of the refugees rescued from the concentration camps on their way to safety in Les Lauzes, of the refugees from France to Switzerland. But there are also many personal journeys, ones from fear and inaction to courage and resistance. An example of this journey can be found in the character of Celeste, a young French girl who watches as events unfold in the village. However, at some point she can no longer just watch.

When Mme. Creneau asks Celeste if she knows of anywhere they can hide the refugees safely for a short period of time, "Celeste's urge was to go home, climb into bed, and pull the covers over her head. " She believes everything is falling apart until Sylvie reminds her that "as long as there was something to do, there was hope. She tells Mme. Creneau about the abandoned chateau. Mme. Creneau now gives Celeste may responsibilities, which she steps up to take on.

As she and Philippe rush back to the chateau to help those hidden there, Celeste explains to Philippe how she became involved. "For a long time I watched you and others doing things, and I admired you...but I was too afraid. I didn't think I could do it -- I was sure I'd mess up. Then I went on a little mission. I was still afraid, but I was doing something. I had a little power. I could actually do something to resist. To fight back. And the oddest thing happened. That huge dark fear of what could happen -- it went away...I guess I had to do the thing I dreaded most in order to lose my fear of doing it."

Perhaps the most dramatic journey is that of Inspector Perdant. He is sent to a small French village to check up on the locals. It is suspected that the villagers are hiding Jewish children and other "undesirables" as Perdant refers to them. Upon his arrival, Perdant definitely senses that something is amiss in the village, although he's uncertain as to what it might be. He's determined to find the Jewish children he believes are being hidden. He comes to believe that almost everyone from the pastors, to the children to the farmers are complicit. And he is correct.

His initial warnings and threats have little effect on the pastors or the farmers, so he decides to pressure ten-year-old Jules, a young boy who tends his goats on the hills surrounding the village. But Jules is not afraid of Perdant. In fact, quite the opposite. He becomes Perdant's conscience pushing the young policeman to face the morality of his choices as hunts down those helping save the Jewish refugees.

Perdant is pushed into action when the Gestapo conducts a raid on one of the boarding houses. Humiliated at being outdone by the Gestapo, Perdant is decides he must act despite his repulsion at the brutality of the raid. But he is deeply conflicted. He goes to the river and throws stones into the water.
"Each stone a bad decision he had made.
The decision to join the national police.
His desire for pormotion that had led him here.
His fawning admiration for the leaders of Vichy and, worse, their German overlords."

Like the most French, Perdant doesn't like the Germans but he wonders "Why did he want to do what he did?" Perdant had started out wanting to help France. "He didn't know what to believe anymore, except that he'd seen these kids on their sleds and bikes, singing as they hiked in the woods. They were hardly dangerous. They were just kids! All they wanted was to have a life." Yet Perdant is not yet ready to give up. He wants to make that big arrest.

So he seeks out Jules who he orders to take him to the abandoned Chateau de Roque. Jules of course, knows the maquis are using this old building as a place of refugee so he tries his best to physically thwart Perdant. At the same time Jules attempts to get Perdant to see how his actions are morally wrong. Perdant believes that "Someone has to keep law and order...." and questions Jules as to why the people of Les Lauzes do not follow the law, stating they cannot "choose the laws you like or don't like, willy-nilly." But Jules tells him that it is not a case of people not "liking" the laws, instead they believe the laws are wrong. "...Everybody knows what is wrong, but some people are too afraid to say or do anything. And some people manage to do a lot of twisty turns in their minds because they wish it to be right. But you can't make it right by wanting it to be right."

Perdant insists that people have to follow the law, but he knows that he is really trying to fill a quota demanded by Hitler in retribution for two German officers killed. Remembering his one successful arrest of two Jewish brothers brings no comfort to Perdant because it is not the capture of the brothers but the resistance of the young teenagers in an attempt to save the boys that fills his mind.

Eventually Jules, desperate to stop Perdant, confronts him with the policeman's gun, asking him what he thinks he is accomplishing by his spying, hunting and arresting of people. It is a question Perdant has asked and now has no answer."Now he tried to rouse himself to answer with his usual patriotic fervor -- to save France for the Frenchmen, save the country from anti-patriots, communists, immigrants, the Jews who had been working to undermine the civilized nations of Europe....The problem was, he wasn't sure he believed it anymore."

It is only when Jules is seriously wounded that Perdant comes to his senses. He now sees all the resistance's activities with complete clarity,but even more importantly he sees his own actions compared to those of the teens in the resistance. He now must decide what to do with his life; he can continue to go down the path he is on or he can change direction. Perdant acts to help them. He stalls the police and gendarmes as they arrive at the chateau. When they do raid the chateau, he has bought them the time to escape. It is the beginning of Perdant's redemption.

Village of Scoundrels is a beautifully crafted novel based on a true story of courage and resistance that occurred in France during World War II. It is a novel of courage and resistance in the face of great fear, and redemption. That Preus did extensive research prior to writing the novel is evident. She also visited the region of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.

There is a wealth of supplementary material at the end of the novel including the detailed Epilogue with information on many key figures in the resistance, a Historical Timeline and a detailed Bibliography listing many resources for further research.

Well done and highly recommended.

Book Details:

Village of Scoundrels by Margi Preus
New York: Amulet Books 2019
302 pp.

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