One criticism of the movie is that it didn't go into detail about the impact of the bombs when they were dropped on two Japanese cities in August 1945. Hiroshima by John Hersey was a groundbreaking work that revealed to the world in 1946 the devastation and suffering the bombs inflicted. Fallout by Lesley M.M. Blume goes behind the scenes of Hersey's efforts to tell that story despite intense pressure and censorship from the US government. The Bomb: Presidents, Generals and the Secret History of Nuclear War by Fred Kaplan takes us through the use of the first bombs and the nuclear arms race that's followed.
For Fans of Barbie There are a lot of great novels exploring relationships and identity with the same fun vibe as Barbie, but today's post focuses on nonfiction. Despite the comedy of the movie, there were some serious messages about finding your purpose, believing in yourself ("I am Kenough") and empowering girls and women. When Everything Changed: the Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to Today by Gail Collins explores the growth of women's rights and opportunities through 2008, when Hillary Clinton became the first woman to run for president. Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists by Mikki Kendall highlights key figures and events in the fight for women's rights. In Spinster: Making a Life of Own's One, author Kate Bolick considers how she and other women are choosing to remain single, defying the convention that once defied most women. Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya Lee Stone focuses on the stories of girls from around the world who found an escape from poverty through education. If you'd like to learn about the toy itself, try Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Made Her by Robin Gerber. It explores how Ruth Handler transformed the toy business and impacted American culture for generations.
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I read a lot of books about World War II, but usually not about specific battles or weapons. So I was surprised to find that I was completely engaged by Spearhead: an American tank gunner, his enemy and a collision of lives in World War II by Adam Makos. This nonfiction book, which the author adapted for young adults, could appeal to a lot of readers: those interested in armaments and weapons, those interested in the lives of soldiers and those interested in the ethical and moral dilemmas of war. The author follows a group of American tank operators and infantry fighting in Europe in 1944-1945, bringing them to life with details of their hometowns and personalities. You follow them into battle, cramped in the bellies of their lumbering tanks or dodging enemy fire while they ride on top. You're with them as they risk their lives, lose fellow soldiers who have become like family, and struggle with taking enemy lives. While the author spends time explaining the different types of tanks and military maneuvers, and paints riveting scenes of combat, the focus remains on the people fighting the war. This focus highlights the human toll of war, which I found especially relevant and heartbreaking in light of the current war in Ukraine. Despite the high-powered ammo and heavily armored tanks, often the weapons used in WWII offered the soldiers little protection. The sheer waste of life that comes with war came through very powerfully. Several chapters follow a young German tank soldier, the view from his side of the front lines, and his meeting with the “enemy” decades later. I have to admit that I finished reading about their reunion with tears in my eyes. If you like to read about the military or World War II, check out this book. It's about 300 pages, and includes pictures from the battlefield and the post-war reunion. Imagine if the government deemed you and your family a threat to national security. You’re told to pack what you can carry and report for relocation, not knowing if you’ll ever see your home, community or possessions again.
