Bibliography: Hooper, Mary. (2011). Fallen Grace.  New York, Bloomsbury USA Children’s. ISBN: 978-1599905648

Plot Summary:  Penniless orphans Grace and her sister have just barely managed to avoid starving or freezing to death in Victorian London.  When Grace gives birth to a still born baby and sneaks it into the coffin of a well to do woman, little does she realize that this act will eventually lead to an even larger secret that will change both their lives forever.

Critical Analysis:  Somehow from the publisher blurb, I wasn’t expecting such a charming, delightful book.  Yes, Hooper has done her research, and yes, there are tons of details about life in the Victorian England and the funeral trade (fascinating stuff that.)  There are very real glimpses of life in poverty, life on the streets.  One detail that will remain in my mind is of the little boy who could only go outside when one of his brothers stayed him, as he had no clothes of his own.

I really like the way the plot is constructed as well.  We are given glimpses into other places, other characters that later will fall into place and become more important to the plot.  This device adds an air of mystery.  The little excerpts from the paper serve a similiar purpose, giving the reader information that the protagonist does not have.

But it is the character of Grace Parkes that makes this story work.  She loves her sister and tries hard to provide for them both, taking on tasks and jobs to try get by.  And sometimes things go well, and just when you think they will stay that way, something else comes along that should knock her down, but somehow she keeps on.  And I think we forgive some of the coincidences and luck that play a role in the story because we want so badly for things to go her way.

Readalikes:  There are of course many parallels here to Dickens’ novels.  This would be a great read along side any number of his works.

Review Excerpts:   “Hooper has done her research, and she makes elements like Victorian funeral practices absolutely fascinating. The story itself moves at an energetic, page-turning clip. If at times the coincidences seem, well, too coincidental, blame Dickens.”–Booklist

“Hooper writes in beautiful 19th-century cadences, but her story lines pack a 21st-century punch. Nothing feels forced or inserted for mere shock value. Fallen Grace has been impeccably researched, and it shows in every paragraph.”–New York Times

“Hooper has not only the labyrinthian plotting and heart-thumping pacing but also the social critique down pat, and even jaded readers may be surprised to find themselves beguiled by the improbable ravages of Cruel Fate and holding their breath for a happy ending.”–BCCB

“Hooper, author of many historical novels, packs her brisk Dickensian fable with colorful characters and suspenseful, satisfying plot twists.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:   Young Albany midwife Mary Sutter wants nothing more then to study to be a surgeon.  But the idea of female doctors is still foreign to most, and no one will take her as a student or apprentice.  At the beginning of the Civil War, she sees an opportunity where others see adventure or struggle.  Too young for the nursing corps, a chance meeting with the secretary of state leads her to a military hospital where she works tirelessly beside a surgeon to save as many lives as she can.

Critical Review:  There is something compelling and fascinating about the ideas, people, and events in this book.  This is not a romantic view of the Civil War or of women entering a field once closed to them.  Matter of fact, some of the horrible details and descriptions are part of what makes this a compelling read.  Combine that with real people and events from history, a set of very human characters who give perspective to what is happening, and even a love story and this book moves beyond just a Civil War story.  It is both epic and intimate at the same time, quite an accomplishment.  The mix of real historical people and events with the characters in the story contribute to this as do the detailed descriptions of life in military camp, of the military hospital, and the battlefield.

The most compelling of all is the character of Mary.  From almost the beginning, she is torn between what she desires most in the world, studying to become a surgeon, and the rest of her life, her family-twin sister, mother, brother; and romance-neighbor next door, various men she encounters along her way.  She is determined and she won’t give up till she gets what she wants.  And yet we see her work till she almost makes herself ill, worry about her loved ones in the war, rush home to be with her pregnant sister, show grief and guilt over her actions.  The ending is very satisfying, but I won’t give it away.

Review Excerpts: “From a variety of perspectives…the novel offers readers a picture of a time of medical hardship, crisis, and opportunity. Oliveira depicts the amputation of a leg, the delivery of a baby, and soldierly life; these are among the fine details that set this novel above the gauzier variety of Civil War fiction.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Oliveira deftly depicts the chaotic aftermath of battles and develops her own characters while incorporating military and political leaders of the time. The historic details enrich the narrative without overshadowing Mary’s struggles.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Brink, Carol Ryrie. (1973). Caddie Woodlawn. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN: 9780027136708 (hc) 9781416940289 (pb)

This was another reread for me.  I think I must have read it during one of those long lazy summers when we would get piles of books from the library and read all day (and in my case, sometimes part of the night!)  Unlike other books on this list, I don’t remember reading this one more than once, although I did read the sequel (Magical Melons) and other books by Brink.

