Short Reviews: THE SERVICEBERRY; THE VEGETARIAN; DEATH IN THE JUNGLE

Eek! I was a reading fiend this summer and not a reviewing fiend. Today I looked through the list of all the books I haven't reviewed. I apologized to some of them which I won't review, and determined I did have at least a few words I'd like to say about these books.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Scribner, 2024. 120 pages.

I enjoyed Braiding Sweetgrass by Wall Kimmerer when I read it two years ago. I saw The Serviceberry on the shelves of my local bookstore but I assumed, without picking it up, it was just an illustrated gift book version of the first, so I didn't need to read it. I was wrong. I was looking for a book about economics for a reading challenge and this was on the list of suggested titles.

In The Serviceberry, Wall Kimmerer, an indigenous biologist, considers the ethics of reciprocity in a gift economy as she harvest berries next to the birds who are eating them (and spreading the seeds for future plants.) A gift economy is one where everyone has enough and doesn't take more than they need. Sharing out of abundance (think about your zucchinis and tomatoes this time of year) rather than hoarding what you have while others have to struggle to get by. This is what happens in the capitalistic form of economics which is based on scarcity and each man for himself.  “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

Both my husband and I were very touched by this short book. It's descriptions of ways we can move to a more gift or spirit-filled economy brought us hope for our future. 

Here is the first serviceberry plant I saw on our hike in Montana. Since the fruit wasn't ripe in June I had to identify the plant by its leaves.

On a related but a side note, this summer I saw my first serviceberry plant, with its unripe fruit, in the mountains of Montana, where huckleberries are king. I was standing over the plant trying to figure out if what I was seeing was a huckleberry plant and my son-in-law pointed out the leaves were all wrong. That led me to do some investigation when we returned from our hike, and I discovered I had been hovering over a serviceberry bush. This realization made me think of the book I'd neglected to pick up at the bookstore, The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Everything in my brain always seems to circle back to books. Ha!

My rating: 5 stars.

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The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith

Hogarth, 2007. 188 pages.

Yeong-hye lives with her husband and has a typical marriage. Waking from a nightmare one morning she renounces eating meat as a way to purge the blood and brutality in her mind. First her husband and then her sister, and eventually her whole family gets involved, trying to force her to stop the nonsense and return to eating meat. This has disastrous effects, not only for Yeong-hye but also for her marriage, and for her relationships within her family. "Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her."

As you can see from the cover, Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for her writings, including The Vegetarian. I, unbelievably, had never even heard of the book or the author until last November during the Novellas in November challenge when it was brought to my attention by another participant. I didn't care for the book at all, though I admit the writing was gripping. The story was so bleak and all the characters so awful. But the description of it being Kafkaesque are so true. The story was so surreal and disorienting. For this reason, I am glad I read it, but it is unlikely I will ever tell anyone else to read it.

My rating: 3 stars.

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Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

Anne Schwartz Books, 2025. 346 pages.

It has almost been 50 years since the notorious Jim Jones persuaded 900 of his followers to drink cyanide-laced punch and commit "revolutionary suicide" in the jungle of Guyana. But how did he do it?

Using first-person accounts, author Candace Fleming reveals many details of Jim Jones' upbringing during the Depression, his founding of a church, The Peoples Temple, based on the promises of equality and justice in first Indianapolis, then California, and finally in the jungles of South America.Also detailed were all the mind-control techniques he used to attract and keep devoted followers, even willing to kill themselves to show their ultimate devotion to him. Among the survivors of that tragic massacre was Steven Jones, Jim Jones son, who stood up to his father over and over again, but was unable to stop the tragedy from happening in the end.

The other day I told my sister some of the details I learned from the book and described how this was not just an indictment of dumb people who followed a nefarious cult leader. But how this is a story of good-hearted people who were attracted to the ideals and then drawn in by the community, and eventually ended up unable to leave it, even though many tried. As I was describing all this to my sister, my husband, who was listening in, chirped up and said. "We're all suckers for books and shows about cults." Yes. But this booked helped me see beyond the cult. It also spoke to me of human needs and how government/churches/society often treat people very unjustly and how people crave to be part of something bigger than themselves. Think about Trump and his MAGA hordes. He does awful things, like Jones who used drugs and had sex with many women, and his followers lower their own standards to still be in agreement with him. It is frightening to think about. People are so easily led astray.

As a YA nonfiction title I did spend a bit of time thinking about Death in the Jungle in teenager hands. I worry it is a bit long for that population at 346 pages. Would teenagers have the patience to digest so much information on one topic, unless, like my husband, they are fascinated by cults? I'm just not sure. I had the hardest time getting teens to read any nonfiction in my library but I think if a librarian really sold it, they would find it as interesting and revealing as I did.

My rating; 4.25 stars.

-Anne

Review: RAISING HARE: A MEMOIR

Title: Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

Book Beginnings quote:

Standing by the back door, readying for a long walk, I heard a dog barking.

Friday56 quote:

The leveret, I learnt, was a European brown hare one of more than thirty species of hare in existence today.

Summary: "A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare" (Publisher).

