Review of 83 Days in Mariupol, by Don Brown

History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

83 Days in Mariupol

A War Diary

by Don Brown

Clarion Books (HarperCollins), 2023. 128 pages.
Review written September 15, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Don Brown has written several graphic novels about several awful historical events. I’ve reviewed The Great American Dust Bowl and Drowned City about Hurricane Katrina. I’ve read another he wrote about 9/11. When I picked up this one, I was shocked to realize it had been long enough ago for him to write and publish a graphic novel about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Specifically, this book is about the 83-day siege of the Ukrainian City of Mariupol that began February 24, 2022.

This graphic novel describes what it was like for civilians in a city under siege, how they fought back, how some escaped, and how some survived.

It’s not a happy story by any means. Mariupol is still under Russian occupation today.

At the back, there are three pages of source notes and five pages of Selected Bibliography. As in his other books, Don Brown has done the research to let teens know what it was like to live through this disaster. So although this is not a happy story, it is a true story and an important story. The graphic novel format makes the story accessible to everyone, including teens and older kids. I hadn’t realized how little I knew about it until I read this book.

The last page of the main text has a background of smoke telling us this:

The city of Mariupol is ruined. Ukrainian officials estimate that the brutal 83-day siege killed 20,000 civilians and destroyed 90 percent of the city. The World Health Organization warns it could now face outbreaks of cholera. Remaining residents are forced to work for the Russians in exchange for food while cats and dogs feast on corpses.

This book shines light on an ongoing atrocity. I recommend reading this book not for pleasure, but for awareness.

harperalley.com

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Stranded! A MOSTLY True Story from Iceland, by Ævar Pór Benediktsson, art by Anne Wilson

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Stranded!

A MOSTLY True Story from Iceland

by Ævar Pór Benediktsson
art by Anne Wilson

Barefoot Books, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written September 12, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book is so much fun! It’s a story that’s true in all essential ways, told in picture book format. Since it’s true, kids will need to go looking for it in the nonfiction section, and they’ll be richly rewarded if they do. Teachers, this would make a great story to read to a class.

The author sets up the reader with a note on the title page:

Everything in this story is true,
except for one little thing.
See if you can spot it!
I will tell you what it is at the end.

With that note, he highlights the many extraordinary parts of the story. You think, surely he’s fibbing! But no, he then tells you that part is true. (And, spoiler, the one falsehood ends up not being essential to the story.)

Here’s how the story begins:

This is a story about my grandfather:
how he got stranded on a volcanic island,
was almost turned into barbecue
and found the most important moment in the world.

He continues with a jovial tone, speaking directly to the reader. He starts out by introducing Iceland and a favorite Icelandic story that every day has one moment filled with magic, and if you can find that magical moment and make a wish, it will come true.

Then he tells about a volcanic eruption off the coast of Iceland that caused a brand-new island to be formed.

For most people, this news was met with the following thought: Oh, how interesting. I will observe this new development from a safe distance, because, as everybody knows, volcanoes are very dangerous.

For my grandfather, however, this news meant only one thing:

“I must go there!”

So his grandfather and a friend got a ride from a fisherman and went to this newly-formed island. Their main rule for exploring the island was this:

If the bottom of your boots started melting,
you probably should be standing somewhere else!

(Which is, when I think about it, a good rule for life in general, not just when you’re visiting an island that is more or less an active volcano.)

They have an amazing time exploring, and it’s portrayed with glorious bright pictures. But after exploring all through the night, in the morning, the fisherman doesn’t come back for them.

They don’t have much food or drink and it gets cold at night. So they slept next to the volcano to keep warm, planning to take turns watching for lava. But they both fell asleep — and in the morning the grandfather’s glasses in his pocket had been melted into two pieces of glass and a twisted string of plastic.

So — they have more adventures and their eventual escape from the island — extraordinary and true — is attributed to the magical wishing moment.

Five pages of back matter tell about Iceland, volcanoes, the island of Surtsey, and Norse gods. All along, we’ve got bright and beautiful pictures highlighting flowing lava and northern lights.

It all adds up to a marvelous tale that will rivet young elementary school students – and teach them, too.