This is what happened to thousands of people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast after the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. While the United States had previously watched World War II from afar, the conflict now hit closer to home than ever imagined. The U.S. government turned its sights on possible spies and saboteurs within its own borders, focusing on Japanese Americans and immigrants. Some of these prisoners - referred to as internees or evacuees throughout history - were U.S. citizens. Some had lived in the country for decades, but hadn’t been allowed to become citizens because of immigration laws. Many had children born here, who were citizens no matter their parentage. Yet all were treated the same, their rights stripped from them because they looked like the enemy, imprisoned in isolated and inhospitable “internment camps” with uncertain futures. There have been many books written about this awful chapter in American history. One of the latest, We Are Not Free by Tracy Chee, is a moving novel sharing the stories of 14 teens from one San Francisco community. What I liked about this book is that it covers many different experiences: the Americanized teen trying to make the best of life in the camps, which offer dances and sports to counter the barbed wire and armed guards; the young man who enlists in the Army because he believes in America despite what it’s done to his family; the conflicted youth whose parents would rather return to Japan than deal with such poor treatment; the teens who protest the harsh living conditions. With a chapter told from the point of view of each character, the reader learns a lot more about the time period than they might from their history textbooks. While there may have been some cases where people of Japanese ancestry acted as spies in the war, most families who were imprisoned were innocent victims of bigotry and fear. The chapter about a young man named Twitchy is especially powerful, based on the real experiences of Japanese-American Army units who saw some of the toughest fighting of the war. If this topic interests you, here are a few more recommendations: The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell - While We are Not Free touches on the experience of imprisoned families facing deportation to Japan, this nonfiction book goes into much more depth. For one thing, it wasn’t just Japanese immigrants who were imprisoned in camps during World War II; there were Germans in America who were considered dangerous as well. When these immigrants - mostly men who pledged loyalty to the U.S. and were never charged with a crime - were jailed in camps, their wives and children would join them rather than struggle to survive on their own. If the men were deported, the children followed without question, even if they were born in America and therefore citizens. The author describes one such family that was sent to a Japanese city devastated by an atomic bomb; there were neither the resources nor the goodwill to welcome them and the family struggled to survive. Manzanar by John Armor and Peter Wright - In commentary by a journalist who covered World War II and stark black and white photographs, this nonfiction book details life in one of the largest prison camps for Japanese Americans. While the camps offered things like Boy Scout troops, dances and softball leagues, they also featured tall barbed wire fences and armed guards. Homes were crowded barracks that barely provided shelter from the harsh weather of the isolated mountain or desert regions where camps were built. Food was rationed, mail was censored, and prisoners lost hope. Internment by Samira Ahmed - Although fiction, the premise of this story feels a little too easy to imagine. It's the near future, and the U.S. government has imprisoned all Muslim-Americans in internment camps, including 17-year-old Layla and her family. Even though they are citizens, they are stripped of their rights and possessions and considered enemies of the state. This echoes what happened to Japanese-Americans during World War II. It also draws on the hate and fear directed at Muslims after the September 11th attacks committed by radicals in the name of their religion. This is a fast-paced, thrilling story of tolerance and reason triumphing over fear and hate. It also highlights the danger we face when we stay silent in the face of injustice. Zombie plagues have been the rage in TV, movies and books for years. But setting a Zombie plague during the American Civil War? Now that’s something new. Justina Ireland turns historical fiction on its head with her two-book series Dread Nation. Titled Rise Up and Deathless Divide, the books explore the racial, social and economic impacts of the ‘War Between the States’ and give new meaning to the term Reconstruction, the period of rebuilding and reunifying society after the war’s end. While no book involving zombies can be historically accurate, the stories build on the real people, events and issues of the time to highlight the brutality of slavery and the inequality that remained as the country moved forward – and westward. As the author explains in her notes, she wrote the books to give voice to characters often left out of history. The books focus on Jane and Katherine, two Black teens taken from their homes after the dead begin to rise during the Battle of Gettysburg. Like other children of their race, they are deemed inferior – and therefore expendable – and sent to boarding schools that train them to protect rich whites from the undead. (These boarding schools resembled the facilities that Native Americans were sent to in the 1800s, when the U.S. government stole their land and forced their assimilation) The girls excel in their training, but before they can be assigned to protect society ladies, they uncover a sinister plot to build a “utopia” to replace the Eastern cities falling to the zombie plague. This new community is founded on the principles of Jim Crow, the discriminatory laws that rose to continue the oppression of Blacks after slavery was abolished. This means Blacks have no rights and are assigned the most dangerous jobs and the worst living conditions. Tough-hearted and quick to temper, Jane resolves not just to survive, but to find an escape. Light-skinned and able to pass as White, Katherine plays along with the cruel society in order to help Jane’s plan to secure their freedom. There are tense battles, sorrowful deaths, cruel betrayals, heart-wrenching romances and epic friendships. And that’s just in book one. In the second book, the main characters venture west. Alive but forever changed, one seeks safety and peace while the other pursues vengeance. The books are a unique way to explore the issues of American history including slavery and Reconstruction, the government’s treatment of Native Americans, the cultural clashes that came with waves of immigration, expansion of the western frontier, and the search for the “American dream.” But if you aren’t really interested in the history, the books aren’t slowed down by it. The series provides enough action and adventure for any reader. After a much too-lengthy hiatus, I'm back with new reviews. My goal is to post a few each week to help HHS students and staff discover books that might interest them. Some connect to current events, whether the pandemic we're coping with or the racial justice movement sweeping the country. Others may be ways to escape real life.
