Children's Books discussion

Come join us to discuss the Medal Winner,
The Tale Of Despereaux: Being The Story Of A Mouse, A Princess, Some Soup, And A Spool Of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

and/or the Honor books:
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
An American Plague by Jim Murphy (!!)

Olive's Ocean is by oe of my favorites, Kevin Henkes, so I'm looking forward to rereading and discussing it here.

Jim Murphy is notable in that we already read his earlier Newbery, The Great Fire. but I've never heard of this month's An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.
Also, Wikipedia says: "The ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant lasting contribution to young-adult literature". Murphy won the annual award in 2010, citing five nonfiction books published from 1992 to 2003...." (When we get caught up in this club, maybe we should read the winners of that award.)

I've never been all that impressed by DiCamillo. Here's another chance; I'll try to read with an open mind.

I have read the Tale of Despereaux and Olive's Ocean, both about 2 decades ago. I loved Tale (5 stars), but only liked Olive's Ocean (3 stars). I didn't write reviews for either book. I have never read An American Plague, so I will try to find time to read that one this month.

Am I the only one who doesn't like Desperaux? I read it once and wasn't impressed. I don't remember anything about it. I expected it to be a book I would have loved as an 8-9 year old but it left me feeling flat and uninspired.

I found The Tale of Despereaux so superficial and cliched compared to the Honor book by Henkes. Since when does the Newbery committee take into consideration what is easy to booktalk, what is easy for kids to enjoy? This isn't a bad book, but it isn't worth my time. And this is the second time that I've tried to appreciate it.

If you feel you must teach it, be sure to pay attention when there are interesting bits. Like "... we will give you the chance to renounce your actions. We will allow you to go to the dungeon with a pure heart."

Or "... a small map of the princess's heart (hatred, sorrow, kindness, empathy)..."

And "Mice of the Council... We have been paid a visit by a ghost who has told us to repent. We will now take a vote. All in favor of saying that this visit did not occur, vote 'aye.'"

But Olive's Ocean, now that's a Newbery book. And many children will enjoy it, if encouraged by a fan. A fair bit of coming-of-age, themes of death & change & loss & joy, no easy answers, grounds for hope but no HEA, even some adventure and some humor.

And the rich, memorable details that make it an immersive read, a savory read. For example, on one spread alone, by the by, we learn two things.

First, that Martha sorts her lip gloss by families, imagining them having children together (but is now thinking that a too childish game for a 12 year old).

And also that Jimmy, age 14, has the insight to consider not just walking away from their completed sand castle: "Let's crash it.... If we don't someone else will. Some stranger. That would be tragic. We built it. It's our responsibility."

(I don't think that I agree with him, even on a metaphorical level, but it's absolutely something to think about.)

I would have loved this when I was a child. So much to think about. So much value to be derived from rereading. Depth, resonance, poetic writing, originality.

Oh, and it's short, you can make time for it. I highly recommend that you do so. :)

I also want to take a moment to think about the last few years' worth of Newbery books. Did any address, even on a metaphoric level, the trauma of 9-11, the US's loss of optimistic innocence?

Possibly the third read of this year, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, was published because Murphy and Clarion knew that kids need history so they learn what not to repeat, and so they know that people can survive challenges. I have a feeling this won't be as jingoistic as some of the earlier Newbery books about history.

But what else? Did the authors hide from all the WMDs, War on Terror, Homeland Security, etc. etc. while they were writing? Or did it influence them, and I just haven't noticed yet?

Cheryl wrote: "I also want to take a moment to think about the last few years' worth of Newbery books. Did any address, even on a metaphoric level, the trauma of 9-11, the US's loss of optimistic innocence?

Poss..."

Good point, and sadly, the books that do deal with extremism etc. and evil entities like the Taliban are often being challenged and banned, like for example Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, which was listed by the ALA as one of the most challenged books.

Well, I'm not making a point, but rather asking a question.

