Charles and Emma: the Darwins' Leap of Faith

Heiligman, Deborah. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. Henry Holt and Company, 2009. 268 pages, $18.95 ISBN: 9780805087215 (trade)

Plot Summary:

Heiligman opens her biography of the influential British scientist, Charles Darwin, right after his return to England after his five year voyage on the HMS Beagle.  Upon returning home Darwin decides his life is missing the love of a wife and a family and at age 30 he married his cousin Emma Wedgewood.  Over the course of their marriage the couple had ten children, seven that lived to see adulthood.  Darwin respected Emma immensely and even though they never did agree on religious issues, Darwin being an atheist and Emma a devote Christian.  Both Emma and Darwin were extremely well read and intelligent.  Emma acted as Darwin’s editor, helping his to strengthen his arguments and refine his research.  With Emma’s help, Darwin spent 20 years perfecting his best known work On the Origin of Species. 

Critical Review:

I was touched by the relationship between Charles and Emma.  Theirs was truly a marriage based on love and respect.  While Emma feared for her husband’s soul, she was never anything but supportive of his career and his research.  They never lost the romance of their marriage continuing to write each other love letters long after they were married.  Heiligman’s biography is a winner for those who love science and for teens who are looking for a beautiful love story. 

Genre:

Nonfiction-biography

Interest Level:

Grades 7 and up

Subjects/Themes:

Evolution

Religion

Charles Darwin

Awards/Honors:

Michael L. Printz Honor 2010

National Book Award finalist 2009

YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-fiction 2010

Junior Library Guild Selection

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2010

Author’s Website:

http://www.deborahheiligman.com/index.html

Annotation:

Charles and Emma is the story about the marriage between pioneering scientist Charles Darwin and his devotedly Christian wife Emma. 

Anya's Ghost

Brosgol, Vera. Anya’s Ghost. First Second, 2011. 221 pages, $19.99 ISBN: 9780316056212 (trade) 

Plot Summary:

Walking to school one day Anya stumbles into an open pit, where she encounters the remains and the ghost of the last person to fall down the pit.  Lucky for Anya she is rescued, but the ghost hitches a ride when one of her bones ends up in Anya’s bag.  Initially Anya is annoyed by the ghosts hitchhiking, but when she helps Anya cheat on her test and impresses Anya’s crush, Anya changes her mind about having the ghost around.  That is until the ghost starts getting demanding and Anya discovers the true nature of her dead friend and how she really died.  

Critical Review:

Brosgol’s first book is a stunning graphic novel.  Anya is a funny and clever narrator struggling with fitting in without betraying her Russian and Jewish heritage.  Like many teens Anya feels like an outsider and yearns to fit in and be accepted by her classmates.  Brosgol’s graphic style of drawing is similar to the style of artist and writer Marjane Satrapi. 

Genre:

Graphic Novel

Fantasy

Multicultural

Interest Level:

Grades 7 and up

Similar Books:

Persepolis Marjane Satrapi

Subjects/Themes:

Ghosts

Teenage girls

High School

Judaism

Awards/Honors:

ALA Notable Children’s Books 2012

Cybil Award 2011

School Library Journal Best Books 2011

YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2012

YALSA Top 10 Graphic Novels for Teens 2012

Author’s Website:

http://verabee.com/

Annotation:

After falling down an old well Anya meets a ghost who returns home with her and becomes her new friend. 

Ghostopolis

TenNapel, Doug. Ghostopolis. Scholastic, 2010. 262 pages, $24.99 ISBN: 9780545210270 (trade)

Plot Summary:

TenNapel’s graphic novel revolves around Garth, a terminally ill teen who is accidentally sent to the afterlife by affable ghost hunter Frank Gallows.  Determined to rescue Garth, Frank enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and ghost Claire Voyent to help him travel to the afterlife.  Meanwhile, Garth finds himself in a strange land with only a ghost horse named Skinny as a friend until he runs into someone who knows him, his grandfather.  With the help of Skinny and his grandfather Garth makes it to the capitol of Ghostopolis, where he meets up with Frank and Claire who have recently landed in the afterlife.  Unbeknownst to Garth, the ruler of Ghostopolis, Vaugner sees the living boy as a threat and enlists his minions to capture him and his accomplices.  In order to return home Garth must defeat the evil Vaugner and restore peace to the afterlife. 

Critical Review:

Doug TenNapel has created a classic hero tale in his boldly illustrated graphic novel Ghostopolis.  Garth’s sudden appearance in the afterlife and his mission to defeat the evil overlord and bring peace coincides with the classic hero archetype.  TenNapel’s characters are well developed and his illustrations are bright and beautifully colored.  Ghostopolis is an edgy, fast paced, tongue in cheek tale that will leave readers wanting more. 

Genre:

Graphic Novel

Fantasy

Adventure

Interest Level:

Grades 9 and up

Similar Books:

Anya’s Ghost Vera Brosgol

Subjects/Themes:

Death/dying

Tyranny

Author’s Website:

http://tennapel.com/

Annotation:

Ghostopolis is an edgy graphic novel in which teen Garth must defeat the evil overlord of the afterlife and bring peace to Ghostopolis. 

Getting Away With Murder: the True Story of the Emmett Till Case

Crowe, Chris. Getting Away With Murder: the True Story of the Emmett Till Case.  Phyllis Fogelman Books, New York: 2003. 128 pages. Tr. $18.99 ISBN 0803728042

Annotation

Getting Away with Murder is the story of murder of 14 year old Emmett Till and the subsequent acquittal of the murderers and how this trial helped launch the civil rights movement.

