The book I read is The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.
Fiction
Farthng by Jo Walton
Complex novel - alternative histories (fiction)
Allies did not win WWII and Charles Lindbergh is President of the U.S.
I'd recommend this title if the reader had enjoyed or selected The Plot Against America because of the historical storyline and an alternative history. The two books cover the same time period and have the same U.S. President although Farthing is set in England.
Other Fiction by Philip Roth
I'd recommend that the reader try other Roth novels if he enjoyed the writing style
and is interested in literary fiction.
I would recommend the Handmaid's Tale by M. Atwood. This was a member recommendation on LibraryThing for other reads for readers of The Plot Against America and qualifies as literary fiction if that is what my reader was interested in. I'd describe the book or show the reader a review or LibraryThing entry.
Nonfiction
I think part of the interest in Roth's book is who became president so I would recommend a biography of Charles Lindbergh. One choice would be Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg.
If someone wanted to read a "serious" nonfiction account (nonfiction comparable to literary fiction) of what life was like and how it changed under Hitler and the Nazis, this would be one choice especially how life changed for Jewish people but also for the whole society, I would recommend:
I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941 (Modern Library…
by Victor Klemperer. Klemperer was in Germany during this time as the title suggests. By reading this book, the reader will see the reasons why/ the
context to the fears the Roth family in New Jersey in Plot have regarding
what will happen to them in an America that is pro-Hitler. Other NF books exist on this topic, of course, if this is not the right choice for my reader.
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Christian Fiction Reader Recommendations
What 4 books would I recommend to my reader: I read the Covenant by Beverly Lewis, the first in the series.
(fiction) 1: If the reader enjoyed the Lewis book and in particular this series, I would certainly recommend the next book in that series or all the 5 books in the series.
(ficiton) 2: If she liked the writing but wanted to try something else -- not about the Amish, I could recommend other Lewis books/series.
(fiction choices 3 & 4) If she liked the Amish, I would recommend the following 2 authors based on LJ: Kim Vogel Sawyer and Wanda Brunstetter. There are a number of books to try, including series to try. Where the Heart Leads may resonate with the reader of the Covenant because of plot, in which two of the sisters take different paths in terms of choices related to their religion and Amish culture -- whether to stay or go out among "the English."
From Christian Fiction
By Tamara Butler -- Library Journal, 9/1/2008:
"Sawyer, Kim Vogel. Where the Heart Leads. Bethany. Sept. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-7642-0263-6. pap. $13.99. CF
Featuring characters from Waiting for Summer's Return and set in the early 20th century, Sawyer's new novel follows Thomas Ollenburger as he graduates from college and has to decide whether to return to his Mennonite roots in Kansas or build his future in Boston. Making his choices more difficult are the two girls he cares about in each place. Thomas will need to rely on his God to help him make the biggest decision of his young life. Along with Beverly Lewis and Wanda E. Brunstetter, Sawyer is one of the top authors writing about Amish and Mennonite cultures, and she clearly portrays the positive and negative elements of living in strict observance of their beliefs. Recommended for public libraries."
nonfiction recommendation (1):
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Kraybill, Donald B. (author) and Steven M. Nolt (author) and others.
Sept. 2007. 288p. Wiley,
If the reader is interested in current events related to the Amish, I would recommend this book although make clear what it is about - the tragic deaths of real Amish schoolchildren. And let the reader read thru the following review: Booklist
Review of 9/1/2007 by June Sawyers:
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Kraybill, Donald B. (author) and Steven M. Nolt (author) and others.
Sept. 2007. 288p. Wiley, hardcover, $24.95 (0-7879-9761-7). 364.152.
REVIEW. First published September 1, 2007 (Booklist).
