The Family Romanov

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia Candace Fleming

It opens with an imperial ball in 1903 to celebrate St. Petersburg’s 200th anniversary, the story then jumps back to the childhood of Nicholas II and Alexandra. It starts getting more in-depth once they are married, which is the same time that Nicholas II becomes Tsar. What follows is a horrific story of incompetence and willful ignorance and a population pushed to action in order to survive.

I knew Imperial Russia had problems, and I knew Nicholas II wasn’t the greatest ruler, but holy crap. Fleming paints a bleak picture that offers them very little redemption. Running parallel to the story of the Romanov family is an introduction to early 20th century Russian history, looking at what life was like for ordinary Russians and the causes and starts of the Revolution. The story seamlessly works in quotations pulled from journals and other primary source documents.

Despite covering so much, she keeps it very readable and it’s a great introduction to the subjects, but I think that readers who already know about the topics covered will get a lot out of it as well. It has two different inserts of photographs and frequently in the text is a pull-out box titled “Beyond the Palace Gates” which contains the words of someone else--a soldier, a factory worker, a reporter, a peasant--to add contrast and context to the main narrative.

The package wins further points with it'scomprehensive back matter--endnotes, bibliography, index-- and being a teen-friendly trim size. (I have very strong feelings on trim size for teen nonfiction. It's a surprisingly huge factor in appeal.)

Overall, it is fascinating and horrifying, and just really well-done and put together. I highly recommend it and keep an eye out for it come award season.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Nonfiction Monday: Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London

As many of you know, last year I was lucky to serve on YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. (Sometimes ENYA for short). ENYA is a fun award, because in December they announce their shortlist and then the winner is announced as part of the Youth Media Award announcements in January. In addition, they release a long-list of nominations. In the past, this list was every book the nominated. This year, the list became vetted-- so it's not every book we looked at or nominated, but rather, after discussion, every book we felt was excellent (just not as excellent as our winner and shortlisted titles.)

Personally, I really like this change. The best way to get the committee to discuss a book was to nominate it-- but what if, after discussion, you realize that a book is seriously flawed? Then it still goes on the list! (And there is an ALA seal that long-list titles can use.) I know I was hesitant to nominate a title because I was afraid of accidentally putting an unworthy title on the list. The freedom in knowing that it could get taken off the list if it didn't hold up to group scrutiny was useful cover!

Anyway, I've been covering the long list since the list was made public this winter. This is the final title from the list...

Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London Andrea Warren

This biography of Dickens ties his life story in with the plots of his books, showing how his real-life experiences inspired his work. It especially focuses on his work with England's poor and disenfranchised, showing how he used his wealth and fame to help and draw attention to the major social issues of the day.

I think this book stands apart for a few reasons. For one, it's one of the best that I've read in fully describing what life was like for the poor of Victorian London. It does an excellent job of explaining what life was like in debtor's prison and the workhouses and why these institutions were to be avoided at all costs. One of the other reasons is that it does an excellent job of showing what a major celebrity Dickens was in his time and why his work was so important. It hink it also makes a good case for why Dickens is, and should be, read today and studied in school.

It's also heavily illustrated, using artwork from the time period to help convey the life of Dickens and the poor. Surprisingly, many of the pictures are colored-- a nice touch.

Overall a great book that will appeal to the Dickens fan sure, but will also turn many other readers into fans of Dickens.

Be sure to check out today's Nonfiction Monday roundup, over at Instantly Interruptible.

Also, as a reminder, please check out my other project, YA Reading List, where I post a themed and topical reading list every.single.day.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for award consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Temple Grandin

It's Nonfiction Monday! I'm still highlighting the books that made this year's YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults vetted nominations list.


Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World Sy Montgomery

Temple's father wanted to institutionalize her, but her mother stood up for her and tried to find her all the help she could. Growing up with autism is rarely, if ever, easy, but when Temple did it (born in 1947), it didn't even had a name yet. But Temple found a way to get what she needed and managed to turn her love of cows into a career that has completely changed the way we handle livestock, especially cows.

Montgomery's biography does a wonderful job at explaining how Temple's mind works, really giving readers a sense of what it's like to be in her head. She also does a great job of explaining Temple's work and why it's important.

It's a fascinating book, written in a very engaging style. I think Temple's story of how she changed life for cows and how cows behave would be interesting on its own, but with the story of how her brain works and the obstacles that has put in her path it adds an extra level.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Wrapped in Foil. Check it out!