Review: Count me among the majority of folks who didn't know that rabbits and hares aren't in the same family and that they have very different living habits. For example rabbits, who are generally about half of size of hares, live in burrows they've dug underground and they live in family groups. Hares, live out in the open, preferring shallow indentations in the grass or the dirt to sleep. Newborns even have different names -- newborn rabbits are kits or kittens, newborn hares are leverets. Hares frequently experience superfetation, which means they can conceive when they are already pregnant. They often have have very small litters of one or two leverets, and then deliver another litter just a few weeks later. This is a very rare occurrence in other mammals but fairly common in hares. I knew none of this before I read Chloe Dalton's memoir, Raising Hare. Dalton learned these facts herself after she rescued a newborn leveret from a dog and ended up forming a friendship with the creature.

After my fascination with learning new facts about hares wore off, I found myself focusing on Dalton's insights on the natural world. Dalton lives in an old, converted barn near working farms in the English countryside. Since hares do not reside in burrows underground, they are especially susceptible to harm/death during typical harvesting practices where big machinery is used. Also the farming practice of planting right up to the edges of the property leave no room or buffer for safety. After one particularly gruesome experience where Dalton walked a field after harvest, finding many dead and mutilated animals, she was happy to learn that the new owners of the land were going to employ organic farming practices which involves biodiversity and allowing for room for weeds and wildflowers to regain a foothold -- all practices which help the native animals to survive. Once again, I've spent zero time in my life contemplating the effect of modern farming practices on native animals until this book came along.

Raising Hare is easy to read and doesn't come across as too preachy. I like the word the publisher uses to summarize the book as a "meditation" on our natural world. I did find myself meditating on what I was learning. The illustrations of hares, beautifully rendered by Denise Nestor, add to the sense of wonder I felt as I meditated on the book.

My rating: 4.25 stars.

Reading challenge: Raising Hare is the 12th book I've read for the '20 Books of Summer Challenge.'

-Anne

Review: BE READY WHEN THE LUCK COMES

Title: BE READY WHEN THE LUCK COMES: A MEMOIR by Ina Garten

Book Beginnings quote:

"There has to be something more fun than this," I said to myself , probably for the millionth time, as I sat at my desk drafting nuclear energy policy at the White House.

Friday56 quote:

What did I do? Besides going to college, there was dinner to prepare every night -- we certainly couldn't afford to go to a restaurant -- which meant coming up with a menu, shopping on the base, and then teaching myself how to cook. I had to learn everything. My bible at the time was Craig Claiborne's' New Your Times Cookbook, and I immediately started making his recipes.

Summary: A memoir by Ina Garten -- aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen cookbooks, a Food Network personality, and a cultural icon -- shares her personal story from a difficult childhood to meeting Jeffrey and marrying him while still in college; from a boring job in Washington, D.C. to ownership of a specialty food store and becoming the Barefoot Contessa, and her journey to get to where she is today.

Review: It seemed like everyone was reading this book last year and I wanted to be one of those people. I really enjoyed learning about Ina Garten's backstory, how she was ready to spring at several opportunities that led to her success first as a business owner and then as a Food Network chef and cookbook creator. As Garten described the creation of several of her famous recipes, I was reminded I have a copy of her cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey. I decided to pull it out and make several recipe from it. We especially liked two entrees: Rigatoni with sausage and fennel and Skillet-roasted lemon chicken, and a dessert: Raspberry rhubarb crostata (I used strawberries as they are in season right now.) As I read through these and other recipes, it occured to me I should read the whole book. A first for me, reading through a whole cookbook. I actually learned some really helpful tips, too. Have you ever read a cookbook all the way through? Clearly I need to read my other cookbooks for ideas and tips, not just go to the same recipes over and over.

My rating of the memoir: 4 stars and the cookbook: 5 stars. Makes sense, doesn't it?

-Anne

Nonfiction Review: THE NOT-QUITE STATES OF AMERICA

"The story of the U.S. Territories is the story of a nation that really, truly believes itself to be exceptional but also can't make up its mind what, exactly, that means. More powerful or more just?" (207)

Doug Mack, author of The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and other Far Flung Outposts of the USA, began his project to write this book when he realized how little he knew about the territories and how little has been written about them when he attempted to do some research. 

Everyone knows that America is 50 states and ... some other stuff. Scattered shards in the Pacific and the Caribbean, the not-quite states -- American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands -- and their four million people are often forgotten, even by most Americans. But they are filled with American flags, U.S. post offices, Little League baseball games, and residents who serve in the U.S. military at high rates (Book jacket).

How and why did these lands come to be U.S. territories? What are they like and what rules govern their existences as territories? And why aren't they states? These are the questions to Doug Mack set out to answer when he decided to visit all five of the territories and to do some comparisons between the territories themselves back in the mid 2010s.

Starting with a visit to the largest island in the US Virgin Islands, St. Croix, Mack began his tour of the islands, crossing over to the Pacific before ending up back in the Caribbean in Puerto Rico as his last stop in the tour of territories. 

