I’ve read some great historical fiction recently, ranging from 1840’s Ireland to 1950’s New Jersey.    First up is the Children of the Famine trilogy by Marita Conlon-McKenna.  This juvenile fiction series follows 3 Irish children, orphaned in the Great Famine, as they search for a new home and a place to belong.  It would be interesting to compare with Nory Ryan’s Song.

Moving to the 1870’s and Idaho Territory.  In Jenny of the Tetons, Carrie is orphaned by an Indian attack as her family makes its way to Oregon.  With no where else to go, Carrie makes her home with Beaver Dick, a trapper and his Shoshoni wife, Jenny.  Beaver Dick and Jenny are based on real people, and each chapter begins with an excerpt from Beaver Dick’s journal.

Private Peaceful is the battlefield reflections of a 16 year old private in the British army.  The tension builds with each chapter as a crucial night comes to an end.  An excellent choice for middle school boys.

And finally, we have Newbery Honor winning Penny from Heaven.  11 year old Penny lives with her mother and her mother’s parents.  While her life with her mother’s family is quiet and controlled, it is her dead father’s family that provides noise and excitement.  During one eventful summer, Penny discovers the secrets behind her father’s death, and brings both sides of her family together.

These books are the first two in the Chaos Walking series.  Todd lives in Prentisstown, a town that is full of noisy men, men who can hear each other’s every thought.  But even though each thought is public, secrets are still being kept.  Todd discovers a mysterious girl and suddenly must run for his life, away from everything he thought was true.

Some things I loved about these books: The combination of sci-fi (they take place on another planet) with the dystopic society; the growth that Todd shows from a boy to a man; the hard questions the characters face about the use of violence; the complex, lying “bad guy” (who reminds me of Ben from Lost); the relationship between Todd and his arch-enemy Davy; and the fine lines the characters walk between good and evil.  Even though this is a young adult series, the questions the characters must wrestle with are difficult ones that people of all ages will have to answer.

These aren’t happy books.  They are quite violent and there’s a lot of death.  If you’re looking for a happy read, or a story that wraps up at the end of the book, these aren’t for you.

The stack of books on my desk, waiting to be reviewed, is insurmountable.  I will never get to them all.  So for the sake of time, I need to do a combo post.  Here are the books I’ve been reading the past few weeks.  Most of them have been fantastic:

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf–Two young girls are missing in the woods.  Told through multiple perspectives, the families work to find their girls, and one of the girls, Callie, works to regain her voice.  I had a hard time putting this one down.

Day After Night by Anita Diamant–A fictional account of the October 1945 rescue of Jewish detainees from the Atlit internment camp in Israel.  A grim reminder that the plight of the Jews didn’t end with the surrender of Germany.

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam–The autobiographical account of Somaly Mam, who was sold into prostitution in Cambodia as a young girl, was able to escape, and returned to help other girls.  An amazing and heartbreaking story that continues today.

While I’m Falling by Laura Moriarty–A college student and her mom try to figure life out.  I love the way Moriarty writes about mother-daughter relationships.

Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone–A fictional account of Samuel Collier, page to Captain John Smith and his journey to Jamestown.  I read this after having visited Jamestown Settlement.  The book brings the familiar story to life.

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick–I can’t believe I didn’t discover this book earlier!  A love of reading and writing saves a dystopic civilization.  Great book.

Lost and Found by Andrew Clements–Twin brothers take turns going to school, and in the process, discover who they are as individuals.  Not my favorite by Clements, but well done nonetheless.

Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan–One of the most amazing adventure stories I’ve ever read, based on the real journey made by Ernest Shackleton and his crew as they attempted to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914.  Highly recommended.

Orphaned by the brutal murder of her parents,  Princess Ben, the only heir to the throne,  is confined to the castle by Queen Sophia.  Ben misses her parents and chafes under the restrictive and controlling queen.  When she discovers a secret tower full of magic, Ben begins learning the secret and long-forgotten magical arts.  At first, this is just a diversion, but when her country’s sovereignty is threatened, Ben must put her new powers to work and defend her country.

There were many things that delighted me about this book, one being the clever allusions to numerous fairy tales woven neatly into the plot.  But more than that, even though this book was full of witches, magic and dragons, it had a very “real” sense about it.  Princess Ben was a very real character.  No slender, beautiful, graceful princesses here!  Ben is overweight, sometimes sullen, selfish and lazy.  Because of that, she’s a character that you can relate to and love.  Ben’s search for true love is real, and even her use of magic is tempered with a good bit of common sense!  Ben’s parents were also very real, and instead of being demonized (as so many Young Adult books tend to do) they are celebrated.  My favorite quote comes right at the end:

…I dedicate this work to her memory as well as that of my parents, for however we might criticize those who rear us, the fact that we survive at all into adulthood, however late that passage comes, is testament enough to their ability and perseverance.  p. 344

A fictionalized account of the Sager children’s journey on the Oregon Trail.  When their parents both die on the trail, John, the eldest, must assume the care of his 6 siblings, one just a newborn baby.  Determined both to keep his family together, and to reach Oregon, John grows from a sullen, irresponsible boy to a hardworking, determined young man as he works to care for his family and fulfill his father’s dream.

The story of the Sager children is an incredible one.  I’d love to learn more about the true story of these children.  One of the Sager children, Mathilda, wrote an account of their journey to Oregon and their subsequent involvement in the Whitman massacre.  The book can be read online.

The thing I enjoyed most about Morrow’s story was the gentle, all-knowing narrator tone which she adopted.  Parts of the book could be quite overwhelming to children–the death of parents, attacks, starvation, loneliness, etc.  Morrow’s gentle narration makes it seem as if the children weren’t quite so alone.

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