A timely read that I recently finished was The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. Written by a Civil Rights lawyer, this nonfiction book explores how our legal system‘s decades-old War on Drugs has unfairly impacted African Americans, leading to more arrests and harsher punishments than white drug users have faced. It compares the restrictions that ex-cons face after release - limits on voting, jobs, low-income housing, and more - to the Jim Crow laws that oppressed Blacks after slavery was abolished. It is an eye-opening, disheartening look at an often unjust justice system. It pairs well with When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matters Memoir by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors. This short memoir recounts the experiences of one of the founders of BLM. Growing up in an impoverished minority community, Patrisse's brother was targeted by police and, once in the system, he was unable to find jobs, housing and health care that would help him get back on his feet. As a result, he often ended up back in jail, in a system that seemed to criminalize - instead of treat - his mental illness. The memoir makes the case for more social services and fewer prisons, and sheds light one of the biggest activist groups operating today. For a break from the world's challenges, I turned to Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Angram, the actress who played the child villain of the classic TV show Little House on the Prairie. A funny memoir about growing up in Hollywood, coping with the real-life hatred of the show’s fans and hitting your professional peak as a teen. It’s also a story of the resilience of the author, who has become an activist for sexual abuse survivors. For science fans, I recommend Spook by Mary Roach, a nonfiction exploration of the afterlife, by a writer who humorously focuses on science topics you won’t see in textbooks. She’s also written about life in space (Packing for Mars), death and dead bodies (Stiff - my favorite), the human body (Gulp) and going to war (Grunt). She’s irreverent and engaging, but also can be a little graphic for some readers. For example, in Stiff, Roach visits a place where dead bodies are buried so scientists can study decomposition, which could help police determine how long ago someone died. In Packing for Mars, she discusses how we'd handle certain bodily functions during the months-long spaceflight to the planet. It's not often that I'm surprised by a book, but Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders is unlike anything I've ever read before. Part historical fiction, part supernatural fantasy, Bardo breaks free from the traditional format of a novel to tell the story of how Lincoln is haunted - and changed - by the death of his young son during the Civil War. The author takes two very different tacts in alternating chapters. About half of the novel takes place in the cemetery where Willie Lincoln is buried, populated by the spirits of dozens of other colorful characters who have not yet passed on to Heaven or Hell. While these spirits tell their stories, they're encouraging Willie to move on, but Willie lingers, confused, hoping his father will return to bring him home. This part of the novel is pure imagination, whimsical in the quirks that each character is given and the rules the society follows. These chapters reminded me of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The rest of the novel is historical fiction, but instead of researching and imagining the people and events, the author uses excerpts from primary documents. The author quotes the letters of White House maids and politicians as well as news accounts and books of the time. These excerpts, each followed by a short citation, tell the story in the real words of the people who lived. This is harder than just doing research and summarizing; this requires poring through countless documents, picking out just the right pieces and putting them together in a way that makes sense. Iwas awed by the task the author undertook as well as the story that was told. For the first chapter or two, I was a little confused by who was speaking. But I soon was drawn into the story and accustomed to the unique structure. If you like history, especially Lincoln and the Civil War, this novel will fascinate you as it shows how a personal tragedy became a turning point for Lincoln's policies. If you like fantasy that explores what happens after death, this book offers a lot for you as well. |
AuthorMrs. McHugh is a librarian and instructional technology specialist. She loves talking books and pop culture with her students at Hanover High School. Archives
February 2024
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