Here are a few things I gleaned from the book:

1. Guano first. Back in the late 1800s American farmers were anxious to locate fertilizers for their fields. Why not mine islands for their bird poop (guano)? So began the hunt for territories which could supply the noxious goop.
2. Ultimately the nineteenth century expansionist push was to show the world that we were a real-deal power.
3. Court cases, known as the Insular cases, set up the scene for "foreign in a domestic sense." Of the five territories, all are governed by different sets of rules from each other and from our constitution. It is so confusing I won't even try to explain (probably because I don't understand the differences myself.)
4. After WWII and since we reached 50 states with the admission of Hawaii and Alaska the territories have faded from view --ignorance and silence has bred more ignorance and silence (250).
5. The people in the territories haven't been able to make up their minds about their political status. Most people Mack spoke to felt that statehood would mean a more stable economic status but it would come at a loss of their culture and the life they enjoy. I got a sense of inertia, why change the status quo?
6. When something does happen in one of the territories that makes the news, such as a hurricane in Puerto Rico, the reporting often makes it sound like what is happening is in a foreign country. In fact, a non-voting member of Congress from American Samoa was once introduced as the representative from "American Somalia." Even members of Congress speak about members of the territories as aliens.
7. "In 1900 we talked about the territories because they had the potential to be states, but when the Insular Cases effectively shut that door, they continue to be not-quite states, and our attention has waned" (252).

I decided to read The Not-Quite States of America because I set myself a challenge to read a book from every states and territory last year and I was down to missing only one state (South Dakota) and four of the territories. Why not knock off four areas with one book? After reading this, however, I determined to go ahead and read a fiction selection set in the territories or a nonfiction memoir written by a person from the territory. I learned factual stuff from this book but I felt disconnected from the heart issues at hand. For example the poetry book I read, From Unincorporated Territory by Craig Santos Perez, I learned more about Guam and about what makes its people tick than I did from reading this book. However, I didn't understand the title of the poetry book until I read this one! See my challenge to read a book set in all 50 states and territories.

My rating 3.5 stars.

-Anne

Nonfiction Review: MEMORIAL DAYS

In May 2023 I read the book Horse by Geraldine Brooks. It was a book club selection and we had a very lively discussion over the book, as I remember. Brooks is one of my favorite authors and I always appreciate how much research I can tell she has done for her books. 

Last year I learned that Brooks' husband, Tony Horwitz, died suddenly in 2019 when Brooks was in the middle of writing her book Horse. This thought struck me at that time -- How, on earth, did she complete a book and have it published just three short years after that event? I've learned that Horwitz, also a writer, often helped his wife with her research and proofread her manuscripts, greatly assisting her writing process.

This year I read Brooks' memoir, Memorial Days, which answers to some degree my question above.

Three years after her husband's death Geraldine Brooks booked a flight to a remote Australian island with the intention of FINALLY giving herself the time and the space to mourn. In a small cabin away from phones, TV, and social media Brooks pondered the various ways in which different cultures grieve and what rituals of her own she might employ to help her rebuild a life around the void left by Tony's death. After his death she was so wrapped up in all the duties required of her she left little time to properly mourn his death. Now three years later she realized that grief doesn't go away because you ignore it. She knew she had to do the WORK of mourning, of coming to terms with her grief.

In her essay “On Grief” Jennifer Senior quotes a therapist who likens the survivors of loss to passengers on a plane that has crashed into a mountaintop and must find their way down. All have broken bones; none can assist the others. Each will have to make it down alone (from Memorial Days).

During her time on the island Brooks would often go for days without seeing any other humans. Instead she spent time reading excerpts from his journals and other writings, exploring his medical records, and recalling her own memories of their life together. If she did she run into someone, say on the beach down the path from the cabin, she would turn away from the contact not wanting any intrusions on her time with Tony. Finally, after so many years, she was able to properly say goodbye to him. During these days of melancholy or "the happiness of being sad," as Victor Hugo called them, she was able to embrace her new life.

I was very moved by Memorial Days even though the memoir didn't expressly answer my question about how Brooks wrote Horse after her husband's death. I was moved because I know someone in a very similar situation who experienced the untimely death of her husband. Because of his position in the community there have been many memorials and honors paid to him and she has been showered with love and attention by many people and organizations. I fear, however, that the widow has never had the time and space to properly mourn her loss in a personal way. I don't think she has made it down off the mountain due to her "own broken bones." No one can do the work for her but now I wonder if this book would help be the catalyst toward finally taking the time to do the hard work of grieving, which is still with her.

The book is not cheery, obviously, but it is hopeful and helpful. I do recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars.

-Anne

Nonfiction Review: GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE

Title: Grief is For People by Sloane Crosley

Book Beginnings quote: 

All burglaries are alike, but every burglary is uninsured in its own way.

Friday56 quote: 

During the closing lecture of the festival, a Scottish author winds down her reading with a folk song about the sea...She lilts all over the stage. I imagine this moment holding me up on its hip, bouncing me. Wave goodbye to Russell! Say: Bye-bye, Russell! I can feel my heart pounding in my neck. Salt water drips down my face and I scratch my pinkie so hard, I nearly break the skin.