Book Provided by... the publisher, for awards consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Running to Extremes

Running to Extremes: Ray Zahab's Amazing Ultramarathon Journey Steve Pitts

Ray Zahab lacked direction. He drank a lot and smoked a pack a day. He was just getting through life when he realized he needed a change. Several relatives had recently died, sooner than they should, and mostly due to complications from the same lifestyle Ray was living. It was time for a change, so he stopped smoking, cut back on the drinking, and started running. When he heard about the Yukon Ultramarathon (160km in extreme arctic conditions) he thought "why not" and signed up. Never mind that he had never run an actual marathon before. Nevermind that he didn't have the right gear to survive or the training to complete it. Off he went.

Once there, he met other dedicated ultramarathoners who gave him some tips and befriended him. Then, when the ultramarathon started, he ran. And ran. And ran.

And won.

He soon signed up for more ultra-marathons. He quickly learned that he wasn't as prepared as he had to be. He suffered severe injury and setbacks, but he kept signing up and kept getting better. A few years after his first ultra-marathon, he and some of his new running friends decided to run across Northern Africa, for fun. Parts were great, parts were horrible, but they did it.

Zahab started doing more and more long solo runs to raise awareness and money for different causes. He then started Impossibile2Possible, which helps teach kids to reach their dreams, no matter how crazy they seem.

Pitt rights a gripping and readable account of Zahab's life and running. It was one of those books that I picked up thinking I'd read a few pages and then go start dinner and the next thing I know, the book is done and my stomach is loudly protesting.

Seriously, who says "Hmm... let's go run this ultramarathon through the Arctic for shits and giggles?" Zahab's pretty badass and it's pretty cool that he found a way to turn extreme long distance running into something he could use to help other people.

Sadly, this book isn't available in the US (Zahab's Canadian and so is the book.)

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at A Curious Thing.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Dan Eldon Safari as a Way of Life

Dan Eldon: Safari as a Way of Life Jennifer New

Dan Eldon was the son of an American mother and a British father and he grew up in Kenya. Throughout his life, he was always creating art, most notably in his journals (which have been published separately.) He traveled extensively throughout Africa and in the 80s, effortlessly crossed the continent's notable class and race lines. In 1993, while working as a photojournalist in Mogadishu, a mob killed him after an American airstrike killed many elders, women, and children. He was 22.

While writing this book and her previous biography of Eldon, Dan Eldon: The Art of Life, New interviewed over 100 of Eldon's friends and family. The young man presented in these pages is one of endless energy and impossible schemes that easily become reality, a talented artist who was just starting to really find his way.

What most readers will notice right away is the striking design-- laid out to mimic Dan's journals, it is filled with his artwork, photographs, page spreads, and words (in full color.) I was most struck by the ones that are mostly paintings, although many are collages of his friends and family, interspersed with ephemera, words, and drawings.

I would have liked a little more context to really paint how stark the race and class issues were when and where Dan was growing up. A little more explanation of what it was like to be white in Nairobi and going to a largely ex-pat school would be helpful.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Apple with Many Seeds.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybil's consideration.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Amelia Lost

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart Candace Fleming

Much of what we know about Earhart is myth and legend. Much of the myth and legend developed after her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific, but much of the myth and legend was invented by Earhart herself. In this stunning biography, Fleming strips backs the layers of the myth and legend to show us a woman who soared to unimaginable heights, even if she did so in a different way than we thought.

Some cool things I learned--

Earhart had straight hair. To get that tousled, trademark look, she took a curling iron to it every morning.

She was the captain, but not the pilot on her first trans-Atlantic flight.

She and her husband were excellent at marketing Earhart as a brand, the money that resulted allowed her to keep flying. Part of this marketing was deliberately playing with and highlighting the physical similarity between Earhart and Charles Lindbergh.

What I really liked about this book was the structure. It starts with the crew of the Itasca, a Coast Guard cutter off the coast of Howland Island, waiting for Earhart. When she doesn't arrive, it then jumps back to her early childhood. In between the chapters of her life, sections chronicle the search for Earhart and some of the eeriness of her disappearance-- including the stories of several people who claimed they heard her distress calls over their short-wave radios. Even though we know how the story ends, these interspersions keep the tension high as everyone's on edge, listening to the radio static, hoping to hear a voice.

