Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (published 1926) introduces the Duke of Avon as a cold-hearted and ruthless man, so why does he purchase the young urchin that runs into him in the road one day? Although he is known as “Satanas” to those around him, the young urchin quickly become the duke’s devoted page,
Candace Fleming’s The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets and Helped Win World War II (Scholastic Focus, 2024) is well worth the buzz that has been spreading about it. Although labeled a young adult nonfiction book, The Enigma Girls will interest anyone interested in the intellectual challenges to defeating Germany during World
What was Anne Frank like before she started her famous diary? How did she get along with her sister, her mother, and the changing world around her? When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary by Alice Hoffman (Scholastic, 2024) is intended to give us a glimpse into this real girl
The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Stories by Ella Young (published 1929) records the traditional Irish Fionna saga, which features the story of Fionn (pronounced “Finn”), a young son of a clan chief in ancient Ireland. In the forward, the author notes that this is one of the oldest sagas from Gaelic people, and yet so
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (published 1928) is an historical fiction novel featuring tradition, treasure, and alchemy in medieval Krakow. The Charnetski family has fled Ukraine after bandits robbed and burned their estate, and they arrive in Poland with nothing but a pumpkin in their cart. Joeseph, the young teenage son, is
In Tod of the Fens (published 1928), author Elinor Whitney creates a story connecting a group of men living in the low-lying fens of Lancashire, England with the happenings in the neighboring medieval town of Boston (see information on Wikipedia about Boston, England). With a distinct Robin Hood feel, the novel’s men in the fens
I’m a sucker for a good time travel story, so the third middle grade novel in the Mystwick School of Musicraft series, The Dark Refrain by Jessica Khoury (audiobook by Audible Originals, 2024), was definitely one I enjoyed. In this volume, Amelia Jones finds out that her grade is taking a one-month field trip to
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (illustrated by Shawn Harris; Chronicle Books, 2017) is a second-person picture book about the Statue of Liberty. As the title indicates, it focuses on the right foot of the statue, a foot that shows motion! As a whole, the book tells the history of the sculpture, from the idea
The Weight of Vengeance : The United States, the British Empire, and The War of 1812 by Troy Bickham (Oxford University Press, 2017) is a scholarly look at the “forgotten war.” Throughout my life, I have known very little about the War of 1812, so I was eager to learn more about this war that
The Wonder Smith and His Son by Ella Young (published 1927) tells traditional Irish tales about the Gubban Saor, a magical builder (spelled elsewhere on the web as Gobán Saor). I had not been familiar with this traditional character from Irish history, so these stories were all new to me! They were quite strange. Unlike
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Van Loon (published 1921) was awarded the first Newbery Medal in 1922, an award intended to celebrate the “the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children” that had been published in the previous year. As a volume that hoped to portray history with a conversational style, Van Loon
The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day (Random House, September 2023) is a nonfiction middle grade story about the famous Mona Lisa. With alternating chapters telling the stories of the painting’s creation and its 1911 theft, The Mona Lisa Vanishes manages to capture the attention of a young reader with a friendly and humorous tone,
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