Maybe it is because we lived in the country with woods and trees and fields, but I always felt an affinity for girls like Caddie and tales like this.  When I first read this, I had no real knowledge of Native Americans, and so it is with much hindsight that I see the Native Americans in this book with current eyes.  I do agree with Debbie Reese, that reading and teaching this book today provides a great opportunity to reflect on not only stereotypes, but America’s past and history.  Just as with the Little House books, we have an author who was writing a fictionalized account of events, and a large part of that will be a reflection of the people and perceptions of that time period.  I don’t think that this book needs to be removed from libraries and classrooms, but it should be read with lots of stops for discussion and even better would be to combine it with a great book from Louise Erdrich or Joseph Bruchac.

*Astute and observant readers will know that I have skipped #94, Swallows and Amazons.  Rest assured, I will write about it just as soon as I get my hands on a copy.

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  17  year old Louisa Cosgrove wants nothing more than to study to become a doctor, a rare choice for a woman in Victorian England.  When her father, her main supporter, becomes ill and dies, she resigns herself to becoming a lady’s companion instead.  When the carriage pulls up, not at a manor house, but at an insane asylum, Louisa is sure there must have been a mistake.  They don’t even seem to know her true name.  As the truth sinks in, she is determined to survive the horrible conditions, find out who put her there, and get away as soon as she can.

Critical Analysis:  I found this book utterly compelling and was unable to put it down.  I think it was a combination of factors.  The narrative structure alternates between vignettes from Louisa’s past and events happening in her present.  It adds to the mystery, as present Louisa wonders what from her past might have landed her here.  Louisa herself refuses to conform to the expected role of a girl/woman in Victorian times, and this is made even more evident in the secondary characters with which Eagland surrounds her.  Some are sympathetic to Louisa, like her father, and others are not.  As the story goes on, the reader, along with Louisa, learns that most of these characters are not what they seemed, adding if not to their growth, to hers.

The publisher calls this a romance, perhaps a misnomer, or at least misleading, as while there is a romantic thread, this story is focused much more on Louisa than on the romance.  For me, the part of the story that felt the most new and fresh were the scenes in the asylum, both how Louisa was treated and the descriptions of the other women there, their pasts and stories.  To have this shown in such vivid detail and to realize how common a practice it was at times in the past leaves me reeling.  I almost want to seek out some of the diaries or other materials Eagland used for her research, but I’m not sure I could handle it.

Readalikes:  Not long after I finished Wildthorn, I listened to the audio of My Name is Marry Sutter by Robin Oliveira.  Mary Sutter has many parallels to Louisa–upper middle class background, well educated, wants to be a doctor at a time when that was still considered strange.  Mary, however, has the support of her midwife mother, and the benefit (if you want to call it that) of the American Civil War as a training ground.  A story both epic and intimate, of family and of coming of age , of medicine and war,  I highly recommend it as well.

Reviewed from publisher provided egalley downloaded from Netgalley.com  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Elizabeth is determined to be a good wife and mother.  She doesn’t love her new husband, but she is grateful to him until she starts to uncover details about his past dealings with her father.  Her sister, Diana is determined to forget all about Henry, but all the adventure in all the exotic places in the world may not be enough.  Their former ladies’ maid, Carolina continues to rise through society but hiding her past may cost her the one thing she wants most.

Critical Analysis:  I have read and enjoyed all four of the Luxe novels.  Matter of fact, the very first book I reviewed here was the first one, Luxe. I still feel that what Godbersen does so well is combine an interesting soap opera kind of story with a real look at what is really proper behavior and the difference between the classes, especially in the character of Carolina, who was in the lower class but moves to the upper class when she inherits some money.  She learns the hard way that money can buy you friends but not love or respect.  A similar example can be seen in Diana who refuses to conform to what is expected of a lady of her stature.

The best thing for me about this last book is how satisfying it was.  Everyone gets what they deserve in the end, according to how they have behaved throughout the series.  I would say more, but I don’t want to spoil it.  On a personal note, thank you Ms. Godbersen for setting story and character arcs and sticking to them, resisting the temptation to extend the series to more volumes.  Sometimes it is best to leave the reader wanting more.

Readalikes:  As with the first Luxe novel, I am reminded of The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley.  Not his most well known work, but I think this series is the perfect opening to introduce it to teens and others, and also that it might make a great English or History reading, as the title is where the name for the time period came from.