AevarWritesBooks.com
anne-wilson.co.uk
barefootbooks.com

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Review of Nearer My Freedom, by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

Biography, History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Nearer My Freedom

The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself

by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

Zest Books, 2023. 216 pages.
Review written August 30, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

From the note at the back:

This book is a novel-length series of found-verse poems crafted from Olaudah Equiano’s original autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, published in March 1789.

What this means is that they took Olaudah Equiano’s written words and cut out passages — leaving behind a novel in verse.

The style for books written in 1789 was far more verbose than books written today, so the method they used renders a dense and difficult autobiography into a gripping and accessible verse novel.

Olaudah Equiano was born in Africa and kidnapped into slavery. He ended up working on British ships and eventually was able to purchase his own freedom. He continued to work on ships, but was still in danger of being enslaved again. He became an abolitionist and wrote the story of his life to further the cause.

The book begins in Africa. He and his sister were both captured at the same time. Then he traveled all over the world, both when he was enslaved and when he was free. He even went on an expedition into the Arctic hoping to find a passage to India that way. The ship was almost destroyed by ice, and they concluded the idea wouldn’t work out.

Here’s an example from when he was kidnapped:

One day when none of the grown people were nigh
two men and a woman got over our walls,
seized my dear sister and me.
No time to cry out, or make resistance.

They stopped our mouths,
and ran off with us into the woods.
They tied our hands and carried us
as far as they could, till night came.

The authors used his words, but pared it down into a modern verse novel. There are several sidebars explaining historical context. The result is a riveting and quick-reading account of what life was like as a British seafaring enslaved person in the eighteenth century.

lernerbooks.com

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Review of Banned Book Club, by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada, art by Ko Hyung-Ju

Biography, Graphic Memoir, History, Teen Nonfiction 0

Banned Book Club

written by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada
art by Ko Hyung-Ju

Iron Circus Comics, 2020. 198 pages.
Review written September 22, 2020, from a library book

I didn’t realize until I’d finished the book that this is a graphic memoir, not a graphic novel. Even thinking it was a novel, I realized I had no idea that free speech had been suppressed in South Korea in 1983. This book points out that I need to separate out nonfiction for teens from my children’s nonfiction page – this has gritty and difficult material, more suitable for teens and adults than children. [Note: I’m posting this much later, and did, in fact, make a page for Teen Nonfiction.]

The setting is South Korea, 1983. Yes, that’s South Korea, not North Korea. I had to go back and check. Hyun Sook was a teen wanting to start college. Her mother didn’t want her to go because there had been student protests, which were being stopped by the government. Her father was supportive, so she does head off to school, trying to separate herself from the protesters.

Sure enough, when Hyun Sook gets to college, she tries to stay out of trouble. She even joins a Masked Folk Dance Team to do something that’s not political. But she learns that they do folk dances with stories that have political ramifications and are a cover for protests. Then the friends she makes on the team pull her into a Banned Book Club with a contact at a bookstore who gets them banned books.

I was amazed at the range of books that they were not permitted to read. Both western literature and Communist literature from North Korea were on the list. There is a spy in the group, and some of her friends get arrested and beaten and she herself gets interrogated by police and I won’t say more about the plot to not give spoilers. I will say that I was shocked by basic freedoms that were violently repressed.

The book ends with a reunion of the Banned Book Club in 2016. We learn about the history of fascism in South Korea when one of her friends outlines the protests he’s been part of since 1983. In 2016, they were protesting for the removal of a president who was the daughter of the dictator they protested against in 1983.

A note on the final page tells us what happened after the close of this book:

In March 2017, President Park Geun-Hye was impeached, removed from office, and imprisoned for corruption. The final vote was struck by her own judges, many of whom she had personally placed in office. A special election was held, and the new president was Moon Jae-in.

This book is frightfully timely and tells a true story of fascism that is not from 1930s Germany. It makes the reader value their freedom to read and freedom to speak up. May we never let those go. Please don’t tolerate book banning, whatever the excuse.

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Source: This review is based on a book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Make Way, written by Angela Burke Kunkel, illustrated by Claire Keane

Art, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Make Way

The Story of Robert McCloskey, Nancy Schön, and Some Very Famous Ducklings

written by Angela Burke Kunkel
illustrated by Claire Keane

Random House Studio, 2023. 44 pages.
Review written June 13, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a story of the duckling statues in Boston Public Garden. But deeper than that, it’s the story of two artists — Bob McCloskey, who created the classic book Make Way for Ducklings, and Nancy Schön, who made sculptures of Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack, for the Boston Public Garden.