Summary: Following the death of her closest friend, Sloane Crosley explores multiple kinds of loss in this disarmingly witty and poignant memoir. (Publisher)

Review: This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It took me several chapters and a major thought-realignment to get my brain around the reality of the book not the imaginary one I had worked out in my head. I was expecting a self-help book for those coping with grief. This is NOT that book.

This is a memoir about friendship and death. This is a hard book, one which consolidates the truth -- Everyone grieves in different way and there is no timeline on that grief. The last chapters were especially poignant as Sloane Crosley gains a bit of distance from her grief and is able to take a look at it with a bit of objectivity. A bit.

When Sloane's friend, Russell, dies by suicide, she is left to grapple with her grief alone. She loosely follows the Kubler-Ross stages of grief for her format: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance as she outlines what her life was like after his death. In the middle of all this, a pandemic descends on the world and she has to cope with it, too, just like we all did. See why I say it is a hard book?

I admit I spent the whole last half of the book crying -- not for the death of Russell, I didn't know him. But for the death of D, who I did, and for all those people, like Sloane Crosley, who are forced to traverse alone in an unknown world known as "Grief World." It reminded me of this quote from another book Hum If You Don't Know the Words:

Only after I had learned those boundaries and generalities of my grief was I able to venture further into the mountains and valleys, the peaks and troughs of my despair. And as I traversed them-breathing a sigh of relief thinking that I'd conquered the worst of it-only then would I finally arrive at the truth about loss, the part no one ever warns you about: that grief is a city all of its own, built high on a hill and surrounded by stone walls. It is a fortress that you will inhabit for the rest of your life, walking its dead-end roads forever. The trick is to stop trying to escape and, instead, to make yourself at home. (Hum If You Don't Know the Words, 320).

There were two excerpts which touched me specifically. Let me see if I can find them...

“But there was never going to be a version of the story in which it wasn't my missing jewelry and my dead friend. You can ignore grief. You push it around your plate. But you can't give it away.”

_____________________________________________________ 

"My grief for you will always be unruly, even as I know it contains the logic of everyone who has ever felt it. Sometimes I close my eyes so that I can listen to it spread. So I can make it spread. I run it up the walls of my apartment. I listen to it circle the door frames and propel itself out the window. I can hear it clonking down the fire escape, cracking the concrete as it lands. Sometimes I hear it in the rivers, sloshing against the stone, or in the subway screeching to a halt. And then because I cannot call you home, I call it home. I open my eyes and in a flash it come back to me, zipping itself to my edges, bobbing between my fingers. It's made a real life for itself here. Oblivious to its own power, it snores sweetly on my chest, this outline of a woman whose time has not yet come."

Both of these quotes really spoke to be about how grief changes us and it can't be ignored. We are forced to grapple with grief once it arrives at our doorstep.

I do recommend this book, but it isn't an easy read. If you are in the middle of a deep grief, I'd proceed with caution.

My rating 4.25 stars.

-Anne

Sunday Salon -- Favorite nonfiction reads of 2024!

Weather: Rain. Perfect baking weather!

Three days until Christmas: Almost all the shopping is done. Most of the gifts are wrapped. I took the turkey out of the freezer so it would be thawed by Wednesday. I've made my yearly batch of  peppernuts or pfeffernüsse cookies, mixed up a batch of candied pecans, and made peanut blossoms with Hershey kisses. Today I hope to make chocolate crinkles and peanut butter balls and then I'll call it good.  Just in time to share my sweet treats with my neighbors. What about you? How are your holiday preparations going?

Favorite books of the year: Every year I put together several lists of favorite books: This past week I published my favorite book club selections. This week I hope to pull together a list of favorite audiobooks. And today I am publishing my 2024 favorite nonfiction books.

My favorite nonfiction reads of 2024: Instead of writing lengthy descriptions of each, I've linked the titles to my reviews. Please visit those reviews to learn more. The nice thing about nonfiction titles is the subtitles usually give a big hint about the topic.

1. Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow -- America right before WWII was enamored by fascism. I wish more people read this before the election.
2. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench, with Brendan O'Hea -- The famous British actress has a series of interviews with Brendan O'Hea about all the roles she played in Shakespeare's plays.
3. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed -- Advice from Dear Sugar, a on-line help site. Sugar, Cheryl Strayed, became well known after this for her book Wild.
4. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer -- This YA version of Kimmerer's excellent source about indigenous practices was illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt and adapted by Monique Gray Smith. It was a book club favorite.
5. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia to Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton -- The author visited all 63 of the National Parks and talked about his experiences in each according to themes. I was reading this while we visited the five National Parks in Utah.
6. The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the Federal Government Over Climate Change by Elizabeth Rusch -- Twenty-one students, with the help of activist lawyers, have sued the government but eight years after they brought the case, it has not gone to trial yet. Discouraging yet importantly encouraging at the same time.
7. House Lessons: Renovating a Life by Erica Bauermeister -- A woman buys a run-down house in Port Townsend and spends time renovating it. She learns about herself in the process. A popular book club choice.
8. The Mona Lisa Vanishes: a Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day -- A terrific middle grade book about a well-known artist and his most famous work.
9. Subpar Parks: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors by Amber Share -- Based on the wildly popular Instagram account, Subpar Parks celebrates the incredible beauty and variety of America's national parks juxtaposed with the clueless and hilarious one-star reviews posted by visitors. I laughed my way through this one and enjoyed the illustrations, too.
10. Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie -- Twenty years after a fatwa was declared over this author, he was attacked and nearly killed by a knife-wielding terrorist. This book brings the focus back onto literature. [No review yet.]
11. Honorable Mention: The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos -- A hospice nurse shares what she has learned about life and death.  