Overall, it's an excellent biography that sheds new light on a person and events we thought we knew.

Today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup is over at Practically Paradise.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Notorious Benedict Arnold

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, and Treachery Steve Sheinkin

I think that Sheinkin gets nominated every year, and I know he’s made it through to the short list at least once. There’s a reason why-- he’s just that good. Sheinkin has a way of telling a story, even one you think you’ve heard before and making it completely riveting. In this book he takes on Benedict Arnold, American hero and traitor. It’s a rip-roaring yarn of fierce battles, crazy stunts, and incredible bravery that then goes completely wrong when Arnold does the unthinkable. Although we’re still unsure as to WHY he did it, we get a much more complete picture of the man than we usually do. Sheinkin can really bring history alive.

I hope he takes on Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys soon!

Book Provided by... my local library

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Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature

Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature George Sullivan

After the age of 6 months, Charley Stratton stopped growing. He stayed 25 inches tall and weighed just 15 pounds due to dwarfism. At a time when there wasn’t medical treatment or public understanding of dwarfism, Stratton joined PT Barnum’s American museum, where he sang songs, danced, and performed in comedic skits. He toured Europe, and then the world. He really was the first international celebrity.

Sullivan’s biography is filled with photographs and there are pull-out boxes to help add background information about dwarfism and the time period. He does a very good job of explaining the limited options that Stratton had and the positives and negatives of being put on display by Barnum. He does a great job of making Stratton come alive and showing a well-balanced portrait of the life he led and the time period he did in. Stratton’s smallness was really brought home for me-- the Kung Fu Princess, whom we often refer to as the Lord Mayor of Tiny Town, is the same size that Stratton was for most of his life.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Scribbling Women

"Scribbling Women": True Tales from Astonishing Lives Marthe Jocelyn

Scribbling Women takes a look at a selection of female writers and why their words were important, and why they remain important. What I most love about this book is how Jocelyn defines "writers." While there are a few novelists discussed, this book tends to look at women whose words made a mark in something other than fiction.

Margaret Catchpole was a horse thief sentenced to Australian transport. Her letters back to England are the major primary source of life in the early days of the Australian colony.

Mary Kingsey was an adventurer who explored Africa-- all while wearing her proper Victorian dress. (All those petticoats saved her when she fell into a tiger trap!)

Isabella Beeton wrote the first housekeeping manual and popularized a recipe format we now think as standard (ingredients first, then steps, time to complete and how many people it will serve.)

Ada Blackjack was the only survivor of a failed Arctic expedition. Her journal tells us what happened.

Many more women are discussed and represented here, making for a fascinating read. They come from all over the world and all points in time. Some of the chapters are a little weaker than others but I appreciated Jocelyn introducing me to these women’s voices and their lives. It might require a bit of a hard hand-sell to get teens to read it, but once they start, I think they’ll find it interesting.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Prince William and Kate

Prince William and Kate: A Royal Romance Matt Doeden

Starting with a brief biography of Wills and Kate before they met, and then detailing their courtship, engagement, and wedding, this is one that will be really popular with younger middle grade girls.

There’s nothing here that I didn’t know (and I’m not a huge royal watcher) but there are lots of large photographs and a good story about current events that kids are interested in.

This is one that didn’t wow me, but I wish we had in our library collection, because I know that if I put it on display, it would be snapped up in an instant.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Wideness and Wonder

Wideness and Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe Susan Goldman Rubin

I ended up reading this one in one sitting. I was just going to start it while having a coffee at the coffeeshop and then BAM! I turned into a table hog, as I just kept turning the pages until I turned the last one.

This not Rubin’s only Cybils nominee-- she also wrote the Bernstein biography Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein.

In Wideness and Wonder, Rubin writes a fascinating and engaging account of O’Keefe’s life, but also really gets across how many barriers she had to break in the art world by being a female and American -trained.

What really blew me away though, was the design. As one would hope from a biography about an artist, it’s amply illustrated with her work. What I especially appreciated is that it was work from her entire career-- not just the flowers and animal bones. I never knew about her Art Deco-style work, which I absolutely adored. In addition to O’Keefe’s work, there are several photographs of her and the people in her life. Going beyond that though, and into the actual book design, every page is a different color---purple, yellow, blue and often has a subtle design in paler tones. It’s subtle enough that I didn’t find it at all distracting.