I love those sculptures and visit them every time I go to Boston. In the front of my family’s copy of Make Way for Ducklings, I taped a photo of my firstborn at two years old, happily posing on the back of Mrs. Mallard.

So you need to read your child Make Way for Ducklings first. But after that, after your kid knows about the story, here’s a child-friendly story of how it was created.

It talks about both artists going through hard times before their art was acknowledged in any way. It tells how Bob brought ducks home in order to draw them from life. Later, Nancy purchased a duck foot from a butcher to learn how it was put together. (Wait a second. That’s not as charming a story. But it works in this picture book.)

After the book was created, a friend’s family visited Nancy in Boston. When they visited the Public Garden, the kids asked, “Mommy, where are the ducks?” Nancy decided that would be her next sculpture project.

The pictures of her working on the ducks are wonderful. I always did think she chose the most delightful poses. And they mirror the ducks in the books so well — in three dimensions.

But she didn’t have any permission for this project before she worked on it. So we’ve got a spread showing Bob and his wife looking over her small-scale models.

My favorite page, though, is after she made a full-scale Mrs. Mallard and three ducklings. Bob thought they might be too large. So she brought them outside.

And as Bob stands, quietly observing, three children run — quack, quack, quacking — to come and pat the ducks.
Bob looks at Nancy.
And she knows she has her yes.

I love that page because I’ve seen for myself that children can’t resist those wonderful ducks.

This book owes its brilliance to the original amazing children’s book Make Way for Ducklings, but it is still brilliant. Fans of the original will love learning the story behind the story, and any family traveling to Boston should give it a read.

angelakunkel.com
claireonacloud.com
rhcbooks.com

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Review of Seen and Unseen, by Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki

Award Winners, History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Seen and Unseen

What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration

by Elizabeth Partridge
illustrated by Lauren Tamaki

Chronicle Books, 2022. 124 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Sibert Award Winner

Seen and Unseen won the Sibert Award for the best informational book for children published in 2022. The book tells the story of the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II, especially looking at the testimony of three photographers.

Here’s the beginning of Dorothea Lange’s section:

In the San Francisco Bay area, Dorothea Lange was asked to photograph the roundup and forced relocation of all Japanese and Japanese Americans on the West Coast. Officials wanted documentary photos to show it was being carried out in a humane, orderly way.

Dorothea was horrified by the government’s plan. The prisoners would be held without charges filed against them and without the right to a trial. That was illegal in the United States. But there was a war on, and Japanese Americans’ rights were suspended.

Dorothea could have refused, but she ws eager to take the job. She wanted her photographs to show what the government was doing was unfair and undemocratic.

We see many of the pictures she took in the pages that follow, along with descriptions of what was going on. But most of the ones we see are labeled “Impounded” — they were withheld from the public during the war, to try to hide the brutal conditions of the imprisonment of American citizens.

Meanwhile, photographer Toyo Miyatake was imprisoned in the camps. He smuggled in his camera lens and took photos, giving a starker and more realistic picture of life in the camp.

Later in the war, he was asked to open an official photography studio to document special events like weddings and funerals. But in a silly and humiliating bit of red tape, they wouldn’t let him press the button on the camera and they hired a white American to do that.

The final photographer featured is Ansel Adams. He came in 1943, paid by the government, to support “loyal” Japanese Americans being resettled in other parts of America. They showed him happy faces — not necessarily the true story.

This book as a whole shows how a terrible national tragedy was presented to the public in general at the time. The book is full of illustrations as well as photographs and vividly presents what happened.

I thought this page was particularly striking, with a picture of a father talking to a little boy:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to your mother and me,” future US Congressman Norman Mineta’s Issei father told him and his four siblings. “But just remember: All of you are US citizens and this is your home. There is nothing anyone can do to take this away from you.”