Oops. I left off the list one of my favorites:

2a. Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott -- Advice or examples on how to be more loving. I think this quote sums the book up nicely: "If the younger ones in our lives can remember only this one idea, that they are here, briefly, a little space to love and to have been loved, they they will have all they need, because love is all they need, rain or shine...good old love, elusive and steadfast, fragile, and unbreakable, and always there for the asking: always, somehow" (191).

    

Singing!

Music: Today was the annual cantata at church. Both of my daughters and my husband sang in it. Hubby is in the back row with the beard. Daughter #1 is right in front of him, and daughter #2 is in the front row right in front of the violinist. I loved watching them sing and felt such joy at the music. Carly had a solo in a number called "Turn Your Heart to Christmas." I thought it was such a poignant message. It is not referring to the materialistic Christmas but the holy, spiritual, peace-loving message of Christmas. // Earlier in the week my daughters sang "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to the grandkids. Both girls were in jazz choir in high school and sang the Fred Waring version of the song every year. Enjoy the 1955 production of the song.

May you receive a blessing this season and find both hope and peace.

-Anne

Nonfiction Review: PREQUEL

Title: Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow

Book Beginnings quote:

(Chapter 1: The Glass House)  The reedy and excitable twenty-six-year-old recent Harvard graduate, full of anticipation, was motoring out to an open field in Potsdam, Germany, to attend a Nazi youth rally. Part of the draw for the Harvard man was the chance to see and hear, in person, Adolf Hitler, who was still several months away from ascending to the chancellorship of Germany but already the talk of Europeans and Americans in the know. Another factor in the draw to Potsdam was the opportunity to witness up close the dazzling spectacle reliably on display at Nazi rallies.

Friday56 quote: 

The way Johnson envisioned the Father Coughlin Labor Day event in Chicago, it would recreate the pageantry of a Hitler rally, not unlike the Hitler Youth rally he'd attended in Potsdam four years earlier. "The police were all pro-Coughlin, especially the Irish," Johnson told a Coughlin biographer fifty years after the fact.

Summary: 

Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis.
 
In the 1930s there was a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens’ confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule.
 
That effort worked alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection.
 
At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court. These efforts at bringing the insurrectionists to justice largely failed.
 
While the scheme has been remembered in history—if at all—as the work of fringe players, in reality, it involved a large number of some of the country’s most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation.
 
The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times. (Publisher)

Review: On a recent trip my husband and I listened to the audiobook of Prequel read by Rachel Maddow herself. We watch Maddow every Monday evening on MSNBC and she mentioned aspects of this book and the podcast Ultra on the same topic. We were prepared mentally for the book's topic but I was not prepared emotionally. I got so angry and sad as I listened. It infuriates me that Americans would want to give away their (our) rights to an autocrat like Hitler and that is just about what happened.

If you have never read any of Maddow's books I want you to know that she does exhaustive research. I am fairly sure that all the facts and details in Prequel have never been pulled together in one spot before which increases the impact ten fold. There is no way I can even begin to touch on everything she includes in the book so I thought I would focus on just a few of the historical details that match what is happening today in politics.

Throughout the book we learned that many of the people who were pushing the American First/Pro-Authoritarian agenda in the 1930s and 40s were actually funded by the German (Nazi) government. Some were paid money and others, like some of the legislators who pushed the far-right agenda and attempted to stifle efforts to find out what was going on, were rewarded with money flowing to their pet projects and reelection donations. Sound familiar? We don't have 50+ years of research to back up these claims but the Mueller report did find that Russia interfered with our elections in 2016 and made attempts in 2020 and 2022. Putin wants Trump to be elected again so that Trump will withdraw support for Ukraine. The Republican agenda today is moving toward being more and more pro-Russia. 

The church played a role in the far-right agenda in the 1930s. Father Coughlin had a super popular radio show and his message was very racist, antisemitic,  and isolationist. He had a huge following with millions of people tuning in to his show every week. Today we know that evangelical Christians have thrown their support behind Trump and the Republican agenda, even though the message is the opposite of what Jesus taught his followers to do -- love your neighbor as yourself. 

The judicial system in the 1940s was overwhelmed and essentially swamped by the insurrectionists when they were finally brought up on charges. Delay, tomfoolery, and lack of respect for the justice system were all partially to blame. Essentially most of the indicted individuals never served a day in prison. Though many of the insurrectionists from January 6, 2021 have been convicted and received prison sentences but most of them are low-level participants, not the organizers. Of the 91 indictments Trump has received he has so far been successful in using delay tactics to his benefit over and over again.

