Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The graphic novel memoir Stitches by David Small (W.W. Norton, 2009) haunts the reader with stories from David’s troubled childhood in stark black, white, and gray illustrations. David’s childhood seems oppressive, and the variety of perspectives that David uses to show the seas of faces around him gives an added feel of overwhelm that correlates
Solito by Javier Zamora (Hogarth, 2022) is the stark memoir of the adventure of one nine-year-old as he traveled from his small town in El Salvador to join his parents in the U.S. in 1999. During his ordeal, Javier was abandoned by his “coyote” (the paid smuggler). He wasn’t truly alone (or, solito) as he
If there is any president of the United States that I have both disgust and intrigue for, it is Andrew Jackson, the southern president who completely changed the face of the presidency from upper class elite to “man of the people.” A president who approved and carried out the first of many Native American relocations
The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination by Barry Strauss (Simon & Schuster, March 2015) examines the traditions of the assassination of Julius Caesar, clearing up the myths (such as Shakespeare’s play) from reality. Analyzing such a historic event from 44 B.C. is not easy since eyewitness accounts are few and far
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie was a book that read on a whim. I was testing out my new phone and wondered how well the OverDrive app would sync with the app on my tablet. To test it, I downloaded Catherine the Great from my local library and started to
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafsai (Little, Brown and Company, 2013) is a powerful story of a girl’s courage to stand up against wrong and demand an education in the Taliban-controlled regions of Pakistan. The work done by Malala, who still is a teenager, is so remarkable that she became the youngest receipt of the Nobel Peace
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir by Michael Hicks (University of Illinois Press, March 2015) is a biography of the choir itself. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’ve grown up with the choir: songs during the biannual general conferences, recordings in my home. Because of my background, I was interested
You know how sometimes a book reaches you at just the right time? Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl was truly just what I needed this Thanksgiving season. It’s a memoir of growing up but it is also about food in all the little events that make up a childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
I Walked to Zion by Susan Arrington Madsen (Deseret Book, 1994) is a delightful collection of first person accounts of Mormon pioneers who traveled across the American Great Plains to Utah from the late 1840s to 1860s. Although the volume is probably intended for adults to read, the engaging and interesting stories of the pioneers have such
The stories of Elizabeth Smart and Stephanie Nielson are not that similar. Yes, both had a hard year that they wrote about in a memoir, and both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). But there the similarities end. Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her bed at knifepoint as a
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a biography of the 1936 Olympic mile-runner Louis Zamperini. Zamperini came in seventh place that year, so he was not the winner in that respect. But his subsequent story is incredible and inspiring. After being drafted into the Air Force during World War II, Zamperini served as a bombardier in
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by John Meacham (Random House, 2012). This fantastic look at Thomas Jefferson was a nice complement to the biography of John Adams I read a few years ago (by David McCullough). I find those two founding fathers absolutely fascinating. I was very interested in Thomas Jefferson. He was a private
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