Book Review: Sarah and Me and the Lady by the Sea by Patricia Beatty

The Abbott family are “summer people” at Ocean Park on the Washington Island Peninsula. Wealthy and accustomed to summering at the seashore, they employ a “girl” and generally keep themselves separate from the local population on the Peninsula. At home in Portland, Oregon, they have horses and carriages, important friends, fine silk dresses, a pet pony, and all the comforts a wealthy dry goods business can provide. Mama was raised in a wealthy family, and her only training in life was to become the wife of a wealthy businessman. When the floods of 1894 bankrupt Papa’s business, the Abbotts are unprepared for their new way of life. In Sarah and Me and the Lady From the Sea, Patricia Beatty has written a lovely story about a family learning how to take care of themselves and each other. Read More: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/sarah-and-me-and-the-lady-by-the-sea/

Book Review: B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood

I have a sweet young patron who is an independent reader but who just isn’t interested in many traditional chapter books yet. Her mother and I have been trying a variety of books to see if one will capture her imagination and help her find her inner bookworm. We have tried a wide variety of subjects, authors, and styles. We have found that she does enjoy Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books, but for reasons that are particular to the family, these books are not a great fit for their home. So, I went looking for similar alternatives. Read More: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/b-is-for-betsy/

Book Review: Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West

"This is a touching, but well-balanced story of Velma’s crusade for the wild horses." Velma becomes known as Wild Horse Annie. 

Book Review: A Long Road on a Short Day

     “Early on a white January morning, Samuel’s mother said, ‘I do wish we had a brown-eyed cow to give us milk for the baby.’”
     So Papa sets out to get Mama a cow, and Samuel goes with him. “‘Keep up,’ said Samuel’s father. He looked up at the gray clouds. ‘It’s a long road on a short day.’” Papa takes his best Barlow knife with him, but he doesn’t explain to Samuel how he plans to get a cow. He shows him. 
     At the first farm they come to, Papa trades his knife to Mr. Snow for two tin lanterns. It’s a good trade for the knife, but as Samuel plays with Mr. Snow’s dog, he wishes, “just a little bit, it wasn’t a brown-eyed cow his mother was wanting.”

Book Review: A Little More Beautiful by Sarah MacKenzie and Breezy Brookshire

Lou Alice is a kind soul who loves to cultivate beauty wherever she goes. But, Lou Alice is getting older, and it is hard for her to live on her own anymore. A “little girl,” who watches Lou Alice as she goes about her work is the only one who notices when Lou Alice moves out of her home and stops tending to the gardens she planted everywhere around town. The “little girl” notices the loss of Lou Alice and decides to do something about it. 
https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/a-little-more-beautiful/ 

Book Review: A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This 2015 middle-grade novel by Jennifer A. Nielsen tells the story of a family divided by the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. It is the second historical fiction novel by Nielsen that I have read, and I am glad to have this one in my lending library. It moves at a different pace than that of Words on Fire and is less exciting, but it offers readers young and old a compelling tale of life inside the wall. Nielsen does an excellent job of helping us to understand why so few tried to escape East Germany – because of the danger, because of retribution to the loved ones who stayed behind, and because of uncertainty that the West was really any better. But the realities of life inside the wall are chilling.  Read the full review here: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/a-night-divided/ 

Book Review: Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

"In nearly every review Sara and I have written for Gary D. Schmidt’s books, we have used the word hard to describe the situations his characters encounter. Orbiting Jupiter takes hard to a new level. 
*** I am going to SPOIL this story because parents will want to know the themes dealt with in this book before handing it to a child of the age of Schmidt’s typical audience. ***

Book Review: So Tall Within by Gary D. Schmidt

Schmidt seemingly effortlessly switches in and out of the voices of his characters without missing a beat. Whether he is writing the thoughts and language of a twelve-year-old boy in the American 1960s, or the complaints of a German Jew running from the Nazis, or the self-assured confidence of a Black American girl of the early 1900s, each character sounds authentic and beautifully right. Just as importantly, Schmidt never loses his ability to convey complex and powerful ideas through the vernacular of his protagonists. 
Knowing that full well, I was surprised nonetheless by his incredible voice change in the hauntingly beautiful picture book biography of Sojourner Truth, So Tall Within. This gripping story reads like epic poetry told through the voice of a Black American slave. He demands that we see her strength and her courage through her commanding voice and the undulating rhythm with which the story is told. 
https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/so-tall-within/

Book Review: Mara’s Stories by Gary D. Schmidt

I was worried about this one. I was worried that this book would break my heart with grief. I was worried that Schmidt might finally disappoint me and somehow tell this story badly. I was worried that this would fall flat. For some reason, I wanted to love Mara’s Stories. Something in me wanted this book to be powerful and touching and inspiring and good. And, it is. Schmidt did bruise my heart, but he did not disappoint me, and it did not fall flat. 
This small book has 121 pages of stories that were told in and about the concentration camps. Stories that capture the heart and imagination of the listener. Stories that show a kind of resistance to darkness, a fierce clinging to all that makes us human, and a celebration of life. Gary D. Schmidt did extensive research on primary sources from folklorists, Jewish religious scholars, and Holocaust survivors. Some of the stories are happy and some are sad. Some are historical or biblical and some are about the moment right then. But each captures the essence of the people in that time and that place. And each reminds us of how to live – even when we are in the darkest night of our soul. 
https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/marasstories/

Book Review: Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt

Henry’s father always said, “If you build your house far away from trouble, trouble will never find you.” Probably nearly every review of this book will open with that line. Trademark Gary D. Schmidt, Trouble has a tagline that is repeated again and again throughout the book and that quote is the tagline for this book. But, of all of Schmidt’s books that I have read, that one is the best. It fits the story perfectly, and it is an interesting line to ponder. What does it mean to build your house far from trouble? Is it good to have no trouble? Can you really hide from trouble?Read the full review here: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/trouble/