Review of 9/1/2007 by June Sawyers:
The crime—shooting innocent schoolchildren in a one-room schoolhouse—was shockingly vicious. More shocking, virtually incredible, was where it happened, in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, commonly associated with bucolic tranquility, not gun violence. This remarkable book explains, exceedingly well, Amish reaction to the horrific Nickel Mines shootings. The outside world was gravely taken aback by the Amish response of forgiveness. Some in the media criticized the Amish as naive and hypocritical (didn’t they shun members of their own community?), but most simply couldn’t understand the Amish concept of forgiveness as unmerited gift. How could they forgive humanly embodied evil? The authors, all authorities on Amish culture, emphasize that the Amish response reflected the sect’s heritage and deeply embedded faith. They distinguish forgiveness from pardon and reconciliation. Forgiveness relinquishes the right to vengeance, while pardon forfeits punishment altogether, and reconciliation restores the relationship of victim and offender or creates a new one. They discuss the shooting mercifully straightforwardly before exploring the broader perspectives of forgiveness and concluding with reflections on the meaning of forgiveness. At times difficult to read, this anguished and devastating account of a national tragedy and a hopeful, life-affirming lesson in how to live is itself a marvel of grace.
This second book, Plain Secrets, might be more appealing to readers interested in the Amish but not want to read the book mentioned above about the killing of children. I think Plain Secrets would be a book I would enjoy:
Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish.
Mackall, Joe (author).
June 2007. 256p. Beacon, hardcover, $24.95 (9780807010648). 289.7.
Again with a review by June Sawyers, 6/1/2007, Booklist:
As this wonderful and enlightening book makes clear, the Amish are hardly a monolithic group. Actually, there are many different orders of Amish. The decidedly non-Amish Mackall has lived among the Swartzentruber Amish of Ashland County, Ohio, for more than 16 years. The Swartzentruber are considered the most conservative Amish, eschewing gas, electricity, and indoor plumbing. Even their ubiquitous buggies are driven without lights. Over the years, Mackall developed a friendship with the Shetler family, and Plain Secrets is an affectionate portrait of a family as well as a way of life. Some stereotype and romanticize the Amish, saying they represent an ideal, preindustrial American community. Others sensationalize them as backward religious fanatics. Mackall knows the Shetlers as persons, not cardboard figures, and he has readers get to know them as persons, too. His is hardly black-and-white portraiture. The Amish he writes about are as complex and flawed as any non-Amish. Although he admires their connection to the land and devotion to family, he is conflicted about the future of Amish girls, who live under a resolutely patriarchal household regime, in particular. This is a loving portrait, warts and all, of an often-misunderstood people.
— June Sawyers
P.S. I found these 2 titles by doing an Advanced search in Booklist Online, searching Amish, nonfiction, adult and starred review.
Also for nonfiction: I would pull these books for the person to look at if he/she was interested in the Amish in Wisconsin: I found them by searching Amish and Wisconsin in our webcat. I also see they are by one publisher, which I should investigate.
Amish assimilation : a changing culture / Richard Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2007.
Amish journey in contentment : an anecdotal journal / Richard Lee Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2005.
Amish in Wisconsin : an anecdotal journal / Richard Lee Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2003.
(fiction) 1: If the reader enjoyed the Lewis book and in particular this series, I would certainly recommend the next book in that series or all the 5 books in the series.
(ficiton) 2: If she liked the writing but wanted to try something else -- not about the Amish, I could recommend other Lewis books/series.
(fiction choices 3 & 4) If she liked the Amish, I would recommend the following 2 authors based on LJ: Kim Vogel Sawyer and Wanda Brunstetter. There are a number of books to try, including series to try. Where the Heart Leads may resonate with the reader of the Covenant because of plot, in which two of the sisters take different paths in terms of choices related to their religion and Amish culture -- whether to stay or go out among "the English."
