Tag Archives: History

YA – Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime

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Fleming, Candace. Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime. Anne Schwartz Books, 2022. 978-0-593-17742-6. 355 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12. 

Award winning author Candace Fleming is back with another top notch history title. This true crime history volume explores what was then known as the “Crime of the Century,” the kidnapping and murder of fourteen year old Bobby Franks in 1924 Chicago. The perpetrators of this horrendous crime were nineteen-year-old Nathan Leopold and his friend eighteen-year-old Richard Loeb. These intelligent and wealthy friends had become consumed with the idea of committing the “perfect crime.” They had planned for months to kidnap and murder a random youth, and fleece his frantic family out of a ransom payment. With their superior intellectual capabilities, they were sure they could outwit the local police. But their plan fell apart within days as a dropped pair of eyeglasses by their victim led police straight to their doors. Facing the death penalty, their wealthy families employed the services of one of the most gifted lawyers of the day, Clarence Darrow, in an attempt to spare their lives. The resulting courtroom drama captivated the nation. Fleming makes extensive use of primary sources, including newspaper excerpts, letters, police interviews, courtroom transcripts, and more to follow Leopold and Loeb from their troubled childhoods, to the chilling details of their beliefs and crime, and to the courtroom, where Darrow sought to spare them from the death penalty.

THOUGHTS: This historical true crime title will hold appeal for older teen readers who enjoy the genre of true crime (reading books, listening to podcasts, or watching television programs like Dateline). Students researching famous figures of the 1920s or the history of the death penalty in the U.S. also will find this volume a valuable resource.

364.1523 Crime          Elizabeth Henry, Lampeter-Strasburg SD

YA – I Could Not Do Otherwise: The Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

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Latta, Sara. I Could Not Do Otherwise: The Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Zest Books, 2022. 978-1-728-41391-4. 206 p. $29.99. Grades 9-12.

Author Sara Latta introduces readers to Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, an outspoken and pioneering woman of her times. Born in 1832, she was raised by progressive parents who believed in education for their daughters. They supported Mary’s dream of becoming a doctor, and she later graduated from Syracuse Medical College. She found work as a doctor, but also was passionate about other causes, including women’s dress reform. As a doctor, she believed that the tight corsets restricted freedom of movement, caused breathing problems, and contributed to other ailments. She advocated more practical styles of dress and wore a mid calf dress over trousers that reached her shoes. When the Civil War broke out, Dr. Walker turned her attention to helping wounded and sick soldiers. She worked for several years as a volunteer army doctor and later was commissioned into the army as a civilian contract surgeon. Taken as a prisoner of war while making rounds treating ill civilians, she was accused of being a spy and sent to a Confederate prison before being freed in a prisoner exchange. In 1865 she became the first (and only) woman ever awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. After the war, she continued her advocacy efforts, supporting veterans rights, female dress reform, women’s suffrage, and other causes. The text incorporates numerous primary sources, including newspaper articles, letters, and period photos and illustrations to tell Walker’s life story. 

THOUGHTS: Dr. Mary Walker led an amazing life and was quite well known in her time, but is little remembered today. This engaging biography hopefully will help to rectify this situation. This title will appeal to history fans and readers of biographies, as well as those researching the role of women in the Civil War or pioneers of women’s rights.

921 Biography          Elizabeth Henry, Lampeter-Strasburg SD

MG -The Bluest Sky

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Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. The Bluest Sky. Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. 978-0-593-37279-1. 314 p. $17.99. Grades 5-8.

Political unrest in the Communist government of 1980s Cuba made life in Havana a delicate balancing act. In public, people must support all government decisions or face retribution from friends and family through the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, but in private, people are secretly becoming disenfranchised with the Communist Party and the lack of freedom and opportunity in Communist Cuba. Hector’s father, a political dissenter who was jailed for speaking out against the government, was sent to the United States after serving time in prison, and now Hector’s mother is also considering leaving Cuba to reunite their family and build a new life away from Communism. When Hector’s grandmother, a fierce supporter of the Communist regime, finds out that his family may be leaving Cuba, she does everything in her power to make the family stay, and the terrible consequences of her actions spur Hector, his mother, and his brother Rodrigo to try to leave Cuba once and for all.