Review Excerpts: “Readers of this series will not be disappointed with this final installment. It would be best to start with the first book and enjoy each title in order.”–Children’s Literature

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  In 19th century England, Bet and Will, childhood friends though she is a daughter of a maid and he the son of  wealthy family, concoct a plan so both can get what they want.  Bet, an education, and Will, a chance to become a soldier in the army.  Pretending to be a boy can’t be that hard, can it?  But Bet didn’t think about how to deal with her period, undressing in the same room as a boy, and falling in love.

Critical Analysis:  I found this book to be very refreshing.  First of all, it is less than 200 pages long.  In a time when so many writers for teens have followed in J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer’s wake penning books that seem to go on and on (and often for no apparent reason other than they can) I am glad that there are still writers out there to display the skill that is needed to create a whole world and a story in fewer pages with less words.  Secondly, so glad to see a story like this that doesn’t feel like it needs magic or paranormal elements to make it complete.  Instead Baratz-Logsted gives us a charming heroine living in a well described historical setting.

Bet is probably the best thing about this book.  From the moment she is introduced, you can’t help but want her to succeed, to pull of her attempts to disguise herself as a boy, to get the education she wants.  You root for her to find solutions to problems she didn’t anticipate and hold your breath when she comes close to being discovered.  A close second is the setting, description, and events at the boys’ boarding school.  It reminds me so strongly of other such schools in books and movies, from Dead Poet’s Society to Harry Potter.  I think this is a rare work of historical fiction that might have wide appeal across ages, grades, and genders.

Readalikes:  The book reminded me strongly of the first Song of the Lioness book, Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce where Alanna trades places with her brother Alan disguising herself as a boy so that she can train to become a knight.

Review Excerpts: “…Bet’s descriptive, intimate, first-person narrative incorporates historical details and diverse characters….Despite some improbable elements, historical-fiction fans will likely find Bet an appealingly lively heroine as she pursues her dreams and makes unexpected discoveries in learning, life, and love.”–Booklist

“Baratz-Logsted amusingly describes the lengths to which Bet goes to pass as a boy (cutting off her hair) and keep her secret (insisting on changing clothes in the dark). Readers will root for Bet to the very end, as she proves that from lemons can come the sweetest lemonade.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Jonah and Simon are on a road trip, but it isn’t a teenage lark.  Abandoned by their mother, out of food and water, they pack the little precious possessions they own and set out across the New Mexico desert heading to Arizona and their prisoner father.  When a car flies by and then slows, and the beautiful blond begs the driver to pick them up, Jonah knows it is a mistake to accept, but he and Simon climb in the back anyway.  At least Jonah has a gun…

Critical Analysis:  This book completely blew me away.  It is a rare suspense/thriller in the young adult fiction category.  And a good one at that.  Smith does an excellent job of building suspense and tension.  Telling the story from the different voices of the characters really adds to that feeling.  This is used often in adult suspense novels, but I don’t think I’ve seen it much for young adults.  It gives the reader different viewpoints of what is going on, and it also allows Smith to portion out information.  He reveals and doesn’t reveal events and details depending on who is telling the story at the time.

The setting is very evocative.  I can feel the heat, see the desert.  Details about the 1970s are tightly woven with the events of the story–clothing styles, hippies, Vietnam.  Even descriptions of diners and hotels are spot on.  I can almost smell them.  Add to that the tone which communicates a real desperation and longing, especially from Jonah.  We get other characters’ points of view, but I think this is Jonah’s story, Jonah’s journey.  The brothers are traveling to somewhere, but more because they don’t know what else to do, not because they know what to expect when they get there.  In the end, the book is about the journey, the physical one and the emotional one the brothers experience.

I am reminded very much of the best western fiction that has and is being written.  Not just westerns, like cowboys and horses, but that fiction that takes the ideals of the west and expands them, updates them, bends them into something new.  (Of course, sitting here writing this review, I have drawn a blank on specific authors or books…)

Review Excerpts: “Smith’s Vietnam-era road trip tells the tense, violent and cathartic story of teenage brothers….There are moments of bleak, nasty violence, but they rarely appear gratuitous, instead underlining the despair Jonah and Simon feel, and offering something they must transcend.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Abandoned by their mother, out of food and even water, 16-year-old Jonah and his brother, Simon, two years younger, embark on a brutal but mesmerizing road trip that steers an unswerving course toward tragedy…older teens will be riveted.”–Kirkus Reviews

“A relentless, bleak thriller that nails the claustrophobic sense of being totally out of control, and moving fast.” –Booklist

Reviewed from publisher provided advance copy. Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Olivia has had a hard life, and as winter sets in, with no one stopping to buy groceries at her little shop, and no money to restock groceries anyway, she worries about getting herself and William through the winter.  But she’s survived worse, and they will survive this too.  But then she discovers someone is killing silver wolves on her property.  She thinks she knows who is doing it, but how to prove it?  In the process of trying to get justice for the wolves, Olivia uncovers secrets that have been buried and lost for years, along with danger for those she loves and love she didn’t think she deserved.

