Erik’s parents deploy to Iraq, leaving him to go live with his Oma and Big Darrell on the prairies of North Dakota. Angry, lonely and feeling unwanted, Erik rescues a dog, names him Quill and claims the dog as his own. When the dog’s owner turns up, Erik takes to the prairie, confident that he and Quill together can make a life for themselves on the prairie.

Middle grade readers, both boys and girls, will love this book. Erik’s independence, his love for Quill and his journey on the prairie will fuel the imaginations of young readers. What I liked about the book is that in the end, Erik discovers that there is more to the adults in his life than he first realized. His parents and grandparents aren’t just labelled as “the bad guys” and kept that way. Erik is allowed to get to know them and appreciate them for who they are. This is a similar, but easier to read, tale to My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, one of my personal classics.

This thin volume, based on a true story, is powerful and intense.   Park tells the true story of two children from Sudan.  Salva is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  He flees his hometown in 1985 and begins a journey that will last over 11 years and take him ultimately to America.  Nya lives in modern Sudan.  Her days are filled with one task–walking to get water.  She spends 8 hours a day walking, making 2 round trips each day to fill up her family’s water jugs.  Alternating between Salva’s and Nya’s stories, Park tells how hope came to one Sudanese village through the perseverance and courage of one young boy and the many who helped him on his journey.

I won’t spend a lot of time reviewing a book that has been reviewed thousands of times already.  But here are a few thoughts:

• I’m sad that this series is done.  Start to finish, I absolutely loved it.  I even held onto this book for a day before I started reading it–how silly is that?  But part of me didn’t want to start it, because I didn’t want it to be done.
• This final book felt more rushed to me than the previous two.  Collins did a lot of filling in the gaps, especially in the first half of the book.  While it was all necessary information, the book had fewer action sequences, less suspense and more history.
• Collins still managed to surprise me at the end.
• I think Katniss ended up with the wrong guy.
• I love Katniss’ character–she’s strong, she’s smart, she thinks through her actions, she accepts the consequences for her actions, she loves her family, she fights for what’s important.
• And overall?  One of my favorite series ever.

This was one of the best history books I’ve ever read.  I learned so much about a time period that is often reduced by history textbooks to a summary of The New Deal and the beginning of WWII.  American History classes should use this book!  Egan interviewed people who lived through the Dust Bowl, and combined their stories with historical records to recount 40 years of history on the American Plains.

Did you know that during the great dust storms, the skies would rain mud?

Did you know that babies, children and even adults died from lung diseases brought on by dust?

Did you know that the dust storms blew dirt from the plains all the way to Washington DC and out into the Atlantic?

Did you know that the dust storms could have been prevented?

Ernest Shackleton’s quest to cross Antarctica could not be completed by the Endurance crew alone.  The Ross Sea party, led by Captain Mackintosh, were tasked with depositing supplies for Shackleton to pick up on the other side of the South Pole.  Without these supply depots, Shackleton and his men would starve to death half-way through their journey.

While the Endurance and her crew were beset in ice, Mackintosh and his men were facing their own life and death struggle.  They were separated from their ship and supplies and stranded on the Ross Ice Shelf.  Knowing that Shackleton’s life was in their hands, they refused to give up, and at great sacrifice to their own health and lives, managed to deposit all of the supplies that Shackleton would have needed, had he been able to begin his cross-continent journey.

Once again, I am overwhelmed by the strength, devotion and sheer determination that these men showed in the face of such a great challenge.  It’s haunting to think that their supply depots, laid at such great cost, were never used, and remain encased in ice and snow to this very day.

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