Review

Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy visiting Mississippi from Chicago in the summer of 1955.  It was while visiting family that this young boy was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night, tortured, and horrendously murdered by two white men for whistling at a white lady.  Till’s horrifying murder and the photograph of his bloated and beaten body in Jet magazine, outraged the African American community and sparked the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.  What is most unfortunate about Emmett’s murder is that it is often left out of American history texts.  Till’s story is important because it reminds us of injustice and racism that once existed in this country and why it is important to stand up to bullies and fight for what is honorable and right. 

Awards/Honors

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2004

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Acknowledgments, Time Line, Bibliography, Additional Resources

Author’s Website

http://www.chriscrowe.com/

Hole in My Life

 

Gantos, Jack. Hole in my Life.  Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York: 2002. 200 pages. Tr. $16.00 ISBN 9780374399883

Annotation

In Hole n My Life, Newberry Award winning author Jack Gantos recounts his youth when he was arrested for smuggling drugs from the Virgin Island into the United States and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Review

In his autobiographical book, Hole in My Life, author Jack Gantos bravely and honestly tells the story of his experience on the wrong side of the law, when he was arrested for conspiring to smuggle 2,000 pounds of hash from St. Croix to New York.  Gantos makes no excuses or apologies for his action, but fully owns up to his mistake.  Gantos sense of invincibility as a young man will resonate with many teens, but hopefully reading his story will cause other teens to think twice before making similar mistakes.  Despite being caught and being sentenced to six years in prison, Gantos was actually lucky.  He quickly earned a position working in the jail hospital, which came with his own cell, away from the dangers of the dorm with the other prisoners where he risked being beaten, stabbed, or raped.  Gantos also counts himself lucky because it was in prison that he finally realized his dream to become a writer and gained the motivation to make his dream a reality. 

Awards/Honors

ALSC Notable Book 2003

Printz Honor Book 2003

Sibert Honor Book 2003

Front and Back Matter

None

Author’s Website

http://www.jackgantos.com/

Phineas Gage: a Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

Fleischman, John. Phineas Gage: a Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science.  Houghton Mifflin Company, New York: 2002. 86 pages. Tr. $216.00 ISBN 0618052526

Annotation

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science is the incredibly story of Gage, a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 1848 and miraculously survived. 

Review

In 1848 Phineas Gage worked as a railroad foreman in Vermont and on September 13^th his life changed forever when a tamping iron shot through his head.  A tamping iron is a 3 foot 7 inch iron rod used for packing gunpowder.  In a horrifying accident the tamping iron shot through Gages cheek and out through his frontal lobe, literally leaving Gage with a hole in his head.  It is incredibly that he survives this injury, but that he is able to walk and talk directly after.  To all appearances Gage recovers from his trauma, but upon closer examination Gages personality is completely changed.  This is because every part of the brain controls a specific function in our body, but in 1848 doctors did not know this and even today scientists still do not know what every part of the brain does.  Gage is no longer the man he was before his accident, but he is still able to maintain a fairly normal life for the next 12 years until the brain damage he suffered early finally catches up with him and he passes away in 1860 in California.  However, Gage did not die in vain, his accident and case greatly helped doctors and scientists of the time to better understand the brain and it’s different functions.

Awards/Honors

ALSC Notable Book 2003

Orbis Pictus Honor Book 2003

Front and Back Matter

Acknowledgements, Glossary, Resources, Index

Author’s Website

No website

Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado

Aronson, Marc. Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado.  Clarion Books, New York: 2000. 222 pages. Tr. $20.00 ISBN 039584827x

Annotation

Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado is a well researched biography of a man few Americans know of beyond his failed attempt to colonize the island of Roanoke off the coast of Virginia.

Review

Most of us know Walter Ralegh simply as the explorer who set up the doomed Roanoke colony off the coast of Virginia.  But Roanoke was only a footnote in Ralegh’s life of adventure on the high seas.  Ralegh was born a commoner, but quickly made a name for himself as a fearless soldier and moved up in the court of Queen Elizabeth.  It was not long before Ralegh was considered one of the Queen’s favorites and she rewarded him with wealth and position.  Ralegh was an adventurer at heart and he longed to find fame and fortune in the new world, but his position at court allowed him few opportunities to explore himself, so he was forced to settle on backing enterprises to the new world.  Ralegh finally was given the opportunity to launch an exploration to the mythical El Dorado after falling out of favor with the queen.  Ralegh believed he would find the mythical city of gold and regain favor in Elizabeth’s eyes.  Instead of locating El Dorado, Ralegh witnessed a beautiful and untamed land and realized that this was a place that Europeans were doomed to destroy.  Unlike many explorers of his time, Ralegh did not see the rainforests of South America as a place to conquer and tame, but as a Garden of Eden, which should remain pure and untouched by humans.  This did not stop Ralegh from launching yet another adventure to find El Dorado after Elizabeth’s death.  This time Ralegh hoped to gain favor with the newly crowned King James, but instead Ralegh’s mission failed and led to his trial for treason against the king and eventual execution.    

Awards/Honors

ALSC Notable Book 2001

Sibert Medal Winner 2001

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Acknowledgments, Note to Readers, Map of Voyages to the New World, Cast of Characters, Endnotes and Bibliography, Time Line, Index

Author’s Website

http://www.marcaronson.com/