Critical Analysis:  It took me several pages to really get into this story.  The very beginning describing the lands and the wolves and the sort of drabness of winter didn’t grab me, but I had heard from several people that this was an excellent book, so I pushed through and I was so glad I did.  Once the story shifts backwards in time to Olivia’s growing up, I became invested in her, in her relationships, friendships, loves and heartbreaks, and I had to know, how had she become what she was in the present story?  Abandoned by her mother, loved by her father, embraced by a spiritual African American community that takes care of her own.  The narrative switches back and forth between the past and the present, and as the reader sees where Olivia came from, questions start to arise about the true nature of events, resulting in more than a few surprises for the reader and Olivia, and a fiery life or death climax.  Olivia’s voice is genuine and true and real, and I ached alongside her when she lost her mother, her father, her first love, her husband, her daughter, the wolves.  Olivia is a fighter, and I found myself fighting alongside, knowing something was not quite right and yet not knowing what that was until Wall expertly revealed it.  Wall’s genius lies in peeling back the layers of the story, starting with what Olivia thinks is true and moving towards the real truth that is both surprising and expected at the same time.  I have seen this listed as a mystery, which indeed it is, but it is again another genre bending (if not breaking) title.  I hope that doesn’t mean that it will fly under the radar.

Readalikes:  I have seen some compare this title to the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.  And I can see that, in a way.  But for me, I feel like this is a better fit for those who loved The Secret Life of Bees, as Olivia reminds me a great deal of Lily, as both girls have in some ways idealized their pasts and have questions and nagging thoughts about what happened to them.  I was also reminded of Anne Rivers Siddons’ Nora, Nora, another female Southern coming of age story grounded in loss and love and finding your true self.

Review Excerpts:

Starred review: “The strong, fresh narrative voice pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go in Wall’s stunning debut…As the action moves inexorably to its explosive conclusion, Olivia must come to grips with past betrayals, thereby earning a second chance at love, redemption and long overdue justice.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“This debut novel does so much more than traditional, tightly focused mysteries. It has a powerfully, sometimes uncomfortably, realized setting; characters who seem drawn from life; and a wide-ranging plot, bursting with complications…A gripping story and a truly original voice—Wall is a new author to watch closely.–Booklist

**Note:  This book was to be published by Poisoned Pen Press when Random House bought the rights.  I am a volunteer manuscript reader for Poisoned Pen Press, but the first time I saw this title was when I was sent the ARC from Random House.

Plot Summary:
Sixteen year old Sabine, daughter of a 18th century French aristocrat, thinks of nothing more than the next ball, getting fitted for her next dress.  But when her mother tries to arrange her marriage to a vulgar young man of her class and rank, she rekindles her childhood friendship with her governess’s son, Michel, attends her first salon where she meets Ben Franklin, and realizes that there may be more to life then what her mother has planned.

Critical Analysis:

Sometimes I can really understand how some teens relate to books and reading.  I picked up this book because I found the cover to be very appealing.  However, I don’t know how many teens might have then put the book back down, as it seems to have quite a slow start to me.  I am not sure how, but the opening scenes, and even the ball/dancing seem to not have much going on.  It is not until some chapters into the book that the story picks up and I found myself starting to care about what happened to Sabine.  It is a credit to the author that I realized I cared so much that I might even want to read a second book about Sabine and MIchel.

On the one hand, the arc of the plot reflects the changes in Sabine herself, the “revolution” on a small scale that foreshadows the French Revolution.  On the other hand, how many teens will read through the first scenes to see the changes that she undergoes?  It would be interesting to put this in the hands of a few teens and see what they think.  I do think this might appeal to teens who enjoy the Dear America books and other similiar series.

Connections:

• To the American and French Revolutions, to Benjamin Franklin, showing how actual events might have affected real people living during that time.
• To Voltaire and Candide, although many teens may have a hard time understanding the novel, as Sabine herself did.