Reviews: Moonbird and Seraphina

Review: Moonbird: A year on the wind with the great survivor B95
Published by: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-374-30468-3
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up

AND


Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Published by: Doubleday Canada, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-66839-2
Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

I've chosen to review Moonbird and Seraphina in the same entry NOT because they have overwhelming similarities but because what I have to say applies to both. One is a fiction novel about a half dragon caught up in a mystery, the other is a non fiction tale of a bird migration and of B95, a bird who has made the journey over 18 times - flying the distance one would travel from Earth to the Moon and halfway back again. So, no true similarities but one: I disliked both but knew I was reading good stuff.

I don't like dragons - or even half dragons and thus a plot surrounding them is not to my taste. 'Seraphina' reads well and the storyline is interesting - murder, intrigue, fighting between groups. However, make those groups dragons and humans and throw in descriptions on how to clean your scales and I'm out. I enjoyed it more in this second reading (I reviewed it previously for 'Resourcelinks and had a ARC). I can see literary merit in this book - well written, strong plot, well developed characters. I just did not like it. 

The same is true of 'Moonbird'. In this saga about the migration of the rufa red knot, we learn about the travel and diet patterns of this bird species. These birds travel from Terra del Fuego in South America to the breeding grounds of the Canadian Arctic. The migration habits of this group have been tracked as well as their population. Scientists have tagged and identified many of the rufa, tracking them year after year. B95 was tagged 18 years ago and is still flying. Given the fact that the population of the rufa has dropped 80% in the past 20 years, his survival is fairly epic. This is a full colour book, pullouts of bios, features and facts an dis nicely written. However, I couldn't find it in me to care for these birds. That sounds callous but honest - I thought the story was fascinating, I was just not inspired to help. I did like that they mentioned Parks Canada in the list of groups and resources of people for those who are inspired to help - Parks Canada does great work and should be mentioned.

Both books received a 4/5.

Good reads page Seraphina
Good Reads page Moonbird.

Review: Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

Review: Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
Published by: Scholastic Press, an Imprint of Scholastic Inc, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-11674-9
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up

 I am a Newfoundlander. My grandfather on my mothers side was a sea captain and lived through at least one shipwreck. To leave my island you must take a boat or a plane - or swim, I guess! The Titanic has always been part of our consciousness - when I was a child we sang a campfire song about how "They built the ship Titanic just to sail the ocean blue" (full lyrics here). Even when I didn't know what it was, I knew of it. I knew of the perils of the sea and the majestic danger of ice burgs. I have gotten sunburned walking around the graveyard in Halifax looking for Titanic graves, I have spent time in exhibits in local museums looking at artifacts from the Titanic and replicas of items that might have been used. I even followed the live twitter feed last year as they tweeted as if it was real time and the ship was sinking. I have an interest in the subject matter - not necessarly a great knowledge but an interest, much of which was naturally obtained by my location and personal history.

This particular look at the Titanic is nicely done. Hopkinson takes the reader from the first short voyage with passengers, from London to Queenstown and then for it's final fatal voyage from Queenstown and onwards. Throughout the entire book there are pictures of life aboard the Titanic - some taken by passengers who were part of the first short voyage, others taken on ships with similar offerings as the Titanic. There are also copies of items such as work orders, menus, distress telegrams and other such print items to further illustrate the historical importance of the events contained within. 

At times this book gets a little unclear as it jumps around from survivor to survivor. However, the clarity in which it describes the fatal voyage, while staying true to the young reading level makes up for any occasional lack of focus. The pictures will please readers who.want to see the historical items but are also a great addition when trying to "sell" this book to a reluctant reader.

I give this book a 4/5.

