First read this article by Rebecca Black, from The Plough Quarterly magazine: Return to Appalachia, Why two young women went Ohio to teach children art in a barn.
What do you think: does art have anything to do with Christianity and with giving young people life and hope? If so, what is the relationship between art and truth and hope?
I knew that sometime in the nineteenth century someone figured out that disease and germs were transferred to well patients by the dirty, contaminated hands of doctors and nurses and that medical personnel needed to wash their hands before examining a patient. But I didn’t know until I read this biography of the Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, that it was he who researched, discovered, and popularized this simple but revolutionary practice, saving thousands of lives in his own practice, and perhaps even millions through the next two centuries. (Interesting sidenote: In the United States, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes also independently discovered and wrote a paper on the efficacy of hand-washing and general hygiene in preventing the occurrence of puerperal fever, but no one believed him any more than they did Semmelweis at first.)
Central European history is a part of this Messner biography (published by Julian Messner publishers mostly in the 1940’s through the 1960’s), as Dr. Semmelweis was born (1818) into the Austro-Hungarian Empire and as an adult took part in unsuccessful efforts to free Hungary from the empire. But the emphasis is on Semmelweis himself and his part in making medical history. The biography doesn’t idealize Semmelweis; his flaws and mental health issues are evident, but not overly emphasized either. Semmelweis was obsessed with what he called his Lehre, his protocol for cleanliness that would keep women during and after childbirth from contracting the deadly puerperal fever. This infection killed up to a third of the women giving birth in hospitals because doctors were unknowingly carrying infection from the autopsy room directly to the maternity ward and because of dirty bed linens and open toilets in the middle of wards.
The biography itself is compelling and highly readable as are all of the Messner biographies I have read. The author takes Dr. Semmelweis from his young adulthood in Hungary, through his medical studies in Vienna, and back to Hungary where he practiced medicine, implemented his Lehre in Hungarian hospitals, and eventually succumbed to overwork, mental illness, and blood poisoning (ironically contracted from a lapse in the care that he usually took to wash and oil his hands before handling cadavers) and died at the age of forty-seven.
However, in spite of his comparatively short life, Dr. Semmelweis left a legacy of life and health to those who give birth or undergo surgery in hospitals. Author Josephine Rich ends her book with this tribute:
“It is almost one hundred years since his death, but the results of his work live on. Somewhere in the world, every minute of the day and night, a baby is born. It lives because a dedicated doctor spent all his lifetime tracking down a disease spread by filth and carelessness. Every mother today owes a debt of gratitude to Ignaz Semmelweis, the doctor who saved babies.”
And yet . . . from the CDC: “On average, healthcare providers clean their hands less than half of the times they should. On any given day, about one in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection.”
This NPR story about Dr. Semmelweis doesn’t agree in all its details with the biography I read, but it does give the basic information about Semmelweis and his Lehr and his struggle to implement it and get other doctors to do the same. If you’re at all interested in medical history or the particular life of Ignaz Semmelweis, I would urge you to track down the book. It’s fascinating. (I have a copy in my library.)
This list is a mixture of adult and children’s fiction that I read in 2018 (minus the 2018 middle grade fiction that I wrote about in two other posts). But a good children’s book is usually also a good book for adults, too.
Brendon Chase by B.B. Three brothers run away from home and hide for more than six months in a nearby woods, living off the land, and having adventures. Amazing, in the same vein as Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons.
This Dear-Bought Land by Jean Lee Latham. Historical fiction about Captain John Smith and the settlement of Jamestown.
The Axe (The Master of Hestviken, #1) by Sigrid Undset. Also by the same author, Kristin Lavransdatter. Undset is quite insightful about human nature and family and marriage dynamics, and because she inserts her insights into fiction set in medieval Scandinavia, the “lessons” are subtle and more easily internalized.
The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. Also by the same author and highly recommended, City of Tranquil Light.
The Stranger from the Sea (Poldark, #8) by Winston Graham. The series goes downhill from this one, but I still enjoyed finishing all of the books in Graham’s Poldark saga.
Little Britches (Father and I Were Ranchers) by Ralph Moody. The entire series by Ralph Moody about his boyhood and young adulthood adventures is so good. Read them all.
Pigeon Post (Swallows and Amazons, #6) by Arthur Ransome. More Swallows and Amazons.
Coot Club (Swallows and Amazons, #5) by Arthur Ransome. No Swallows. No Amazons. But good fun, nevertheless.
Winter Holiday (Swallows and Amazons, #4) by Arthur Ransome.
Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Willis. A very odd fantastical look at the interaction between past and present.
The Edge of Time by Louella Grace Erdman. I would definitely like to read more of Ms.Erdman’s writing this year, western-ish, mostly set in north Texas, but slowly unfolding and with the emphasis on characters rather than plot.
