Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood

All the feels

McMullan, James. Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood. Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin, 2014.

Plot: The descendent of well-to-do businessmen in China, Jimmy seems destined to be a happy, if timid, boy. Then rumors of war from Japan approached his home in Cheefoo. Jimmy and his mother get sent to the United States, while his father remains in China. While Jimmy moves across the world, his mother can no longer access the assets in China, causing her to rely more and more on family, good looks, and attractive personalities to provide for her and her son. Jimmy's father dies in China, just after the war ends. The boy must make his peace with loss, moving, and fear while learning about himself as he is, instead of who his parents want him to be.

Genre: History, Picture Books, Biography

Similar Titles: Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Personal Thoughts: The title has something strangely addicting to it. While I have mentioned grief can be difficult to convey effectively to tweens, the title is not purely sad. True, it has a lot of sad elements, including war, loss, and disappointment, but it does not rely on the emotional push of these elements. It is not a story of sorrow, but a story of a little boy trying to make sense of the world. McMullan writes appropriately for a young reader and does not gloss over genuinely difficult concepts, but he remains okay and he makes sure his audience knows it. In a weird but undeniable way, it is a story of hope.

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Freedman, Russel. Lincoln: A Photobiography. New York, N.Y. : Clarion Books, 1987.

Plot: The text follows the history of the man who became one of the country's most popular presidents...years after his assassination. Freedman notes the more famous aspects of Lincoln's life, such as his homely looks, quick wit, and humble beginnings. However, the author also notes the fact that the president suffered from personal loss and depression, partially caused by the scathing criticism he faced during his lifetime. Many people accused him of starting the Civil War, blundering through policies, and threatening the Constitution. Yet, he remained dedicated to his position, eventually signing the Emancipation Proclamation and changing the United States of America forever.

Genre: Biography, History

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles:  Lincoln Through the Lens: How Photography Revealed and Shaped an Extraordinary Life, Encyclopedia of American Studies

Personal Thoughts: Freedman manages to make Lincoln seem like a real person. Many biographies of the famous president seem to describe him as a near-immortal, while others seem to capture him in a series of facts and figures. The author, however, balances the faults, wit, flaws, successes, and beliefs of the man in a manner surprising and welcoming the reader to view the famous American as an actual human experiencing the highs and lows present in actual life.


The title won a Newbery Metal, Jefferson Cup Award, and Golden Kite Honor Book Award.

I highly recommend reading the title before Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter comes out this June. Yes, it is an actual movie. However, it may encourage movie-goers to actually learn something about someone often taken for granted, so I will reserve any additional comments for later.

The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West

Fleischman, Sid. The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West. New York : Greenwillow Books, 2008.

Plot: Fleischman focuses on the life of Mark Twain before the literary mastermind became well known. The son of a perpetually luckless man, Twain spend many of his formative years getting in and out of trouble. Eventually, he moved west with his brother, although neither ever received the legendary gold or silver supposedly lining the countryside. To avoid poverty, the former riverboat pilot took a variety of odd jobs, including a newspaper reporter. Eventually, his stories, written in the drawl of his native county, brought the country laughter. His fame only grew when he started public lectures. Eventually, he graduated to the novels making him world-renowned, although his fame outlasted his actual success.

Genre: History, Biography

Reading Level: Grades 4-9. Caution: some diction may be overly complex for less experienced readers.

Similar Titles: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Tom Sawyer

Personal Thoughts: Much of the text seemed to follow Twain's own style of writing. Instead of making the book endearing, however, the diction made the novel difficult to read. Additionally, some important aspects of Twain's life, particularly the publications and responses to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, remain omitted. The text could gain important sympathy and significance if Fleischman noted the controversy surrounding the novels at their publication, particularly in light of the controversies surrounding them in modern times. Twain's later life also fails to find mention. As a result, the first half of Mark Twain's seventy-four year life finds ample description, while Fleischman attempts to shove the remainder in the last chapter.

The book includes a copy of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country and a timeline of Samuel Clemen's life.

Crazy Horse

St. George, Judith. Crazy Horse. New York : Putnam's, 1994.

Plot: The novel reviews the life story of an enigmatic character from one of the ugliest chapters in United States history. A warrior leader during the westward expansion, the Sioux man braved the repeated attacks of the U.S. army and other tribes to protect his people and their livelihoods. However, war did not provide the only threat. Disease, famine, terrible weather, and shattered alliances cost Crazy Horse his friends, his family, and, eventually, his life. A solid attempt to relay the heroic but tragic story of a Sioux hero.

Genre: History, Biography

Reading Level: Grades 4-8. Please keep in mind, this is the story of a fighter during several wars, so caution sensitive readers.