A wonderful book about a fascinating person.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Jane Austen: A Life Revealed

Jane Austen: A Life Revealed Catherine Reef

Jane Austen didn’t leave much behind about her personal life. Very few of her letters survived, and family accounts of her appearance and personality directly contradict each other. One niece said she had “fine naturally curling hair, neither light nor dark” and another said she had “long, long black hair down to her knees.” Reef details what we do know, what’s debated, and what’s speculated about Austen’s life. Throughout, she weaves in the plots of Austen’s novels, often highlighting how they dovetail with events happening in Austen’s life at the time of writing.

Overall, I think Reef does a great job in writing a compelling biography with such scant primary source material. I think the referencing of book plots was a nice touch, but it also gives me pause. I think many readers will already know the plots and find the summaries a bit tedious. Other readers who will discover Jane through this book will find the plot summaries so well detailed, they may lose the inspiration to read the books for themselves.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Music was It

Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein Susan Goldman Rubin

This book doesn't really discuss why Bernstein was such a musical genius. It doesn't mention the fact that his melodies are modern and well, weird, and you'd think they should stay on the shelf for serious connesseurs of modern music, they instead have become standards of American cannon. (Don't believe me? Think about th opening in "Maria." It's a tritone. Traditional music doesn't use it because it's so hard to do correctly and sounds weird, and Bernstein goes and creates one of the greatest musical of all times just chock full of them.) It does, however, talk about his exhuberance and energy and how very rare it was to have a symphonic conductor who was American born and trained. Starting when Bernstein was a toddler and ending with his New York Phil conducting debut at the very very very young age of 25, Rubin tells the story of a boy for whom music was everything. His father didn't support his musical ideas (like most practical-minded parents, he worried there was no money in it and Lenny wouldn't be able to support himself of a family.)

The genius of the book is that Rubin makes Bernstein come alive in a way I've never seen before. She has a number of interviews and sources from the people Bernstein was closest to (including his little brother) that really gives us a glimpse of his life growing up that we tend not to see. Her writing style is engaging and accessible.

I like the fact that it also focuses heavily on his conducting-- not just his composing. I never really think of Bernstein as a conductor (although after reading this, I'm currently listening to his recording of Beethoven's 9th with the Bavarian Radio Symphony) but he was amazing at that, too.

I'm not sure this is the kind of book that kids will pick up on their own, but if they do, they'll be more than pleasantly surprised.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Thomas Jefferson for Kids

Thomas Jefferson for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities Brandon Marie Miller

The basic concept for the For Kids.. with 21 activities series is it's a biography with crafts, projects, and activities interspersed that relate to the person or to the time period. In the past, my biggest complaint has been with the age range, especially of the activities-- some are for kids too old for the book, some for kids too young.

That is not a problem with Thomas Jefferson for Kids. The activities are all age-appropriate with the text, with what I feel is 4-7th grades. There's also a good range of activities-- a Jeffersonian model of the solar system (Neptune optional), dancing a reel (very well explained!), making a floor plan of your dream house, organizing your library, even making a microscope out of a matchbox. I think there's a good range of things for all interests while still being true to Jefferson and his late Colonial/early Republic time period.

I think the biography itself is also really well done-- Miller does an excellent job of highlighting and discussing the good and the bad and showing his inconsistencies and greatness of character. I think she treats the issue very sensitively and does a great job showing that he wasn't perfect, but doesn't demonize him and showing that he did amazing things without lionizing him.

I especially liked the way the book describes and explains the political issues of the new Republic. The book has a fantastic explanation of Federalism vs. Republicanism and the Jefferson/Adams split. It also shows how Washington was often caught in the middle of the two men.


It's a 2011 Cybils nominee and I have to say that it's overall very well done. I think the activities give it much more kid appeal than it would normally have. That said, it lacks that certain je ne sais quoi to move it from solidly well done to best of the best.

Today's nonfiction roundup is over at Practically Paradise.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Authors Teens Love

These two books were nominated for MG/YA Nonfiction Cybils in 2009.

Vivian Vande Velde: Author of Fantasy Fiction by Candie Moonshower

Amy Tan: Weaver of Asian-American Tales Ann Angel

While these are certainly well-written and informative biographies, they don't have a lot of pick-up-and-read appeal. They're more "report books"-- things libraries should have for curriculum support but not really something that teens are going to pick up for pleasure reading.