He was wrong.

elizabethpartridge.com
laurentamaki.com
chroniclekids.com

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Review of Everybody Wins, by James Wallis

Creativity, History, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 2

Everybody Wins

Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made

by James Wallis

Aconyte Books, 2022. 221 pages.
Review written May 4, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

I enjoyed this book so much! It looks at the recent history of the rise in popularity of tabletop games through the lens of the German award Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year), through its first 44 years of selecting winners.

The reason I loved this so much was that I lived in Germany from 1996 to 2006. At the time, before I’d even heard the term “Eurogames,” I discovered awesome games at the local stores (not even specialty stores, just the local Aldi), and thought a great way to practice German was to buy games and translate them. Eventually, I learned I could download translations from the internet, but I had fun puzzling out how to play the games and delighted in their cool wooden pieces. The games were fun to look at and to touch and to play. My theory at the time was that because the German games listed the designer on the box, you’re going to get better games. It’s just like books — series books that don’t list the actual author on the cover aren’t as good as books that do list the author. Same with games. Now I also argue that awards help things improve. As the Newbery Medal made American children’s books better, so the Spiel des Jahres has helped German games improve. I also loved reading this book and discovering games with interesting new mechanics and nicely calibrated combinations of strategy and luck.

In this big and beautiful oversize book, the author dedicates two spreads to each Spiel des Jahres winner from 1979 to 2022. He also lists other nominated games and eventually the Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel winners. He tells if the game was a worthy winner and if it’s still available today. And talks about trends and new innovations and all kinds of fascinating stuff. There are also chapters grouping different eras. It turns out that the author called 1996 to 2004 the “Golden Age” — which is exactly when I lived in Germany. I own most of the winners from that time period and lots of runners up.

Here’s what the author says this book is about, not actually a history of the Spiel des Jahres:

Instead, the book’s focus is about the games themselves — the winners and, in some cases, the runners-up and also-rans — and uses them as a lens thrugh which to look at the ways in which games, games culture and the games industry have changed over the last five decades. It looks at how tastes have evolved, how German game design (not unlike superb German engineering) became a worldwide trend, and how our understanding of the way games work has led to a renaissance in new designs and new ways of making and playing games.

I have only one complaint about this wonderful book — the sidebars are written in tiny white letters on colored backgrounds, and some of those colors made it impossible for me to read the words, even with a magnifying class. The printing may have been a little fuzzy, too. I could read the ones with lots of contrast, but not so much for the gold background (which was in the Golden Age chapter). This annoyed me, because I was so fascinated with the book, I wanted to read every single word. So it took a high level of frustration before I gave up and stopped reading the golden-colored sidebars.

But apart from that, I love Eurogames. I’ve been fascinated with the Spiel des Jahres since 1996. So this book was a complete delight to read. If you enjoy board games, I highly recommend it. And, yes, I’m ordering some new games based on this book. And pulled out some old games to show my gaming group.

aconytebooks.com

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Review of The Penguin of Ilha Grande, by Shannon Earle, illustrated by Renato Alarcão

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

The Penguin of Ilha Grande

From Animal Rescue to Extraordinary Friendship

by Shannon Earle
illustrated by Renato Alarcão

Charlesbridge, 2023. 32 pages.
Review written March 14, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review

This picture book tells a sweet story that is also true about a man in Brazil who rescued a penguin covered with oil — and then that penguin became his devoted friend.

His grandson named the penguin Dindim, and after Dindim was strong and recovered enough Seu João tried to set him free, back in the ocean. But Dindim kept coming back.

In February, Dindim finally did leave, and we see Seu João missing all the daily activities where the penguin used to accompany him. But four months later, he was back.

Dindim lived with Seu João for seven years. They swam together, showered together, ate together, and walked on the beach together.

Each year, Dindim changed his feathers, honked goodbye, and headed to sea. For four months, he lived in the wild. No one knows exactly where he went. But every year, right before Seu João’s birthday in June, Dindim came home.

Part of what makes this book so sweet are the pictures of the adorable penguin and his friend in the beautiful setting by the ocean. I mean, creatures don’t get more adorable than penguins, and these pictures are a delight.