The Day the Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton. This one would pair well with The Edge of Time. It’s based on a real cowboy strike that took place in north Texas in 1883. So the time period and the setting are quite similar to Ms. Erdman’s book. The issues of farmers versus cowmen and settlement of a wild and lonely country are similar, too.
At Point Blank: A Suspense Novel by Virginia Stem Owen. Congregation, the sequel to this mystery series set in Texas near Houston, is good, too. I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series in 2019.
A steady stream of curst and outcast female protagonists in my middle grade speculative fiction reading gave rise to this post, Outcast and Cursed. Now, I’m seeing another trend, analogous but not quite so prominent: male lead characters who are fixated on horror, monsters, the supernatural, and the occult. These boys are also outcasts, known for their weird, freaky, loser status.
In Nightbooks by J.A. White, Alex Mosher decides to destroy all of his notebooks full of creepy, scary stories so that he can become like everyone else. Unfortunately, he’s intercepted by a witch on his way to the incinerator, and the stories become the only thing that might keep him alive.
The Haunted Serpent by Dora M. Mitchell presents Spaulding Meriwether, a formerly homeschooled sixth grader who doesn’t fit in at his new public school because he’s consumed with graveyards and ghosts and monsters.
Grump, in the book of the same name by Liesl Shurtliff, is obsessed with monsters, too, but in his case, the monsters are humans who live above ground, and Grump is a dwarf. Grump is fascinated by the stories people tell about the world above the dwarf caverns, and he’s shamefully afraid of going down into the depths of the underground mines. Grump is, of course, outcast and friendless among the dwarves—until he finds a few friends who will accept him as he is.
Tito Bonito (The Boy, the Bird, and the Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods) is half-orphaned and outcast, imprisoned by fear of his abusive father. His only friend is Alberto, the coffin-maker. So, this novel also is a story about death and shadows and fear and graveyards. The magical realism of the story serves as a ray of hope in this otherwise dark tale.
In The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, one of the main characters, Nico, is an outcast because his father has taken an unpopular stand in the small town where Nico lives. Nico is bullied, and he becomes consumed with the Darkdeep, a haunted pool of nightmares, that he and his friends (he does have a couple of friends) find and begin to explore. Definitely supernatural and monstrous, but not occultic.
Have you read any middle grade books in this sub-genre lately?
In honor and anticipation of Mr. Sandburg’s birthday, I started reading Abe Lincoln Grows Up a few days ago and finished it last night. It’s a different sort of biography, a poetic biography if you will.
“Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years was first published for Lincoln’s Birthday in 1926. Since then, it has become evident that the book lives for people of all ages, but the earlier chapters on Lincoln’s own childhood hold special interest for young readers. Abe Lincoln Grows Up is drawn from the first twenty-seven chapters of the original biography.” ~from the book jacket blurb
This “taken from and adult biography” aspect of the book accounts for its rich vocabulary, not dumbed down at all, and its sometimes smartly subject matter. Sandburg writes about all of the varied cultural facets of the frontier in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois where Abe Lincoln grew up, including drunkenness, brawling, death, disease, Indian wars, prejudice, and slavery. And he doesn’t really mince words, although the language is more poetic than graphic.
Maybe some examples, taken at random, would be helpful:
“Abe was the chore-boy of the Knob Creek farm as soon as he grew big enough to run errands, to hold a pine-knot at night lighting his father at a job, or to carry water, fill the woodbox, clean ashes from the fireplace, hoe weeds, pick berries, grapes, persimmons for beer-making. He hunted the timbers and came back with walnuts, hickory and hazel nuts. His hands knew the stinging blisters from using a hoe handle back and for a summer afternoon, and in autumn the mash of walnut-stain that wouldn’t wash off, with all the rinsing and scrubbing of Nancy Hank’s homemade soap.” p. 44.
“He wanted to learn, to know, to live, to reach out; he wanted to satisfy hungers and thirsts he couldn’t tell about, this big boy of the backwoods. And some of what he wanted so much, so deep down, seemed to be in the books. Maybe in books he would find the answers to dark questions pushing around in the pools of his thoughts and the drifts of his mind.” p. 135.
“At Anderson Creek ferry, he saw and talked with settlers, land buyers and sellers, traders, hunters, peddlers, preachers, gamblers, politicians, teachers, and men shut-mouthed about their business. Occasionally there came a customer who looked as if he might be one of the ‘half horse, half alligator men’ haunting the Ohio watercourse those years.” p. 148.
The book is illustrated by James Daugherty, and just as the prose won’t be to everyone’s taste, so the picture are in Daugherty’s style, dark, writhing, pen and ink, almost caricature. It’s not my favorite style, but Daugherty’s talent is evident.