Similar Titles: So You Want to Be President?, Sitting Bull: Dakota Boy

Personal Thoughts: The title attempts to narrate the story an indescribable person and a surreal situation. St. George takes several pages from the introduction and epilogue to explain how many accounts of Crazy Horse's life conflict with each other. However, she does not explain how they differ in the actual text. The battles find ample description, but assumed motivations and guessed emotions surround information of the actual events. Additionally, she does not site her sources especially well, causing the reader to scramble for secondary sources. To her credit, she resists the temptation to make all Sioux members flawless and all White people villainous, noting compassionate generals and jealous chieftains. Overall, the book attempts to act as a resource about a highly controversial figure during a highly controversial time. By describing the conflict in more detail and less emotion, St. George could improve readers' overall understanding of the people and situations in Crazy Horse's life.

Little House on the Prairie

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.


Plot: The big woods provided the Ingalls family with a home for many years. Yet, their world steadily becomes more and more crowded. Eager to find a space of their own, the family travels west, to the newly opened territories in the great plains. While they have a few neighbors to rely on, Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary, and Carrie adjust to the spacious, fertile land. However, the land also contains challenges. Disease, wild animals, political changes, and isolation threaten the little family. Eventually, the pull of the challenges draw the family into a new home, in a little town.

Genre: Biography, History, Adventure

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Similar Titles: Little Town on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods

Personal Thoughts: As mentioned last week, we will focus on assigned reading this week.


At the risk of dating myself, the book was part of the yearly curriculum when I was in the fifth grade. Since then, many schools have abandoned it, primarily due to the insensitive manner the family utilizes when addressing Native Americans and the western expansion of the United States. While I understand the justification of the ban, I do not think reading the book made me less sympathetic to Native Americans. In the fifth grade, I did not really notice the Native Americans. Instead, I was shocked to find out mosquitoes carry disease, Westerners said Santa rode a mule, and the girls were not allowed to sing at the table (just like me). As mentioned in my review of Little House in the Big Woods, such books remind readers of the "everyday" people of history.

I think the book could still be used as a teaching device. A few publishers now offer selected chapters of the novel in book form, allowing teachers to avoid questionable material. Reading the entire book could work as well, if another novel presenting the Native American's version of the "frontier days" was read as well. If done correctly, such a comparison could allow readers to gain a better idea of history instead of merely assigning "good" or "bad" labels to a people group. Such work, though, will require creativity and tact from the teacher.

All Creatures Great and Small

Herriot, James. All Creatures Great and Small. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1972.

Plot: Alf Wight, under the pen name James Herriot, reflects on his first few years as a veterinarian in pre-WWII Yorkshire. While much of his expertise relied on the quack remedies and educated guesses of the pre-antibiotic medical world, his experiences continue to resound with vets and animal lovers. His early adventures eventually guide him to "three cylinder" cows, bossy farm wives, escaping chickens, fainting cowman, dying horses, grumpy pigs, lovable lapdogs, and his wife. 

Genre: Veterinarians, Animals, Biography

Reading Level: I started reading this in middle school, but some situations and technical terms may be ill-suited for the sensitive and squeamish.

Similar Titles: All Things Bright and Beautiful, Hero of the Herd, While You're Here, Doc: Farmyard Adventures of a Maine Veterinarian

Personal Thoughts: A must-read for animal lovers. The series seems to touch sentimentality of people who like animals. However, most of the reviews I read tend to ignore the grittier aspects of the book, such as the nature of the injuries or reactions of the owners. Veterinarians suffered (and continue to suffer) from the same degrees of frustration and joys as any other profession. Herriot addresses this fact, without becoming too mushy or too technical.

The series inspired a television program in 1972. It ran until 1990, and can still be found on DVD and NetFlix. 

Giants of Science: Marie Curie

Krull, Katherine and Boris Kulikov. Giants of Science: Marie Curie. New York : Viking Children's Book, 2007.

Plot: The book provides a biology for Marie Curie, one of the Western world's greatest female scientists. She displayed remarkable abilities in science as a child and eventually revolutionized physics and chemistry. With the help of her husband, she made amazing discoveries regarding radiation and radioactive materials. Perhaps her greatest contributions involved her work with radium. The work would eventually kill her. Like nearly all people at the time, she did not use protective equipment when working with highly radioactive materials. Until recently, researchers needed to sign wavers before using her notes, due to the high levels of radiation they released. Still, she remains a giant of science.

Genre: Biography, Science

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Similar Titles: Giants of Science series, The Lives of series

Personal Thoughts: The biography offers a solid introduction to historical and scientific concepts. Yet, I like how it presents women best. Marie Curie was not a feminist, yet she managed to show she could contribute to a male-dominated portion of society. I think readers benefit from such an example. She was not trying to be a political or social revolutionist. Curie was just a patriotic Polish scientist determined to understand a bizarre material. Yet, through doing what she enjoyed, her contributions began to change how the science community viewed women. I like that.