Goodreads Page

Review: Steve Jobs: The Man who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal

Review: Steve Jobs: The Man who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal

Published by: R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-250-01445-0

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

I am not really an Apple person. There, I said it. I am awaiting my iPad for the library but admit that part of the reason it was purchased was because that's what is being used by the board, not because that's what I really wanted. Yes it does really cool things but, I guess, I've never been able to buy into the whole 'Apple is God' way of thinking. However, many many many people are into the Apple is all thinking - and many of the things that I enjoy using were impacted by Apple, so even if I don't have Apple products, I still have Apple to thank for a number of the things that I use everyday.
Perhaps some of my lack of passion about Apple comes from my dislike of Steve Jobs. There - an even bigger admittance from me. I'm not a huge fan of Steve Jobs. In works that I've viewed and bios I've encountered, he just seems like not a great guy. Give me The Woz any time, with his sense of humour and appreciation for others. Or even Bill Gates with his dedication to charity and giving away his money. That is if I have to choose. Steve Jobs photographs like he cares but really, the more I learn the less I like him.
So, I approached this bio with a bias. Jobs and his drive to be the best and lack of appreciation for others has been well documented. From early life with his adopted family and his issues in school to his later life with his wife and children and his company, this bio tells the good and bad about Jobs and does so in a clear and concise way. The story of Steve Jobs is a complicated one - you want to admire the man for what he brought to modern technology and yet, so often, learning the truth of his life, his attitudes and his behaviours, it's hard to like him. His abandoning of his first child, his behaviours to his employees, his refusal to contribute to charity, his inability to realize that his choices impact others - all of these things make him appear to be a pretty crappy guy. The good things he has done - helping the world modernize, helping others become financially solvent through their work in the company, his reach for perfection in the products he delivered to his customers - sometimes pale in comparison. How would his first daughter have felt, knowing her dad named a computer after her even though he didn't want to be part of his life? How would business partners feel knowing that he shared what he wanted to share - even financially? After almost any bio I have read or watched about Steve Jobs I am struck with the idea that he wasn't such a great guy. I remarked to my mom after reading this that I knew it was a YA bio of him - I left feeling he was a jerk as opposed to any stronger word I might have used after a non-ya bio!
Despite the flaws of the subject, Blumenthal has created a great profile. Students who are wondering from what brain their apple products emerged will be able to read about one of the people who helped make them happen and do so in an accessible and well written format. She has plenty of pullaway information boxes but puts them at the end of chapters so that the reader is not drawn away from the narrative of her biography. She presents testimony and stories from a number of people who were in the life of Jobs to help develop her story, which aids in trying to understand what kind of man Steve Jobs was.
I gave this book a 4/5.
Goodreads Page.

Review: We have a job

Review: We've got a job: the 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Levinson

Published by: Peachtree Publishers. 2012

ISBN:978-1-56145-627-7

Reading level: Grades 5+

Every year I travel to DC with a student group. We go with a program called 'The Asper Human Rights and the Holocaust' program and spend four days in DC. The Holocaust Museum is a full day adventure; the rest of the time is spent going through DC. Each year I stand on the spot where Martin Luther King Jr gave his 'I have a dream' speech, on the stairs of the Lincoln memorial. Last year for the first time I went to the MLK memorial, a beautiful bas-relief positioned between the Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln memorials (and just a quick walk along the tidal basin from the FDR memorial). I know some of the history behind his importance - the general history which included his fights for equal rights, his sacrifices and his assassination, but I did not know a lot of the details, especially about those who fought along with him. Yes, the sit ins, the walks, the bus strikes, the restaurant sitins are all part of my knowledge, but who and where and how - and what happened to them has been less clear in my learning.

'We have a job - the 1963 Birmingham Children's March' by Cynthia Levinson helped fill in some of those gaps. Levinson follows the story of four different freedom fighters, all of whom were children during 1963. They entered the civil rights movements in different ways - by accident, by choice, reluctantly, passionately - but they all worked hard and risked much to fight for equal rights. When the adults were hesitant to fight the racist culture of Birmingham because their jobs and lives were on the line, the children of the city stood up and answered Dr. Martin Luther King's cry to 'Fill the Jails'. The children marched and filled the jails and then some, causing their fight to receive national attention and helped bring about the repeal of segregation laws. Their actions inspired thousands of other young people to demand their rights and fight for their freedoms around the world.