 Those of us in the literary world all know that a 'prequel' is a book which was written after the first book about events that happened before. The prequel gives history and context to further the story and the reader's understanding. Rachel Maddow's book is a prequel to what is happening in politics today. She is giving us history and context to round our knowledge in hopes that we will thwart the efforts by many who seem eager to give away our democracy.

The book is a warning! Are we paying attention? -Anne

Two Nonfiction YA Book Reviews --- Both should be in your library

As I finish up my Cybils judging for nonfiction books I wanted to make sure you all were aware of these two books which should certainly be added to any library collection which services teens.

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith, with illustrations by Nicole Neidhardt

Zest Books, Minneapolis. 2022. Target audience: Grades 8-12.

Back in 2015 a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer, published Braiding Sweetgrass, the parent of this young adult version. As a botanist Kimmerer was trained to observe nature through science. As a member of the Potawatomi Nation she knew that plants and animals are some of our oldest and best teachers. In her book she brings together these two types of knowledge to share the ancient wisdom in a way that it even makes sense with science. 

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.  

Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults brings Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.(Publisher).

Braiding Sweetgrass has been a highly praised book worthy of being read to enhance understanding of our world so we can make changes to help stop the destruction of Mother Earth but also to help see problems and solutions through different lenses. In this edition for teens, Monique Gray Smith streamlines the language and yet stays true to the core concepts of the original but adds sidebars, definitions of words/concepts, and asks probing questions to ignite younger readers' minds. It encourages them to make changes to their action, beliefs, and values.  Illustrations by Nicole Neidhardt also make the text more inviting, allowing readers to linger over concepts as they examine the drawings.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book and contemplate its place in the oeuvre of all literature on solutions to climate change. I love the idea that the earth herself can guide to find the answers that have baffled us for centuries.

My book club will be reading the original, adult version of this book next month and I look forward to seeing for myself how the two editions differ from each other. I'm guessing that his YA edition will win for me in a side by side comparisons. Make sure your public and high school library have a copy available for teens and students. 

My rating: 5 stars.

Muzoon: A Syrian Refugee Speaks Out by Muzoon Almellehan with Wendy Pearlman.  // Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 2023. Target Audience: Grades 6-10

When she was fourteen-years-old Muzoon and her family had to leave their Syrian home and escape to a refugee camp in Jordan. War had broken out in her homeland and it was no longer safe to live among the bombs, raids, and guns on both sides. Her father gave her just a few hours to pack her most important possessions before leaving. Muzoon packed all her textbooks. She didn't want to miss out on a moment of her education, realizing it was her ticket to a more positive future. 

Once she and her family settled into their new reality in the refugee camp, Muzoon started back to school. She discovered that many of the other girls in her classes would be there one day and not the next. When she asked around she discovered that many of these girls didn't understand the importance of education because all they saw in their future was marriage.  Muzoon made it a personal mission to seek out these girls and talk to them about staying in school, explaining how important it would be that everyone have a good education when they were finally able to go back to their country so that they'd never end up in this mess again. She did this so often, her efforts started to be noticed by relief organizations. Periodically Muzoon would be asked to speak on behalf of refugees for these organizations (Save the Children, UNICEF.) One day Malala came to her refugee camp and the two girls met each other. They had to speak through interpreters, but they recognized kindred spirits in each other. Sometimes Muzoon is even called The Syrian Malala. 

Because of her work as an goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, her family was able to secure proper papers to immigrate to Britain where she and her siblings were able to go on to college. She continues today as an advocate for refugees and for the importance of education.

 My rating: 4 stars.

-Anne

YA Nonfiction Reviews: SPARE PARTS and NEARER MY FREEDOM

Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano By Himself by Monica Ediger and Lesley Younge

Zest Books, Minneapolis. 2023.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12.

Olaudah Equiano was born in an Igbo village in what is now southern Nigeria in 1745, captured and enslaved as a child and shipped to the Caribbean where he was sold to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more before he was able to buy his own freedom in 1766. In the 1789 he wrote an autobiography about his life and experiences, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano. It was quite popular with the abolitionists in Britain and actually may have helped lead to the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give readers historical context. This poetic approach provides interesting analysis and synthesis, helping readers to better understand the original text. Follow Equiano from his life in Africa as a child to his enslavement at a young age, his travels across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, his liberation, and his life as a free man. (Publisher)

I've read several biographies-in-verse but never one written in found verse or poems before. According to the authors, a found poem is created using the words, phrases, and quotes from a source text that are then rearranged into verse. Here is an example of how it worked, the highlighted text is what is pulled out for the poem.

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.

It's pretty amazing what Ediger and Younge were able to do from the original text. They have created a book that is one that can open up Olaudah Equiano's story to a new generation of readers. I include myself in that statement. I'd never read his autobiography but now I know his story. Bravo!