THOUGHTS: This book is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people in Cuba during the Mariel Boatlift, a time in Cuban history that was marked by economic problems, widespread protests, and political unrest throughout many segments of Cuban life. Hector and his family give context to the general upheaval of this time period and provide an emotional window into the plight of people who live under oppressive governments. Fans of popular historical fiction authors such as Alan Gratz and Jennifer Nielsen will love this exploration of a little-known period of Cuban and American history.

Historical Fiction          Erin Faulkner, Cumberland Valley SD

MG/YA – 100 African Americans Who Shaped History

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Beckner, Chrisanne. 100 African Americans Who Shaped History. Sourcebooks Explore, 2022. 978-0-912-51718-6, 112 p. $7.99. Grades 7-12. 

This slim volume contains 100 biographies of notable African American men and women who have influenced the course of United States history. Each biography contains a simple black and white drawing of the subject of the biography, a rough placement on a United States map to show where that person lived, and the birth and death dates at the top of the page. The biographies offer a good overview of the lives of these notable people, and bold-faced text on each page identifies achievements, places, or people who connect to the life being described. The table of contents includes a timeline sorting the biographies chronologically, and the index helps organize the bold-faced terms throughout the book.

THOUGHTS: This is an excellent volume for students who want to read brief descriptions of notable African Americans and would serve as a good overview or introduction to biography projects that focus on African American historical figures. The book is well-designed and organized, and the text is easy to read for casual nonfiction browsers. 

920 Collected Biography          Erin Faulkner, Cumberland Valley SD

MG/YA – World War I: The Great War to End All Wars

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Knutson, Julie. World War I: The Great War to End All Wars. Illustrated by Micah Rauch. Nomad Press, 2022. 118 p. $17.95 978-1-619-30972-2. Grades 5-12. 

As a title in the aptly named “Inquire and Investigate” series, Knutson presents World War I in all its complexity. The book opens with a timeline and a map to orient readers in the world before, during, and after the war. Illustrator Rauch’s characters guide readers by asking questions they might not think to ask; each chapter opens with these illustrations. QR codes are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, leading to primary sources, articles, photographs, and more. Nearly every page spread includes sidebars with critical thinking questions and QR codes linking to effective videos which deepen understanding. Ideas presented include propaganda, technological advances, experiences of nurses, soldiers and more on the Eastern and Western fronts, genocide, communism, nationalism, and neutrality. The readable text, combined with effective sidebars and photographs, draws in the reader to better understand this devastating war in which 9 million died and 12 million were wounded. 

THOUGHTS: Highly recommended for its success in making understandable a key time period in the history of the world, for engaging readers with sharp questions, and for pointing to helpful related resources. See nomadpress.net for full series list.

940.3 World War I          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD

MG – Ghostlight

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Oppel, Kenneth. Ghostlight. Alfred A. Knopf Book for Young Readers, 2022. 978-0-593-48793-8. 400 p. $17.99. Grades 4-6

Ghostlight begins with Rebecca Strand and her father who are keepers of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, and their death in 1839. Gabe tells the story of Rebecca and her father to every tour, embellishing the story and trying to make it sound scarier. Gabe doesn’t believe in ghosts and has no reason to, until he ends up meeting Rebecca. The true story of her death is stranger and more scary than anything that Gabe could have dreamed up, and Rebecca asks him to help her. It turns out that Rebecca and her father were members of an order whose job was to protect the local community from ghosts, and when they died it caused a ghost named Viker to cause havoc. It is now up to Gabe and his friends with the help of Rebecca to fight Viker and save the local community.

THOUGHTS: This was a unique middle grade mystery with relatable characters and a unique plot. Highly recommend this for any middle grade collection.