I thought the Vande Velde one was a bit repetitive and while it mostly focused on her works for teens, the reading level/tone was a little younger. But I liked that she's included. Vande Velde has written a ton of books with solid appeal and circuluation but is often overlooked.

I love the fact that Amy Tan is included in this series-- she doesn't write books for teens (with the exception of two picture books, all of her titles are for adults.) BUT, The Joy Luck Club is often assigned in schools and with so much of her work focusing on mother/daughter relationships, it has broad teen appeal. (I know I was a huge fan of hers when I was in high school. I still am, but that's when I fell in love with her writing.) My one complaint is inconsistent romanization of Chinese place names. Pick a transliteration system and stick with it! Why have authors and editors failed to do this? It's annoying for those of us who know what's what and very confusing to those who don't!

I think these two biographies are also nice because both authors came to writing later in life. Vande Velde took a class at the local community college to get out of the house one night a week when she was a stay at home Mom, Tan started writing after she realized that her therapist kept falling asleep during their meetings.

The series in general is very readable, contains TONS of photos and author quotations, as well as pull-out boxes with further information about the author, the time period, or the author's books. In the back matter, the books contain a time line, a list of published and upcoming works, a list of awards won, a glossary, extensive source notes (which are marked in the text)* and an index. The Vande Velde volume also has an interview transcript between Moonshower and Vande Velde. The Tan volume has a selection of Tan's quotations on writing and reading.

*Swoon. Endnotes!

Today's Nonfiction Monday round-up is over at Apples With Many Seeds.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday-- Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

In 1994, Shavon Dean was gunned down in gang-related violence. She was 14. The boy who shot her was 11.

Robert "Yummy" Sandifer was trying to impress his crew, but he couldn't shoot straight. Being a minor, the gang used him to commit their crimes, knowing that he couldn't be tried as an adult or sentenced to life. Due to his age and age of Shavon, the manhunt for Yummy became national news and even after laying low for awhile, the heat never died down. Wary of the amount of attention law enforcement was paying to the neighborhood, Yummy was eventually killed by The Black Disciples.

This graphic novel is told by Roger, a (fictional) classmate of Yummy's. When school starts up in the fall, his class is assigned to write an essay about how they feel about what Yummy did. Roger talks to the people in his neighborhood on their conflicting views of the troubled boy. Roger himself doesn't know what to think-- Yummy beat him up regularly for his lunch money, but he also carried a Teddy Bear and got excited over finding a toad. Roger searches (and never finds) the answers he's looking for, mainly why.

And the book doesn't tell us why. But the book does paint a community and the people both good and bad and how such tragedy shook it. It's moving and powerful and extremely thought provoking.

Told in graphic novel format, the book is based on news reports, public records, and interviews but portions are definitely fictionalized (conversations, some characters). The author discusses which parts are true and which parts aren't and there's a source list in the back.

Neri won a Coretta Scott King Author Award honor for this book, which was also included on the YALSA book lists for Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens and Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers. It also won the Cybils award for Teen Graphic Novels. It's an amazing book that deserves such honors. However, due to the amount of fictionalization (which is what makes it SUCH a powerful and well-done book) I'm not heartbroken to see that it didn't win any nonfiction awards.

Speaking of Nonfiction Awards (awkward segue. Sorry.) I am running for election for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. If you're a YALSA member, I hope you'll vote for me! You can read more about the election and my views on things here and check out my interview with GreenBeanTeenQueen here!

Today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup is over at The Children's War.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington: His Life in Jazz with 21 Activities Stephanie Stein Crease

I'm still working through my backlog of Cybils 2009 reviews-- trying to turn my notes into why or why not a book was on my short list into an actual useful review is hard y'all!

Anyway, this is a biography of the great American composer and band leader, Duke Ellington.

It's comprehensive and does a good job of tying the changes in Ellington's life and career in with the broader social changes happening at the same time. There are several pull-out boxes with extra information on everything from new advances in related technology and biographies of the musicians and composers Ellington worked with to information on broader trends of the time.

The other thing this book has is 21 activities that readers can do to explore different parts of Ellington's story. These activities include everything from baking corn bread (a popular rent party food during the Harlem Renaissance) and designing album covers to building instruments and writing your own jazz improvisations.

