The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed

One of my many plans for school this year with the kids includes teaching them about some real-life heroes and heroines from history. Particularly with Clarissa, I'd like to point out how many female heroines begin to emerge in a world that had hitherto been a man's world. We have already explored such characters as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton. Some others we plan to discuss are: Florence Nightingale, Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Anne Frank, and Rosa Parks. In thinking about women heroines, I have also enjoyed reading fiction novels with female main characters. I just finished a wonderful book called The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed about a teenaged girl who accompanies her father on a whaling expedition in the 1850's. Due to the recent death of her mother, Patience and her little brother find themselves torn away from Nantucket Island and all they hold dear as they follow their father out to see. Patience has many qualities, but patience is not one of them. She is a spirited, intelligent, strong-willed girl in a man's world. This tells of her struggle to find love and family amongst hardened sailors while practicing her mathematical skills of navigation. As I read more books about adventures at sea, I find them fascinating. I am really looking forward to our upcoming family vacation to Nantucket and Boston, but hope that we will meet with less adventure than Patience did in this book as grappling with pirates and being tossed about in a Cape Horn storm is not my idea of fun.

Thimble Summer

After reading so many war books, I needed something light and fun. Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright was my book of choice. All I really knew about the book is that it was about a girl in Wisconsin in the early 1900's and all the things that happen to her one summer. This book was delightful. I like to describe it as a happy Charlotte's Web. I know everyone loves Charlotte's Web, but I personally find it depressing. Thimble Summer is not about a pig or a spider, but it does have a pig in it who wins a ribbon at the county fair. It also includes other classic farm-life stories such as swimming in the water hole, going to town and getting an ice cream cone, "running away" for the day, helping with the haying, and my favorite - getting locked inside the library after closing time. I loved that while I was reading this book, I could remember back to our summers in Wisconsin and imagine the sounds and smells that were described in the book. I loved the feelings of family unity that included not just immediate family, but neighbors and friends as well. Mostly, I loved that this book had a happy ending and that nobody died. How refreshing to know that somewhere in the world is a children's book where a girl or boy could be a hero in their own tale without having to lose their parents or anyone else they loved. What a gem!

More Civil War

As the kids and I began our school year with a unit study of the Civil War, I continued my quest to read as many books about the Civil War as I could before we finished the unit. After Across Five Aprils and Gods and Generals I began reading The Red Badge of Courage. Most books would be a dissapointment after the last two I had read, but determined to give this one it's fair chance, I kept reading through what seemed to me to be endless sniveling and the insane ravings of a young soldiers mind. I had just resigned myself to finding absolutely no detailed description of battles or any other events that happen in a war, when the main character stumbled upon a dead soldier who had been dead for days. The author, Stephen Crane, who had yet to describe any tangible scene, painted a picture of this dead soldier that was so gruesome and vivid in detail that I actually had nightmares the night I read about it and it took me a couple days before I dared to pick the book up again. Most people who know me, know that I don't get grossed out easily: when we dissected owl pellets in fifth grade, I was the one who had to pull the rodent parts out of the regurgitated pellets for all the boys in the class who refused to touch them; in High School Biology class, I was delighted to find that my frog had some cancerous cells bulging out of it's guts and gladly volunteered to be the one to remove them as my lab partner (male) could not stomach the thought; finally, in college when I was struggling with my grades in every other class, I got an A+ in Human Anatomy because I found myself in the cadaver lab at any available time slot; however, this one scene described in a book grossed me out! So much so that I lost any tiny bit of interest that I had in the book and about three quarters of the way through it decided that it just wasn't worth my time. Apparently not all "classics" are classy.

On the flip side, as I had droned on and on trying to get through The Red Badge of Courage, I was really looking forward to starting The House of Dies Drear. Maybe it was because I used to be a mystery novel junkie as a kid and it's been that long since I've read a mystery novel, but I was very intrigued by the idea of this book. The House of Dies Drear is not set in the time of the Civil War, but is about a family who purchases a home that was part of the Underground Railroad and is rumored to be haunted by the slaves who were captured and killed nearby. After the first five or so chapters, I was scared out of my pants, and couldn't stop reading. I was loving it. I remember the next day when I saw my friend, I was so excited to tell her about how great the book was. I will say that the second half of the book wasn't as good as the first half, it actually got a little weird, but it was still a really good book for teenagers who enjoy history and mystery. I appreciated the little bits of information about the Underground Railroad that were woven into the story, as the kids and I had really enjoyed that part of our Civil War unit.

In summary, I would not really recommend The Red Badge of Courage to anyone, especially not the faint at heart, and I would recommend The House of Dies Drear to teenagers or older children who can handle a little bit of scary drama. But, for learning about the Civil War, there is nothing like Gods and Generals and I look forward to reading it's sequel, Fallen Angels, someday when I have a little more time.

The Secret Garden

Now that we are back in school, it's Book Group time again. This year, rather than just do historical books, we decided to try a little bit different approach by going with a geographical theme. We had to stretch our imaginations a little to find classic children's books that were age appropriate but still covered different world wide geographical areas. For example, our first book this year was Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic, The Secret Garden. We decided that this book would count for both England and India as the main character, Mary Lennox, was born in India and often has memories about her life in India. Most of the book is set in England at the home of her uncle, Mr. Archibald Craven. I had read this book to Jared and Clarissa two years ago and they loved it. As with any good classic, they loved it again the second time and I hope they will read it again and again as there are so many layers of understanding to be discovered in it's pages. The day of book club, we met at a local park on a chilly, misty day in September; with weather not unlike that of the English moor, as one of the Moms pointed out. The Mom who was leading the group had several activities and discussions points prepared. The kids each colored their own secret garden spaces and then described how it made them feel and why they liked it. They also had the chance to spread wildflower seed all over the nearby butterfly garden in hopes of coming back in the Spring to see their flowers growing. The favorite activity by far was making their own miniature garden out of potting soil, moss, plastic animals, and any other items from nature they could find at the park. Jared, Amber, and Clarissa show off their gardens above (Krystal was there and made one, but wasn't in the mood for a photo).

