Historical Book Reviews
335 book reviews found, page 7 of 67. Narrow results by selecting age range:
This tale of an Ojibwa girl living in North America in the mid-nineteenth century is a tale of everyday life, with its pleasures and dilemmas, but also a story filled with the depth of family love, grief and healing in the face of tragedy, and the complexity of growing into one's identity as a human being. In this story of a year in the life of Omakayas, we learn of her mixed feelings towards her siblings and chores, her relationship with a crow who becomes a beloved pet, and the complexities of the yearly routines (such as the building of the birchbark house and the collection of maple sap to make syrup) that allow her family to survive on the land. At the same time, we join her as she faces deep grief at the loss of a loved one through illness, discovers secrets of her past, and comes into her own as a human being. This is a thoughtful, quietly powerful tale that both tells a story from an important perspective often overlooked in this region's history and also explores the timeless theme of the experience of growing up and into oneself as a person.
Similar books: The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich; The Porcupine Year by Louise Erdrich
Awards nominated: National Book Award Finalist
Reviewed by: emc
Date read: 12/31/2011
ISBN-10: 0786814543
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Ludlow Fitch has quite a thrilling tale to tell. His life so far has been far from easy. In fact, it has been difficult working as a pickpocket and trying to stay out of jail. Everything changes when he meets the pawnbroker who pays cash for people's darkest secrets. As Ludlow transcribes secrets into the black leatherbound book, he ponders what good will come of trading secrets and fears and also the danger that could come if the book gets into the wrong hands.
Similar books: The Magic Thief books by Sarah Prineas
Reviewed by: adf
Date read: 9/4/2009
ISBN-10: 0312368445
ISBN-13: 9780312368449
James lives in a biracial, musical family which he finds tedious at times. When the family is called to London for his mother to perform, James goes sight-seeing with his father. (Oh, no, not again). On one of these visits in London, James discovered a portal that leads him to the 1600's. What happens theatrically and politically during the 1600's leads to a real education for James (and the reader). What a difference in how people lived then and now. He must solve a problem from the 1600's before he can return to present London. A great book for boys that like history from the point of time travel.
Reviewed by: cj
Date read: 9/20/2010
ISBN-10: 0689864787
ISBN-13: 9780689864780
David Peterson is fascinated by rumors of rum-running during Prohibition on the beach near his town. He is intrigued by the Black Duck, the most notorious rum-running boat in the area. Then, he learns that Ruben Hart, who lived during that time, is still alive. At first, Ruben won't talk to David, but finally tells a fascinating story of Prohibition, rum-running, and the daring captain of the Black Duck. When they were children, Ruben and his friend Jeddy found a dead body washed up on the beach. Rival bootlegging gangs thought that Ruben and Jeddy removed something important from the dead man's pocket. Soon, Ruben, Jeddy, and Jeddy's sister, Marina, became involved with some very dangerous characters as they tried to keep themselves safe. A fascinating book based on the true story of the Black Duck.
Reviewed by: sc
Date read: 4/28/2009
ISBN-10: 0142409022
ISBN-13: 9780142409022
Gustave is an eleven year old Jewish boy who lives with his family in Paris, France in 1940. He and his two best friends are inseparable as they attend school and are Boy Scouts together. That is, until news about the Germans persuades his family to leave Paris for a 'safe' place in the countryside until they can obtain visas to sail to America. German soldiers in uniform and planes bombing the highway are just a few of the unhappy events. However, Gustav finds a way to distract the German soldiers so that his father can help with the Resistance in France. It is a good first book about the Holocaust.
Awards nominated: Rebecca Caudill Award Nominee 2012
Awards won: Sydney Taylor Honor Award
Reviewed by: cjones
Date read: 4/23/2012
ISBN-13: 9780385738811
Reader Comments
Viva La France!Commenter: Ellen, grade 55
It was interesting to learn some of the creative ways the French Ressistance was able to stop the Nazis from capturing some of the escaping Jews from France.
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