This is one of those books that it’s tricky to decide where to shelve it in the library. It tells a true story, so it’s nonfiction. But it’s also a picture book for an early elementary audience, so we hope young kids will find it when browsing. I hope those who read this will make a point of looking for it!

shannonearle.org
alarcao.com.br
charlesbridge.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of American Murderer, by Gail Jarrow

Award Winners, History, Science, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

American Murderer

The Parasite That Haunted the South

by Gail Jarrow

Calkins Creek, 2022. 159 pages.
Review written January 15, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
2022 Cybils Award Finalist, High School Nonfiction

I’m squeamish, so I didn’t expect to enjoy this book from the “Medical Fiascoes Series” as much as I did. But Gail Jarrow, a past winner of the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award, makes the story of this medical mystery fascinating.

It’s all about a parasite. Scientists in Europe discovered that hookworms were making people sick in the late 1800s. But in 1902, a scientist named Charles Wardell Stiles discovered a distinct type of hookworm in America. He named it Necator americanus, which means “American murderer.”

But after discovering the new parasite came the dawning realization that more than 40% of rural southern families were infected with it, up to 2 or 3 million people.

Afflicted people complained of diarrhea and a bloated abdomen. Their skin was paler than normal. Children were physically underdeveloped. Adults didn’t have enough endurance to perform even minor work, and they were usually poor because they couldn’t earn a living. Some people had experienced these symptoms for years, and family members had died with the same ailments. None of them knew why they’d been plagued for generations. They just accepted it.

The rest of the community considered these people sluggish and lazy. Because pica was a common symptom, the infected were often mocked as “dirt-eaters.” No one understood that the symptoms were not a sign of weak character or low mental ability. They were evidence of a tiny worm — actually hundreds of worms — slowly sucking blood from a victim’s small intestine.

Living during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s easy to understand why most of this book is about convincing people — and doctors — that hookworm was real and convincing them to get treatment. Scientists also worked to get them to change things about their everyday lives. The worm gets into people through skin — mostly when people walk with bare feet on infected ground soiled with infected human feces.

So besides getting people to get tested and treated, there was also a campaign for sanitary privies. But those were expensive, as were shoes for growing children.

But the whole story of fighting the bug is an amazing success story with millions of lives saved and improved. I especially liked the many photos of infected people before and after treatment. The last chapter covers ways parasites still endanger people today, yes, even in America.

Overall, this is an abundance of clear information about a major public health problem from a hundred years ago that I previously knew absolutely nothing about. Almost every spread has photos or side bars, and the story is riveting as Gail Jarrow tells it. An amazing achievement.

gailjarrow.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile

Award Winners, Biography, Graphic Memoir, History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Victory. Stand!

Raising My Fist for Justice

by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile

Norton Young Readers, 2022. 204 pages.
Review written January 18, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner
2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor
2022 National Book Award Finalist
2023 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
2022 Cybils Award Finalist, High School Nonfiction
2023 Capitol Choices Selection

This graphic novel memoir tells the story of world-record-breaking track star Tommie Smith, who raised his fist on the gold medal podium of the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 to protest racial injustice in the United States.

The book weaves in scenes from that pivotal race through the whole book, while telling the story of Tommie’s life. He started out as the seventh child of a sharecropping family in Texas, and left with a busload of other Black folks to California. There, he got to go to school regularly, and his life changed.

I love the way graphic novel memoirs show you the emotions of the characters. We see Tommie grow and develop into an athlete. He won a college scholarship in three sports — football, basketball, and track. But when he began breaking records in track, that became his focus.

At the same time, the Civil Rights Movement was gaining steam and Tommie wanted to bring attention to the cause, using the platform of being a world-class athlete.

But when he raised his fist during the anthem at the Olympic games, he was sent home immediately and his athletic career ended. He also became a target of hate and couldn’t even find a job for a while.

I like the way the book describes his emotions and thoughts while standing there on the platform. “We had to be seen because we were not being heard.”

Eighty seconds.
That’s how long we stood
there as the anthem played.

Those fists in the air were
dedicated to everyone at home,
back in the projects in Chicago,
Oakland, and Detroit,
to everyone in the boroughs
of Queens and Brooklyn,
to all of the brothers
and sisters, fathers and mothers
in Birmingham, Atlanta, Dallas,
Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans,
to everyone struggling, working
their fingers to the bone
on farms across America,
to everyone holding out hope
that things will get better . . .

. . . that was for you,
from John and me.

This is a powerful story of someone who gave up so much in order to make a statement about people who were being overlooked.

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