Mystery          Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy

MG – And We Rise

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Martin, Erica. And We Rise. Viking, 2022. 978-0-593-35252-6. 153 p. $17.99. Grades 5-8.

And We Rise is a debut poetry collection that centers on the Civil Rights Movement. The first poem focuses on 1877 and Jim Crow Laws, and goes through both small and large moments that happened in the Civil Rights Movement. There is an author’s note, as well as a timeline of the whole Civil Rights Movement. There is also a source list with some further reading included. The author also chose to put Martin Luther King Jr’s, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in full at the end of the book. The poems use the physical layout to tell the story as well as the poems themselves. 

THOUGHTS: This was an extremely powerful poetry book that is a must read for every middle school student. This book is highly recommended for every middle school collection. 

808 Poetry          Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy
323.1 Politics

Elem. – Time Capsule

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Redniss, Lauren. Time Capsule. Random House Kids, 2022. Unpaged. $18.99. 978-0-593-42593-0. Grades 3-6.

Redniss (author of National Book Award finalist Radioactive) turns her attention to time capsules as a way to remember history. The book has two parts. The first is a story of a present-day girl adding objects to her time capsule (readers could create reasons why she includes dice, a marble, a ticket….then a nightmare (about a terrible storm) and a dream (about outer space)). The second part is a ten-page author’s note which reads like a history of time capsules, then concludes with a bibliography alongside instructions on how to make a time capsule. With these two parts, the book seems designed for use with older elementary students curious about time capsules. 

THOUGHTS: For students wondering about time capsules and what they would include in their own. This seems well-suited as an introduction to history and social science mixed in our memories.

Picture Book          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD

YA – A Million Quiet Revolutions

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Gow, Robin. A Million Quiet Revolutions. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2022. 978-0-374-38841-6. 319 p. $18.99. Grades 11+.

A Million Quiet Revolutions is a novel in verse told from the perspectives of two young trans men, Aaron and Oliver, as they explore themselves, each other, and their relationship. In the first third of the book, Aaron moves away, and this causes a shift in their relationship as well as in Aaron’s life. The reader is not told explicitly; however, it is implied that the family moved due to a scandal involving Aaron’s older brother and the priest at the local church. Oliver has a fascination with history, and he decides that when Aaron moves away they should write letters to each other like soldiers did during the Revolutionary War. The novel in verse follows the two characters as they write letters and decide to meet up at a Revolutionary War reenactment and what that means for their relationship with each other, as well as their families. 

THOUGHTS: This is a powerful, hard hitting novel in verse that will move anyone who reads it. There are so many beautiful moments between these two characters, and there is so much growth with these them as well. Also, the plot of this book is Kutztown, PA which is fun to see local attractions mentioned throughout the story. This is a must have for any high school.

Realistic Fiction          Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy

YA – The National Parks: Preserving America’s Wild Places

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Koch, Falynn. The National Parks: Preserving America’s Wild Places. First Second, 2022. 978-1-250-26587-6. 120 p. $19.99. Grades 7-10.

A friendly Sasquatch is our guide through The National Parks, a recent entry in First Second’s History Comics series of graphic nonfiction for middle grade and teen readers. Today, our parks and national monuments successfully blend tourism with conservation of unique ecosystems (as well as history), but getting here was a circuitous path. When Congress established the National Park Service in 1916, it was in charge of thirteen national parks. Today the National Park System encompasses over 60 national parks and hundreds of additional federal park sites. In this conversational history of “America’s best idea” to preserve our wild places, author and illustrator Falynn Koch colorfully portrays the visionaries, politicians, Native Americans, wildlife, and occasional scoundrels who contributed to the evolution of our park system. She also addresses the forced removal of indigenous people from land that would eventually be parks: “If we don’t reexamine the past and face these grim truths, we can’t learn from them and make a better future” (92).

THOUGHTS: Rich with historical anecdotes and images of our varied parks, this one will have readers thinking, “The mountains are calling & I must go” (~ John Muir).

333 National Parks          Amy V. Pickett, Ridley SD