I enjoyed the book, but I’m not sure how accessible it will be to the middle grade or even young adult readers it is meant to engage. The language and the stories that Sandburg tells, many of them handed down from witnesses who heard Lincoln himself tell them, are colloquial and somewhat out of context for the modern reader. Some are more immediate and comprehensible, like the stories of Lincoln’s generosity and his thirst for learning.
For a child who is particularly interested in Lincoln and the stories of his life and times, Abe Lincoln Grows Up would be a treasure, to read and re-read over and over. But I’m afraid that most of those who pick it up just to read about the great president, perhaps for a school assignment, are going to be discouraged by the disjointed and philosophical prose that verges on poetry but isn’t really.
Carl Sandburg won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for books of his poetry and one for the second volume of biography of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. His book of children’s stories, Rootabaga Pigeons, published in 1923, emerges from copyright protection this year. Has anyone read these stories, and do you have an opinion?
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis.
Hope in the Holler by Lisa Lewis Tyre.
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo.
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall. A good, solid ending to a great series.
The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina van Glaser. A good second book in a great series, maybe even better than the first.
Nowhere Boy by Kathrine Marsh.
Rebound by Kwame Alexander.
I read (or at least started reading) approximately 75-100 middle grade speculative fiction books published in 2018. These are, in my opinion of course, the best of all that I read, worthy of your time and your children’ reading time as well.
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier. Mr. Auxier’s books just get better and better. This one, set in a magical Victorian London, highlights the appalling and dangerous working conditions for chimney sweeps at that time, many of whom were small children sold into what can only be called slavery. But the book is not without hope, and the monster is not so much a monster as he is a friend and guardian. And the protagonist, Nan, is a force of nature, a girl to be reckoned with.
The Stone Girl’s Story by Sarah Beth Durst. The Stone Girl’s Story reads like a supposition: “Let us suppose world in which stone creatures can come to life, and someone wants to enslave and control the stone creatures. Then imagine what might happen.” And it’s a very good supposition.
Endling #1: The Last by Katherine Applegate. Byx is the youngest and most vulnerable member of the dairne pack in a world where dairnes are about to become extinct. There aren’t many of these dog-like but intelligent and communicating creatures left in the world, and Byx doesn’t know whether to believe the legends and rumor that other dairne packs exist in the far off north or not. When she is forced by circumstances to leave home, Byx goes on a journey to find out whether she is the last of the dairnes or not.
Thisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain by Zac Gorman. Thisby complains (to herself and to her slime friend who lives in a jar) about all the tasks involved in caring for all the monsters—wyverns and ghouls and were-creatures and more—who live in the dungeons under the Black Mountain, but it’s her job as assistant gamekeeper. And THisby is good at her job. Nevertheless, when Thisby has to take care of a spoiled Princess Iphigenia and her twin brother, and then the brother gets lost, it’s just too much. It’s a good thing Thisby keeps good notes on the care and feeding of all the monsters. She’s going to need them to get herself and the princess out of this mess.
The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings by Sarah Prineas. Alex knows he’s meant to be a Librarian, even though no one will give him any training or tell him the secrets of librarians. And Queen Kenneret is meant to be, well, queen, even though her advisors don’t take her too seriously either. Together Alex and Kenneret must save the kingdom from whatever it is that is scaring the books and killing librarians—without being killed themselves or losing patience with each other. Alex is hard-headed and insubordinate; Kenneret is determined and authoritative. Will they manage to put up with one another long enough to figure out what is attacking the libraries and how to fix or defeat it?
Grump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Liesl Shurtliff. This book is the best yet of the fairy tale retakes by Liesl Shurtliff. Grump is a misfit who hates the underground life of his family and fellow dwarves. He actually wants to see what life is like on the surface, even though the surface is a dangerous place for dwarves.
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. Morrigan Crow is a cursed child, born on Eventide, blamed for all of the misfortunes and tragedies that occur anywhere in her neighborhood, and doomed to die on her eleventh birthday. She’s sure that she has no gift, no talent to set her apart, and no place or reason to hope for anything, especially not a place in the magical Wundrous Society. Nevertheless, Morrigangets a chance to compete for a spot in the Wundrous Society. Will she be chosen?
R Is for Rebel by J. Anderson Coats. Mallianne Pirine Vinnio Aurelia Hesperus is a member of an outcast group of people, the Mileans, but even among her own people, imprisoned, Malley is different because of her rebellious, untamed spirit. She will not be reformed or reeducated or domesticated, and even the girls who are her fellow prisoners fear the trouble that Malley brings in her rebellious wake.