Overall though, I found the book uneven. It was interesting, but the tone often seemed to be talking down to kids. Kinda like 'and then Ellington did this! Wasn't that neat?' One random example can be found on page 19 "Many of you might be scratching your heads by now. What kind of role model was Ellington anyway? A high school dropout? A ladies' man? Today, leaving high school would be considered a mistake with a capital "M"! But times were very different then."

Also, I couldn't tell which age group the activities were for. Anything involving a stove or exacto knife was labeled "adult supervision required" and some included blowing across bottle tops and changing the water level to change the sound, or making a toilet-paper tube rhythm shaker. But a lot of the music-based activities assumed a pretty solid background in performance and theory-- like being able to sight-sing or knowing what a B flat 7 chord is. And, when Stein did try to explain more complicated theory concepts (like syncopation) I thought they were confusing, and I'm an adult with many years of music theory study under my belt.

Overall though, I think kids will find it an interesting read, and it's a different type of biography that might appeal to kids who don't like to/want to read a biography, and this time of year, EVERYONE has a biography project to do.

Today's nonfiction round up is over at Wrapped in Foil. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils 2009 consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: After Ghandi

After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien

After Ghandi offers brief introductions to famous incidents of nonviolent protest around the world, and brief biographies of some of the people involved in those protests. It starts with Ghandi leading a protest in South Africa in 1908 in which many Asian residents burned the registration papers that made them register as foreigners. It ends with the February 2003 global protests against the war in Iraq. In between it covers the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Tiananmen Square Protests, the Velvet Revolution, and work done by such groups as the Peace People and the Mothers of the Disappeared.

It's a striking design-- mainly black and white with large pull quotes highlighted in dark red. Most sections end with a black-and-white pastel portrait of one of the highlighted leaders done by Anne Sibley O'Brien. While the portraits are beautiful, I would have preferred photographs.

I liked that it didn't tell the story of Rosa Parks as a woman who got caught up in history, but rather as one who knew exactly what she was doing. (Lets give Parks a little agency, ok? It makes her more awesome.) It mentions that she was not the first person arrested but that her arrest was the one that got the bus boycott going.

I was a little taken aback by the section on the Tiananmen Square protests. Even though it ends with the tanks moving in, it contains several phrases such as "At the time, China was run by an oppressive, corrupt regime that was intolerant of criticism" or "At the time, Chinese citizens had no choice in the election of their leaders." Yes, that's all true. But it's still true. Starting the sentence with "at the time" makes it sound like there's been a radical shift since then, and there hasn't been.

Overall though, it's a great introduction to the ways people have, and can, stand up to injustice peacefully. They're great stories of courage and standing up in the face of fear. I also loved that they included stories of nonviolent protest that didn't always work-- it highlights that just because they didn't get results, people tried and we remember them for trying and we can continue their work for a better world.

It's a great book to highlight on a day dedicated to a man who used nonviolence as a way to dramatically change the world we live in.

Round up is over at NC Teacher Stuff.

Book Provided by... the publisher for Cybils 2009 consideration.

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Nonfiction Monday

Didja see that the Cybil winners were announced yesterday?

Well, I have two biographies today that were Cybil nominees, the first one written by the same author of the winner!

A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts Pamela S. Turner

This biography of George Schaller follows him from his early interest in animal, to his university days in Alaska, and his research trips around the world-- studying gorillas in what was then the Belgian Congo, tigers in India, lions on the Serengeti, snow leopards in the Himalayas, pandas in China, and the ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau.

As Schaller's career started in 1959, the book shows how he revolutionized how we observe animals in the wild (such as, by quietly observing them and not killing them.) The photographs are all from Schaller's personal collection, so we get a good look at how things looked then. I (obviously) found the chapters on China and Tibet most interesting and wanted a deeper look at all the politics at play, because there were hints at things that I recognized instantly as Chinese face-saving and Chinese politics, but as that wasn't the point or focus of the book, it didn't get into it.

It's an interesting book for middle grade readers who want to learn about conservation of several different animals and how our ideas on how best of learn about and save animals has changed over time. I especially recommend pairing The chapter about tracking snow leopards in the Himalayas in 1969-1975 with Sy Montgomery's Saving the Ghost of the Mountain, about tracking snow leopards in Mongolia.