From Christian Fiction
By Tamara Butler -- Library Journal, 9/1/2008:
"Sawyer, Kim Vogel. Where the Heart Leads. Bethany. Sept. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-7642-0263-6. pap. $13.99. CF
Featuring characters from Waiting for Summer's Return and set in the early 20th century, Sawyer's new novel follows Thomas Ollenburger as he graduates from college and has to decide whether to return to his Mennonite roots in Kansas or build his future in Boston. Making his choices more difficult are the two girls he cares about in each place. Thomas will need to rely on his God to help him make the biggest decision of his young life. Along with Beverly Lewis and Wanda E. Brunstetter, Sawyer is one of the top authors writing about Amish and Mennonite cultures, and she clearly portrays the positive and negative elements of living in strict observance of their beliefs. Recommended for public libraries."
nonfiction recommendation (1):
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Kraybill, Donald B. (author) and Steven M. Nolt (author) and others.
Sept. 2007. 288p. Wiley,
If the reader is interested in current events related to the Amish, I would recommend this book although make clear what it is about - the tragic deaths of real Amish schoolchildren. And let the reader read thru the following review: Booklist
Review of 9/1/2007 by June Sawyers:
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Kraybill, Donald B. (author) and Steven M. Nolt (author) and others.
Sept. 2007. 288p. Wiley, hardcover, $24.95 (0-7879-9761-7). 364.152.
REVIEW. First published September 1, 2007 (Booklist).
Review of 9/1/2007 by June Sawyers:
The crime—shooting innocent schoolchildren in a one-room schoolhouse—was shockingly vicious. More shocking, virtually incredible, was where it happened, in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, commonly associated with bucolic tranquility, not gun violence. This remarkable book explains, exceedingly well, Amish reaction to the horrific Nickel Mines shootings. The outside world was gravely taken aback by the Amish response of forgiveness. Some in the media criticized the Amish as naive and hypocritical (didn’t they shun members of their own community?), but most simply couldn’t understand the Amish concept of forgiveness as unmerited gift. How could they forgive humanly embodied evil? The authors, all authorities on Amish culture, emphasize that the Amish response reflected the sect’s heritage and deeply embedded faith. They distinguish forgiveness from pardon and reconciliation. Forgiveness relinquishes the right to vengeance, while pardon forfeits punishment altogether, and reconciliation restores the relationship of victim and offender or creates a new one. They discuss the shooting mercifully straightforwardly before exploring the broader perspectives of forgiveness and concluding with reflections on the meaning of forgiveness. At times difficult to read, this anguished and devastating account of a national tragedy and a hopeful, life-affirming lesson in how to live is itself a marvel of grace.
This second book, Plain Secrets, might be more appealing to readers interested in the Amish but not want to read the book mentioned above about the killing of children. I think Plain Secrets would be a book I would enjoy:
Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish.
Mackall, Joe (author).
June 2007. 256p. Beacon, hardcover, $24.95 (9780807010648). 289.7.
Again with a review by June Sawyers, 6/1/2007, Booklist:
As this wonderful and enlightening book makes clear, the Amish are hardly a monolithic group. Actually, there are many different orders of Amish. The decidedly non-Amish Mackall has lived among the Swartzentruber Amish of Ashland County, Ohio, for more than 16 years. The Swartzentruber are considered the most conservative Amish, eschewing gas, electricity, and indoor plumbing. Even their ubiquitous buggies are driven without lights. Over the years, Mackall developed a friendship with the Shetler family, and Plain Secrets is an affectionate portrait of a family as well as a way of life. Some stereotype and romanticize the Amish, saying they represent an ideal, preindustrial American community. Others sensationalize them as backward religious fanatics. Mackall knows the Shetlers as persons, not cardboard figures, and he has readers get to know them as persons, too. His is hardly black-and-white portraiture. The Amish he writes about are as complex and flawed as any non-Amish. Although he admires their connection to the land and devotion to family, he is conflicted about the future of Amish girls, who live under a resolutely patriarchal household regime, in particular. This is a loving portrait, warts and all, of an often-misunderstood people.
— June Sawyers
P.S. I found these 2 titles by doing an Advanced search in Booklist Online, searching Amish, nonfiction, adult and starred review.
Also for nonfiction: I would pull these books for the person to look at if he/she was interested in the Amish in Wisconsin: I found them by searching Amish and Wisconsin in our webcat. I also see they are by one publisher, which I should investigate.