The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss. Bicycle, a foundling who has grown up at the Mostly Silent monastery in Washington, D.C., is now twelve years old, a lover of cycling, and in need of a good friend. But she’s not likely to find a friend either at the monastery where the monks are limited to eight sacred words or at the Friendship Factory, a camp where she is guaranteed to make three friends or else. So, Bicycle sets off on her own, with her trusty bicycle, to make her own friends in her own way.
A Dastardly Plot (A Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem #1) by Christopher Healy. I like Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide trilogy, and I like this new series just a as much. Feminist, alternate history, inventors, skulduggery and mystery—what more could one ask for in a middle grade romp?
Nadya Skylung and the Cloudship Rescue by Jeff Seymour. This novel A is another good beginning to what looks as if it will be an exciting series. Nadya is a “skylung” who can breathe through her lungs and through gills, and she is a very important crew member on the cloudship, Orion. The illustrations in this fantasy/science fiction adventure are by Brett Helquist, one of my favorite illustrators, which makes the book even more delightful.
Inkling by Kenneth Oppel. An ink blot escapes its page and comes alive. While learning and growing, Inkling helps Ethan, who needs to learn to draw, his dad, who needs to get un-stuck from his writer’s/illustrator’s block, and little sister Sarah, who just wants a puppy. Such fun, with a realistic but sympathetic portrayal of both depression (dad) and Down’s syndrome (Sarah).
Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church by Lynn K. Wilder.
Educated by Tara Westover. Tara Westover, either bravely or contemptibly, tells the story of her struggle to educate herself in the face of her father’s seeming mental illness and her mother’s obliviousness to the truth as well as Tara’s horrific abuse at the hands of her older brother.
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore. Female factory workers contract radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. This book tells the story of their struggle to survive and to obtain help and just compensation from the employers who knew the workers were being poisoned even as they generated large profits for the companies they served.
First Lady of the Theatre: Sarah Siddons by Molly Costain Haycraft. Ms. Siddons was “the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century.” This Messner biography tells the story of her life.
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park. A harrowing story of escape from North Korea’s nationwide prison.
Sent to the River God Forgot by Jim and Janice Walton. Jim and Janice Walton translate the New Testament into the Muinane language in spite of many obstacles, both physical and cultural.
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World by Charles C. Mann. An informative and insightful attempt to remain objective in reporting on two very different visions for saving the world: scientism versus environmentalism. Although both ways have pieces of the truth, I think there is a third way that combines the best of both worlds without their blind spots.
A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness. A fascinating look at a fascinating woman. With the opportunity, according to her friend and mentor John Ruskin, to become a great and celebrated artist, Lilias Trotter instead chose to serve those least able to appreciate her gifts, the native people of Algeria. Did she waste her life and her talent? Read about her life and decide for yourself.
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel. Essays on the joys and trials of the reading life.
Proverbs by J. Vernon McGee. I like all of the commentaries in the Bible teaching series by Back to the Bible radio teacher, J. Vernon McGee.
I think Professor Tolkien was a genius and one of the best writers England ever produced. If you disagree, we won’t argue. I’ll just wait for you to come round to the truth.
I’ve blogged about Tolkien and his books many times here at Semicolon. Here are links to few of my thoughts on the professor and his hobbitish books.
Tolkien’s birthday, 2004
Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien, 2005
Happy Birthday, Mr. Tolkien, 2010
Thoughts on The Silmarilllion
Poetry Friday: Goblin Feet by JRR Tolkien
Review of The Fellowship by Philip and Carol Zaleski.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Chapter 1, An Unexpected Party
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Chapter 2, Roast Mutton.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Chapter 3, A Short Rest.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Chapter 4, Over Hill and Under Hill.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, chapter 5: Riddles in the Dark
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, chapter 6: Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, chapter 7: Queer Lodgings
I only managed to get through chapter 7 in my blog posts on The Hobbit, although I’ve read the entire book many times. Maybe this year I’ll finish up this series.
Use these lists for ideas of books to read for Christmas and books to give for Christmas.
Biblioguides: 15 Books to Read Aloud.
Biblioguides: 25 Picture Books to Read This Christmas. While you’re there, check out their trial membership offer. This website is, and will be for years to come, a great resource for bibliophiles everywhere.
Read-Aloud Revival: Our Favorite Christmas Picture Books. Includes a link to a free printable list.
Read-Aloud Revival: Christmas Short Stories and Novels to Read Aloud with the Whole Family. Listen to the podcast for more information on these suggested read-aloud stories for Christmas.
Read-Aloud Revival: Christmas Audiobooks for the Whole Family.
Redeemed Reader: Christmas Books for All Ages.
25 Christ-centered Christmas Books at Joyfully Thriving.