Book Provided by... my local library

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum Candace Fleming

Did you know that PT Barnum got into the circus game very late in life? He was 60 before he got involved, and then it was because a business partner wanted the fame that Barnum's name would give to the venture (also, Barnum's cash). Who knew?

Well, if you read this delightful, informative, and fascinating biography, filled with informational sidebars and pictures and other ephemera, you will. Seriously, the entire week after I read it, I was telling everyone I came across random facts about Barnum. I annoyed everyone I knew! And people I didn't.

I highly recommend it. It's one of the books that just missed my personal Cybils shortlist. My only complaint is that Fleming relies heavily on Barnum's own autobiographies and there were a few things that made me pause and when I checked the source, it was Barnum's own version of his life, which isn't exactly the most objective point of view.

Book Provided by... my local library

Round up is by Amy over at The Art of Irreverence. Check it out!

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Two Biographies

For today's Nonfiction reviews, I give you two amazing biographies that were both Cybil nominations this year...

Leaving Glorytown: One Boy's Struggle Under Castro Eduardo F. Calcines

In January, 1959, Eduardo is only 3, but he remembers the coming of The Voice. Suddenly, The Voice is everywhere, being broadcast for hours from every radio, speakers rigged up outside. Everyone's listening to The Voice. Then, the soldiers are on every corner. As a 3-year-old, he's first fascinated by them, but then all the adults are short tempered and there's less to eat.

As he grows up in Castro's Cuba, Eduardo gets used to watching what you say, used to hunger, used to his father being gone at labor camp (for daring to apply for an exit visa), used to the jealousy as other families get their visa and his family is still stuck. They're on a deadline for the visa. When Eduardo turns 15, he'll be drafted into the army, so once he hits 14.5, his family's no longer eligible and they'll have to stay.

We don't get enough memoirs out of Cuba, especially for teens. This one is hard to put down, as we watch the situation grow worse and worse. Unlike other communist memoirs, this one's more chilling because while Mao and Lenin and the other revolutionaries are dead, Castro isn't and the situation in Cuba has only grown worse. Not only is is a good read, it's an important one.

Book provided by... my local library

Rock 'n' Roll Soldier: A Memoir Dean Ellis Kohler with Susan VanHecke

After graduating from high school in 1965 Dean Kohler's rock band landed a record deal and then he was drafted into the US Army. The deal got dropped when Kohler shipped out to Vietnam, serving as an MP in Qui Nhon, which was a port used to off-load supplies going deeper in country. Despite the fear and death and shooting, Kohler knows how lucky he is to not be on the front lines in the jungle, to not be in the Deep Serious. Things also take a better turn when his commanding officer orders him to form a rock band. Kohler's band is soon traveling the area, playing shows for soldiers who are in the thick of things. Kohler has to balance the two sides of himself, is he a musician? Or a soldier? I deeply appreciated that there are two chapters and a epilogue that take place after he returns home. While not the focus of the book, Kohler does talk about returning home and trying to decide what to do next. Re-entry is a dimension that is often sadly left out of war stories.

One thing that's interesting for me (coming from a perspective of one who has done quite a bit of cultural and academic study of the Vietnam War) is that it takes place mainly in 1967 (1966 was spent in basic training), which was when the armchair historian tends to think things were just starting to heat up. Kohler is home before the Tet offensive. This is most obvious in the music. This is, after all, a book about a rock band. They do several covers, but when I (and, I think, many people) think 1960s, Vietnam, and Music, I tend to think of music from the late 60s, early 70s. Songs like "Fortunate Son" (thanks Forrest Gump) "White Rabbit" or "Purple Haze." Kohler's band is playing current hits-- "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" "Wipe Out" "Louie, Louie" "Louie, Louie" and "Twist and Shout." I'm thinking Crosby, Stills, and Nash, but Kohler's playing music by The Hollies.

But, in the end, that just adds to the punch of the book. So much of our focus is on the later, post-Tet part of the war. We don't pay attention the what happened before and when we do, well, it was before things got bad. Even though Kohler isn't on the front lines, this is still a book about a war and forces us to re-look at our assumptions about it. While I do think older teens will enjoy this book immensely, I wonder if they'll have that same perspective. On the other hand, if we remind them from the beginning that there was a war before 1968, that can't be a bad thing.

Book Provided by... my local library

Round-Up is over at Playing By the Book

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.