Spare Parts (Young Reader's Edition): The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream by Joshua Davis and Reyna Grande

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York. 2023.

Target audience: Grades 8-12.

A riveting true story about dreams, dedication, and an amazing robot named Stinky, based on Joshua Davis' New York Times bestseller and now adapted for young readers by bestselling Mexican American author Reyna Grande.

In 2004, four undocumented Mexican teenagers arrived at the national underwater robotics championship at the University of California, Santa Barbara. No one had ever told Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they would amount to much―until two inspiring high school science teachers convinced the boys to enter the competition. Up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, this team of underdogs from Phoenix, Arizona, scraped together spare parts and a few small donations to astound not only the competition's judges but themselves, too.  (Publisher.) 

Spare Parts is both timely and empowering. It is an accessible introduction to STEM, immigration, and the reality of the American Dream. Four boys end up in the US because their parents left Mexico, believing a better life awaited them in America. But life didn't seem better to these boys as they found it difficult to fit in or even make plans for the future. They all stumbled into the robotics program as a place to make connection with others. What they found was camaraderie, hard work, high expectations, ingenuity, and creativity. When they decided to enter the NASA competition their goal was to not get last place. How could four high school boys with next-to-no resources, go up against older, more sophisticated college teams? 

Well, apparently when one is given very little except determination and ingenuity it is amazing what can be produced.

My only quibble with this book is the time lag. The boys won the competition in 2004. The adult book by Joshua Davis was published in 2014. A movie about the boys and their accomplishments was made in 2015. Why did it take twenty years to write a young readers version of the book, to tell the story to its proper audience?

 -Anne

Review: HOW IT HAPPENED!: SNEAKERS

How It Happened!: Sneakers: The Cool Stories and Facts Behind Every Pair by Stephanie Warren Drimmer, illustrated by Dan Sipple

Union Square Kids, New York. 2023.

Target Audience: Grades 4-6

Find out how sneakers took over the world in this fact-filled nonfiction book, part of a series about the stories behind cool objects! From going to school to shopping at the mall, sneakers are one of the most comfortable ways to get around. But how did these rubbery soles become everyone’s favorite shoe to stomp in? Readers will love learning about the story behind sneakers, from the world’s oldest shoe to the latest designer sneaker drop . . . and everything in between! (Publisher)

I loved this colorful, easy-to-read book all about sneakers. The book is divided into three sections: 1. How it all started; 2. How sneakers got off the ground; 3. How they took over the world. From the history of easy footwear to the creation of different brands, this book tells the whole tale of sneaker from start to current day. I felt like I was reading a history close to my own, since I've been around during the time frame many sneaker brands have come into existence. 

Starting in 1916 when the US Rubber Company launched Keds and sneakers came into existence. The origin of the word "sneakers" is not known for sure but Keds claimed that their rubber-soled shoes were so quiet one could sneak up on someone without making any noise. 

In 1936 Jesse Owens, the fast man on earth at the time, wore a pair of shoes during the Hitler Olympics made for him by the Dassler Brothers. After the Olympics, the shoes became very popular and the brothers formed a company. In 1948 a fight between the brothers caused them each formed their own company -- Adidas and Puma. Soon the companies were specializing their shoes for different sports.

In 1971, 30 miles from where I lived in Oregon, Bill Bowerman, the track coach at the University of Oregon realized the pattern of the waffle he was eating would make a perfect grippy sole for a running shoe. He ruined a few waffle-makers along the way but in 1974 the first-ever waffle trainer hit the shelves. And a small-town company Bowerman had formed with Phil Knight, Nike, was born. In 1976, as a freshman at the University of Oregon, I took a running class and purchased my very first Nike trainers for the class. I remember them well. They were red nylon with a white swish. They are also were very simple by today's standards but I did pass the class, so that is what counts.

In 1982 when Aerobic classes were all the rage, all the other shoe companies passed on making a shoe specific for this very "female" activity. All the companies except, Reebok, which was a British company trying to compete with the US and German companies. Jane Fonda wore the Reebok Freestyle shoes on her exercise videos and a new superstar (shoe) was born. Another company, Vans, started marketing their shoes to skateboarders. Converse, which had been around since 1917, renamed their basketball shoes, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, and "Chucks" have never really gone out of style. The sneaker industry was booming.

In 1984 Nike used all of its advertising money on a young basketball player named Michael Jordan. He was to be the new face of the company and they designed a shoe just for him. Jordan ever got a percentage of the sales for every pair sold. These padded high-tops were called Air Jordans. The Air Jordan III sneakers were the first to use the Jumpman logo in bright read on the sneaker's tongue.

In 1986 Run-DMC was bringing a fresh sound to the music scene. The members always wore Adidas tracksuits and sneakers. They even sang a song called "My Adidas." This earned the group a sneakers endorsement, the first non-athletic group to get one.

Fast forward to today. There are people who call themselves sneakerheads who collect and trade sneakers. Often you will find them standing in line at stores to be the first to get the new designs. Sneakerheads can be found around the world. In some places like south Africa sneakers have even been used to make political statements.