Levinson puts a focus on four children: Audrey, a 9 year old child of activists, Washington Booker III, a high spirited child child of the projects who just wanted to be allowed to eat a Banana Split at the local Department store, James W. Stewart, a teen child of professionals who had to deal with racism from both sides, given his light skin tone and Arnetta Streeter, who with her light skin could have 'passed' but chose not to, feeling colour should not matter. Each of this children were part of the actions taken by children in Birmingham. Whether they were like Audrey who was inspired by her parents and could articulate at her young age that she needed to go to Jail or like Arnetta who kept trying to get arrested and found she kept getting sent home, or like Washington who got involved almost by accident. Throughout there are pictures of many of the main people and incidents involved, further illustrating some of the dangers in which people found themselves. In addition, there are sections pulled from the main text with song lyrics, legal rulings and other information which informs the reader on some of the text needed to fully understand the book and the times in which the book is set.

Beautifully designed, this telling of a major event in Modern American history is well told and illustrated. I appreciated the use of black, white and grey throughout the entire book. At times, when the focus was on people other than our four main profiles, I wondered what the use of those profiles was. However, Levinson continued to return to our fearless four, and it was nice, after reading of all the confusion to then return to four people and ground your thinking. In reflection, it was also nice to be able to look back on this momentous story and think of a few of the ordinary people who were involved. A personal connection to a story that was larger than one person. As with many non-fiction novels, I wish the text pull outs were at breaking points in the text as I found leaving the narrative to read the pull out before I turned the page distracting - I didn't want to leave the narrative but didn't want to miss the additional info. I am looking forward to putting this book into my collection and know of several research based units in which it will come of use!

I rate this book: 4/5
Goodreads page.

Review: Bomb: The Race to Build - And Steal - The World''s Most Dangerous Weapon

Review: Bomb: The race to build - and steal - the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Published by: Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-59643-487-5

Reading Level: Grade 7+

Non-fiction is not always something that I choose to read. While I often enjoy historical works, I generally reach for historical novels. Profiles of people, unless well written and about someone who is prolific and accomplished in their field, tend to pale to me when compared to a fictional character who can be developed and made into a person I want to read about - and there's rarely conflicting reports about the life and times of a fictional person. I research and read about events widely - I like to know the background of the historical fiction or the shows I'm watching - but I rarely get excited about picking up a non-fiction tome. I think that this makes the Non Fiction reading challenge more exciting to me - it's going out of my comfort zone, something that must always be done.

Appropriately, I started with 'Bomb', the story of making the atomic bomb during World War II. I am currently in the process of re-watching the HBO series 'The Pacific' and thus, found it apt to couple this with reading about the bombs which ended the war. I have often used those bombs as exemplars when discussing the phrase 'History is written by the victors'. As well, the sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' is required watching in my house; their references to the Manhattan Project have sparked me to look up the people involved on the project. I approached this book with anticipation, the thrill of learning making my little librarian heart beat a little faster.

In 1938, a Germany based chemist made a discovery - when placed near radioactive material, a uranium atom split in two. This was the inspiration for the three countries - The United States, Russia and Germany - and their race to build the first atomic bomb. This book focuses on the American part it in all, including the spies placed within the American organization as well as the role they played in delaying the discoveries of other countries. Throughout there are pictures of the key players as well as important places.

At times, this book reads like a fantastic spy novel - made better by knowing that it's all true. Other times it gets muddy in explanation and development, trying to fit all the information in and losing some focus in the process. Occasionally I had to check and remember who it was they were discussing as it jumped from person to person to place to place. As well, as an adult reader, I could tell that at times the language was being refocused for younger readers and some facts sugarcoated. That's a small fact in the process but one that stood out to me several times. The information presented was extremely interesting and I loved learning more about the background of the bomb - and the fallout afterwards in and between the developing countries.

For students interested in a solid, historical nonfiction read, this book is a great one. It will aid in their understanding of these events, events which are important ones in their life time.

I rate this book 4/5.

Goodreads page.