I know that the Safer at Home experiences of dealing with Covid19 in the spring of 2020 produced (and is still producing) quite a few books meant to show children that they are not the only ones dealing with the challenges. (I don't know if any are Newbery books though.) I'm not trying to open that discussion here; I'm just beginning the comparison of the two epochal events and how children's lit dealt with them.

So, I'm off to look at Newbery books recently previous to the ones we are reading this month, to see if I notice any influence....

For some reason the list was not easy to find at ALA. So here you go: https://www.ala.org/sites/default/fil...

I see some that are potentially offensive to some people who like to ban books, but I don't want to fill up this thread with that discussion.

I do not, actually, see any that seem to be influenced by the events caused by 9-11. My guess is that it's not something very many kids were directly affected by. And it's hard to explain to kids, too. I know there are a few non-Newbery books that refer to that era, though.

Well anyway, just something that occurred to me to wonder about.

Mainly I want to make sure, now, that my recommendation for Olive's Ocean doesn't get lost in the thread, so, this is me 'bumping' it. :)

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is a quick read and I found it fascinating. I have no idea if children would. I wouldn't have when I was young.

But I think more of our political and other leaders need to know more history. What I found amazing here is how little our social policy and other reactions have changed in the years since. We still don't know enough science, either, or have the sense to trust our scientists more.

The need for quarantine balanced against the 'disruption' of commerce & city business sure rings a bill while we try to achieve a recovery from the disruption of Covid-19.

"The science of medicine at the end of the 18th century still relied a great deal on ancient myths and folk remedies. Because of this, people did not automatically reject the opinion of someone simply because that person wasn't a trained doctor."

Also I learned stuff I didn't know. For example how like ordinary people George Washington and the other founding fathers lived... they were decidedly *not* revered! And Washington trying to figure out how to help France, in return for their help in our revolution, without bankrupting our new nation.

Most of the people really did want to do good. The mayor, Matthew Clarkson, and a committee borrowed money on their own credit to pay to fight the plague. The Free African Society, black people, organized and served all, including whites, even after they started coming down with the disease.

Benjamin P. Morgan is a bad guy who sound like one of the people who are upset at Georgia's Democratic successes of 2020 and wants to restrict voting to "respectable inhabitants" (the ones who fled the city for their country homes...).

The last chapter is titled "A Modern-Day Time Bomb." Mosquitos evolve to be resistant to pesticides in just seven years. "It is a struggle with no real end."

Excellent source notes and an index.

Cheryl wrote: "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is a quick read and I found it fascinating. I have no idea if children would. I wouldn't have whe..."

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is on Open Library (and thus far, I agree that this is a really great book and one that I definitely would have enjoyed as a young reader).

Oh, and if you are interested in the history of plagues and epidemics, History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics is great and also analyses the 1793 yellow fever epidemic.

Coincidentally I just added a bunch of History Smashers to my list, planned for August or Sept.

Cheryl wrote: "Coincidentally I just added a bunch of History Smashers to my list, planned for August or Sept."

I hope you enjoy the series, I sure have.

I tried to read and get into The Tale of Despereaux, but no, this was and is not a story for me, and I was basically too annoyed to keep reading and not really interested in posting a review (which would probably be two stars for imaginativeness, but well, I generally do not enjoy tales featuring mice all that much anyhow and I found the narration condescending and talking down to in particular my inner child). Really do not understand how and why The Tale of Despereaux was considered as worthy of winning the Newbery Award, and I agree with Cheryl that both of the honour books, that Olive's Ocean and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (both of which I am currently reading and very much enjoying) are in my opinion vastly superior to The Tale of Despereaux).

An American Plague
Well, I didn't get it read in May, but I did read it this month. Very informative, and terrifying. It is illustrated with a myriad of period drawings and several pages from newspapers of the time. The author also includes later efforts to determine what causes yellow fever and the progress made in that regard. But the author also informs that (at least as of the publication of this book) there is no cure for yellow fever. (Yikes!) The book concludes with an extensive bibliography and an index.

Good point. Yay for vaccines! "There is no medicine to treat yellow fever. However, a vaccine is available to prevent disease." "Among those who develop severe disease, 30-60% die.