Amish assimilation : a changing culture / Richard Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2007.
Amish journey in contentment : an anecdotal journal / Richard Lee Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2005.
Amish in Wisconsin : an anecdotal journal / Richard Lee Dawley.
New Berlin, Wis. : Amish Insight, c2003.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Graphic Novels Reader Recommendations
Read Deogratias A Tale of Rwanda a graphic novel
Reader Recommendations - for this unit I'm separating graphic novel and "regular" book recommendations. I admit to being a little confused by applying "graphic novel" to fiction and nonfiction but that is the label I'm finding in various places!
GRAPHIC NOVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:
If the reader wanted a graphic novel also about Africa,Irecommend the award-winning Aya, by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie. The book is about Africa and involves a teenage girl and her friends and family. There isn't the horror as found in the GN about Rwanda. Indeed the author of Aya, when interviewed said she intentionally wanted to show an Africa without famine or war.
The book is lighter in storyline, is humorous and described as a fun read, and has light, vibrant, colorful illustrations. As to location and time, this takes place in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s. There's a second book about Aya if the reader enjoys this. I enjoyed Aya very much and did read it as a contrast to the harrowing tale of Rwanda.
If the reader was interested in other graphic novels that dealt with historic events and would be educational but didn't need to deal with Africa or the 1990's: I would recommend:
The Pulitizer Prize winning classic graphic novel, Maus, about the Holocaust.
Another GN I would recommend is Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, which is about an Iranian girl from 10-14 yrs (so you'd have the youth interest if a teen wanted another GN or an adult was interested in stories with teens/tweens) who is there during the Iranian revolution in the 1970s and whose family escapes Iran during the Iraq/Iran War.
"Regular" book recommendations:
I'd recommend Over a Thousand Hills by Hanna Jansen. For someone interested in more on the Rwanda genocide and focus on a child (8 during genocide so younger than teen) and suitable for Grade 9-up per SLJ. Jansen's book is a ficionalized biography of an 8 year girl who was the only member of her family to survive.
Although not a graphic novel, this would be of interest to readers, particularly teens, since a child is the focus. It also has the same setting Rwanda and the storyline - the genocide in Rwanda.
Review from Teen Ink website: Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You by Hanna Jansen
This inspirational book is based on the true story of Jeanne, who is caught in a war of ethnicities in Rwanda. The trials Jeanne endured are shocking; she was only eight when the atrocities occurred. Jeanne experiences the deaths of her mother and brother, which are forever engrained in her memory.
The root of the Rwandan genocide is ethnic violence between the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsis were hunted down and betrayed by their neighbors and friends, the Hutus. And so Jeanne learns whom she can and cannot trust.
Through many trials of doubt Jeanne becomes wise for her age. The story is told by Jeanne’s adoptive mother, who graciously becomes her guardian. This book showcases the will of a girl to survive and overcome the past to create a positive future.
This piece has also been published in Teen Ink's monthly magazine.
NONFICTION Books for adults
A 2008 book by foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer, A Thousand Hills:Rwanda's Rebirth anf the Man Who Dreamed It, would update the reader on what's currently happening in Rwanda if that's what the reader asked me for. Kinzer describes progress and the country's President, Paul Kagame. A PW reviewer expresses some caution -- that Kinzer may be too optimistic about the country's rebirth and Kagame.
Recommendation: Nonfiction Book
And not to be too confusing with another Thousand Hills title!!!!!!
An older book but well worth reading:
Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Carr, Rosamund Halsey (Author), with Halsey, Ann Howard
Carr describes her life as a young bride who ends up in Africa and stays even after her divorce. Her love of Africa and the people is warmly portrayed. She knew Tutsis and Hutus and both ethnic groups worked on her African "farm." It was shocking to her and is to the reader to see the rapid descent into violence and how Tutsis and Hutus who worked together amd were neighbors quickly turned into enemies and engaged in shocking violence. Obviously, this is a book I read and could describe it to the reader -- if the reader wants to read about Africa, know more about the history of Rwanda, read an eyewitness account of the violence, this would be an excellent book. It's also an account by an adult and by an outsider--non-African who grew to love Africa if these would be appeals for the reader.