"Shoes are boring. Wear Sneakers." -2021 Converse Ad Campaign

This is a fun book. I enjoyed it very much. I'm even smiling as I type this review. Check it out!

-Anne

Children's Nonfiction Book Reviews -- with help from a six-year-old

I asked my grandson, Ian, to help me review the following children's nonfiction books...

Meet the Bears: An Around the World Adventure by Kate Peridot and Becca Hall

Webeck Children's Publishing, London. 2023.

With the use of darling illustrations readers learn that there are eight different types of bears and they live all over the world. For each bear type we learn about their habitat and range, favorite foods, if they hibernate or not, and unique characteristics. Neither Ian nor I knew that grizzly bears are part of a broader group known as brown bears, and this group is the largest of all bear groups. Black bears are the most common bears near where we live, an also the naughtiest, often getting into trouble because they will get into human food, if the food isn't secured properly. Pandas, at least the black and white kind, are bears. I thought I'd learned that they aren't really bears, but they are. Red Pandas, however, are not bears, even though they have a similar name. Neither are koalas. Bears only hibernate if their range is cold in the winter, so many bears do not hibernate. Another new fact to both of us.

We both liked everything about this book, especially the map of the world with color-coded bears on it, showing up each of the bear's ranges.

Piece by Piece: Ernestine's Gift for President Roosevelt by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, illustrated by Anna Lopez Real

Millbrook Press, Minneapolis. 2023.

Back in 1929 the Great Depression destroyed the American economy. Ernestine Guerrero and her family were able to survive because of breadlines where families queued up to receive hot food or receive a box full of groceries. Ernestine was so grateful to the government for this live-sustaining food she wanted to give the President a gift. Without money to buy a gift, she decided to make something. From the grocery boxes she cut our shapes with the wood to create an elaborate clock case, called The Chimes of Normandy. It took Ernestine two years to make the clock case, since she had to teach herself the wood-working skills as she progressed. When it was finished in 1937 she mailed it off to the President with a handwritten note to let him know that the New Deal was working. The Chimes of Normandy clock case traveled one more time, to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park. Every year millions of people can still admire Ernestine's handiwork and handwritten note of thanks.

Ian was less impressed by this book. The illustrations are good but there is a lot of text and he wasn't as interested in it compared to a book about bears.

What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? And Other Questions About Mothers and Butterflies by Rachel Ignotofsky

Crown Books for Young Readers, New York. 2023.

Oh boy. Here is a book right up Ian's alley. Author and artist Rachel Ignotofsky, author of Women in Science hit the ball out of the park with this one. Ian and could have looked at the illustrations and talked about everything we were learning about butterflies and moths for hours. The art is so engaging.

Several times in my life I have visited butterfly farms and learned "all about" the stages the insect goes through to become the winged beauty we all love.

Other times I have witnessed the differences between butterflies and moths, most notably how they fold their wings when resting.

So with all this prior knowledge and experience one would think there wasn't much I could learn from a children's book on the topic. You'd be wrong if you guessed that. I learned so much from this book. So did Ian.

When I asked him which of the three books he liked the best he pointed to What's Inside Caterpillar Cocoon? When I asked him why, he told me he learned so much from it. He made a point of telling me that he likes bears better than butterflies and moths, but he learned more from this book.

Below is a page to give you an idea what I am talking about when it comes to the illustrations and information:

I highly recommend you look for this book at your public library. If they don't own a copy of it, ask them to buy one! Then get it into the hands of all those budding scientists you know like Ian.

 

 -Anne

Middle Grade Nonfiction Review: STARS OF THE NIGHT

Title: Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport by Caren Stelson, illustrated by Selino Alko

Book Beginning:

Friday56 (near the end of the unpaged book):

Summary: On December 1, 1938 the first Operation Kindertransport took place, transporting 196 Jewish children from Berlin to Harwich, England. The next day Nicholas Winton gets involved, helping create a British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. Over the next year he scrambles to make spaces for as many Jewish Czech children as he can aboard a transport to Britain. In total he helps save 669 children. When WWII started the transports ended and Winton does not stay in touch with any of the children, in fact, he serves in the Royal Air Force. Fifty years later, in 1988, his wife finds a scrapbook in their attic. Inside is a list of the children's names, photos, letters from parents, and other documents -- everything Winton had about the Czech Kindertransports. Later that year he is invited to meet with his "children." They've been wondering who saved them all those years before.

Review: The phrase "stars of the Night" were words spoken by their mothers before the children left home: "There will be times when you feel lonely and homesick. Let the stars of the night and the sun of the day be the messenger of our thoughts and love."

Nicholas Winton's Kindertransport story is not only a story of history but also one that inspire us to action today. May his courage and forethought inspire all of us to make a difference in children's lives. To save one life can help save the world.

I was really touched by this account of the kindertransport and the brave man who saved so many lives but I was flummoxed by the way the publishers chose to present the information in a children's-style book with lots of illustrations. The topic is one for middle or high school students, but the format is appealing to young children. There seems to be a mismatch here.

I did love the book, though, and it is worth the time to search for it at your library.

-Anne