Gods and Generals

Staying within the realm of the Civil War, but jumping to a non-fiction book, I just finished Gods and Generals - the saga of the war in the Virginia area during the first couple years of the war (when the South was still winning). It was excellent. It did take a little while to get into it as the beginning starts off with some background history of four different Generals. Each chapter is about a different man and at that point in the story their lives are not at all connected, so it is essentially like reading four different books at the same time (which I do frequently, but for some reason, this threw me off). Anyway, once I got to the part where their lives start to interact with each other, the story also became much more interesting. This in-depth look at the events behind the battles brought to ask many questions.
Growing up in California, far away from "The North" or "The South," I had only thought about this part of history as some abstract concept of a nation fighting over slavery. Furthermore, knowing that the North won and that slavery was abolished made it easy for me to assume that the cause of the North was obviously the right and just cause and that those fighting for the South were all misguided or ignorant. As I read about the lives of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and Robert E. Lee and their complete devotion to God and all things true and just, I had to reconsider my previous notions. I began to ask myself, what were these two righteous men fighting for, if not for slavery? As I further read about the inner struggles they faced about the idea of secession, I began to realize that their conviction was founded in the concept of state's rights. It's a fact that it is unconstitional for the federal government to make laws that can and should be made by the states. This realization led to a discussion between Chris and I about what was more important, the country following the constitution, or following just and virtuous principles. We finally concluded that although the states should have individually abolished slavery, Lincoln knew they never would and he knew that slavery, not being a virtuous principle would most certainly tear this nation apart. So, at the risk of deviating from the nation's standard, he chose the higher law of virtue and took the chance at war to eradicate slavery from this land and eventually it worked.
Going back to the book, just when I told Chris that it wasn't about specific battle details, the content of the book changed as the battles of Fredicksburg and Chancellorsville were described in minute detail. However, even being a woman who is proned to enjoy things soft and kind, not bloody and mean, I was enthralled by every single detail and hung on every word until the very death of General Jackson, at which point I bawled like a baby in true female fashion. Now I look forward to reading the book's sequel, Fallen Angels, in which the victory will turn from the South to the North and I hope I will continue to re-evaluate the notions that I had previously formed about this part of our nation's history.
As a side note, Chris and I also watch the movie God and Generals and although I enjoyed the movie, as is usual, it was not nearly as good as the book and Chris actually fell asleep several times during the viewing.

Across Five Aprils

This Newbery Honor book written by Irene Hunt is a historical fiction novel written during the time of the Civil War. It is excellent. I would recommend this book for ages 9 and older (having said that, I'm not sure I would have a 9 or 10 year old read it on their own, it might be a good read-together book just so that things could be discussed). Although any book about war is going to have some dark details, I think this book does a great job of dealing with the heavy issues surrounding the war and yet does not go into the gory details of battles. This is written from the point of view of a boy who is 9 years old at the beginning of the war and follows the hardships and growth that he experiences as he comes of age during this difficult time. It is set in Southern Illinois which setting promotes views from both the South and the North to be explored. I enjoyed how real the characters in the book were to me as I read it. I could feel the pain and the confusion of Jethro as he struggled with the issues at home while his brothers were off fighting. The historical details also seemed to be rather accurate and the author writes in the back of the book that most of the family events are true stories that were related to her by her grandfather. One of the things that really stands out for me is the sense of how far away from the rest of the world people were during the 1860's. With today's technology, we really do take for granted how difficult it was for families back then when it was months before they might hear news of their family members who were off in the war. Ultimately, I appreciate the authors reverance for an event that has affected Americans so deeply and took the lives of so many who fought for what they believed was right, in a time when it was difficult to tell which side was right or which was wrong.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy

My friend recommended this book, otherwise I never would have found it as it's not on any of the reading lists I look to for book recommendations. This is a children's novel that my three oldest really enjoyed. As the title suggests, it is about four sisters and their adventures while on summer vacation with their father. I was a little nervous that Jared would not like a book that has four sisters in it since he often has his hands full with three, but he loved it. The setting is a quaint cottage that is owned by the heartless Mrs. Tifton and shares the same land as her mansion, Arundel. Thank goodness for Jared, the "Very Interesting Boy" is introduced in the first chapter and plays an integral part in the story. While talking about this book to a friend, she asked me what genre it was and my answer was, "It's like Family Fun and Values". While I'm positive that's not an official literary genre, maybe it should be, because I've found that books that fit into this category are often the ones my children enjoy the most. Although there are some hints at fairy-taleish comparisons like: the prince, the wicked step-parent, the witch, and the impoverished townsfolk who eventually find themselves in the castle - this is a modern day story filled with things kids can relate to. My kids especially enjoyed the adventure with the bull, not that they have ever had a close encounter with a bull themselves, they just liked the suspense. A bonus for me is that I only got choked up once toward the end. It's so difficult to do a read-aloud when you're crying all the time. I recommend this as a fun summer read, or maybe a good winter read to chase away the blues. Oh, and as for the "Two Rabbits" mentioned in the title, I barely even noticed they were there, but it makes for a fun title.