Reader Recommendations - for this unit I'm separating graphic novel and "regular" book recommendations. I admit to being a little confused by applying "graphic novel" to fiction and nonfiction but that is the label I'm finding in various places!
GRAPHIC NOVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:
If the reader wanted a graphic novel also about Africa,Irecommend the award-winning Aya, by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie. The book is about Africa and involves a teenage girl and her friends and family. There isn't the horror as found in the GN about Rwanda. Indeed the author of Aya, when interviewed said she intentionally wanted to show an Africa without famine or war.
The book is lighter in storyline, is humorous and described as a fun read, and has light, vibrant, colorful illustrations. As to location and time, this takes place in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s. There's a second book about Aya if the reader enjoys this. I enjoyed Aya very much and did read it as a contrast to the harrowing tale of Rwanda.
If the reader was interested in other graphic novels that dealt with historic events and would be educational but didn't need to deal with Africa or the 1990's: I would recommend:
The Pulitizer Prize winning classic graphic novel, Maus, about the Holocaust.
Another GN I would recommend is Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, which is about an Iranian girl from 10-14 yrs (so you'd have the youth interest if a teen wanted another GN or an adult was interested in stories with teens/tweens) who is there during the Iranian revolution in the 1970s and whose family escapes Iran during the Iraq/Iran War.
"Regular" book recommendations:
I'd recommend Over a Thousand Hills by Hanna Jansen. For someone interested in more on the Rwanda genocide and focus on a child (8 during genocide so younger than teen) and suitable for Grade 9-up per SLJ. Jansen's book is a ficionalized biography of an 8 year girl who was the only member of her family to survive.
Although not a graphic novel, this would be of interest to readers, particularly teens, since a child is the focus. It also has the same setting Rwanda and the storyline - the genocide in Rwanda.
Review from Teen Ink website: Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You by Hanna Jansen
This inspirational book is based on the true story of Jeanne, who is caught in a war of ethnicities in Rwanda. The trials Jeanne endured are shocking; she was only eight when the atrocities occurred. Jeanne experiences the deaths of her mother and brother, which are forever engrained in her memory.
The root of the Rwandan genocide is ethnic violence between the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsis were hunted down and betrayed by their neighbors and friends, the Hutus. And so Jeanne learns whom she can and cannot trust.
Through many trials of doubt Jeanne becomes wise for her age. The story is told by Jeanne’s adoptive mother, who graciously becomes her guardian. This book showcases the will of a girl to survive and overcome the past to create a positive future.
This piece has also been published in Teen Ink's monthly magazine.
NONFICTION Books for adults
A 2008 book by foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer, A Thousand Hills:Rwanda's Rebirth anf the Man Who Dreamed It, would update the reader on what's currently happening in Rwanda if that's what the reader asked me for. Kinzer describes progress and the country's President, Paul Kagame. A PW reviewer expresses some caution -- that Kinzer may be too optimistic about the country's rebirth and Kagame.
Recommendation: Nonfiction Book
And not to be too confusing with another Thousand Hills title!!!!!!
An older book but well worth reading:
Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Carr, Rosamund Halsey (Author), with Halsey, Ann Howard
Carr describes her life as a young bride who ends up in Africa and stays even after her divorce. Her love of Africa and the people is warmly portrayed. She knew Tutsis and Hutus and both ethnic groups worked on her African "farm." It was shocking to her and is to the reader to see the rapid descent into violence and how Tutsis and Hutus who worked together amd were neighbors quickly turned into enemies and engaged in shocking violence. Obviously, this is a book I read and could describe it to the reader -- if the reader wants to read about Africa, know more about the history of Rwanda, read an eyewitness account of the violence, this would be an excellent book. It's also an account by an adult and by an outsider--non-African who grew to love Africa if these would be appeals for the reader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)