YA Informational Books

 Young Adult Informational Books

Fleming, C. (2020). The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh. Schwartz & Wade. ISBN 9780525646549

Plot Summary

Charles Lindbergh was an impressive man who paved the way for air navigation and became a national and global sensation. The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh is a biography that depicts the man and his many facets: American hero, husband and father, Nazi sympathizer, anti-Semite, introvert, and much more. 

Critical Analysis 

Candace Fleming's biography, The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, introduces the fascinating life of Charles Lindbergh to the reader; he was a man with many unique interests, became a national hero, and a world-known celebrity. A review from Publisher's Weekly states, "Well-paced sections covering Lindbergh’s soaring popularity and plunging fall are divided into engaging segments." Candace Fleming brings this larger-than-life figure and her unique storytelling ability as a writer engages her audience as she relates his life through her extensive research.

Fleming does a fantastic job of showcasing who he was as a person, both the good and bad aspects of his life. Through extensive research, which she additionally provides her bibliography by genre and source notes, Fleming uses actual images and clippings written by Lindberg himself. This helps bring Charles Lindbergh to life for the reader and by Fleming utilizing his human characteristics and including his thought process, makes him relatable to modern readers. A review from Booklist states, "Fleming places, in his historical context and ours, a man of intense contradictions." 

Charles Lindbergh lived a fascinating life. He was an introvert from an early age and that helped pave the path for the adult he became. Both of his parents were well educated and their constant movement between homes was a characteristic that stayed with him throughout his entire life. His life was so extravagant that Lindbergh seemed to be one of the only people in America not fazed by the Great Depression. Fleming additionally portrays other people who were involved with Lindbergh, such as: Evangeline Lindbergh, Anne Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, Dr. John F. Condon, and Adolf Hitler, among others. 

What readers may not like is that some of the topics read can be controversial and sensitive, such as: the Holocaust, death camps, anti-Semites, Nazi sympathizers, scientific experimentations, and  eugenics. Overall, this biography by Candace Fleming is a must read. It shows how the actions and decisions taken by one man had such an impact on not only his family, but the world. 

Review Excerpt(s) and Awards

2021 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award

Booklist Best Books of 2020

Booklist Top Ten Biographies

New York Public Library Best Books of 2020

Publisher's Weekly starred review "Fleming finely hones the stark contrast between Lindbergh’s rise and his fall from grace after he became fascinated with eugenics, sympathized with Hitler and the Nazis, and involved himself in America-first isolationist politics. A compelling biography of a flawed, larger-than-life man."

The Horn Book starred review "It’s not easy to write the biography of a person who elicits, by turns, admiration, sympathy, and revulsion, but Fleming has accomplished this juggling act, and in doing so, she has created a historical narrative that couldn’t feel more contemporary."

Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books starred review "While never justifying Lindbergh’s fascist leanings, Fleming contextualizes his rise and fall from public grace within a zeitgeist of technological promise, expanding media frenzy, economic depression, and global political upheaval that enabled a celebrity to become spokesperson for fringe causes."

Kirkus starred review "Fleming expertly sources and clearly details a comprehensive picture of a well-known, controversial man... A remarkable biography."

Booklist starred review " Fleming places, in his historical context and ours, a man of intense contradictions. Absorbing and distressing in turns, this utterly prescient capture of a life—and the lives it influenced—is essential in classrooms and for history buffs alike."

School Library Journal starred review "Fleming successfully deconstructs the public persona of Lindbergh and highlights how some of the aviator’s core values (nationalism, xenophobia) echo the country’s current political and social unrest."

Connections

*This would be a great book to use in history class and possibly do a cross-curricular unit with science classes. 

*You may want to do a world timeline with the events present and discuss how they helped shape Lindbergh's life.

*You may need to discuss controversial topics, such as: Nazi's, Adolf Hitler, white supremacy, eugenics, and flawed ideologies. 

*You may try to look for other images, videos, interviews to enhance the read.

*Similar titles:

Ha, R. Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir. ISBN 9780062685100

Fleming, C. Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera. ISBN 9780823442850

Fleming, C. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia. ISBN 9780375867828

Blumental, K. Jane Against the World: Roe V. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights. ISBN 9781626721654

Judge, L. (2018). Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein. (L. Judge, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781626725003

Plot Summary

Mary Shelley was a teenager when she penned Frankenstein. Her life experiences, which were filled with longing, death, and sadness helped her create her famous monster, which has had literary influence still impacting our modern world today. Lita Judge uses free verse and black and white illustrations to depict her life and how it influenced her. 

Critical Review 

Lita Judge's Mary's Monster is a stunning biography which is beautifully illustrated and haunting with the intense life that Mary Shelley lived. Judge uses free-verse to relate the story of Mary Shelley and how she came to write Frankenstein. It is told in first-person, which allows the reader to gain insight as to how her life situations affected her and how that influenced her writing. A Kirkus review states, "This fictionalized biography in first-person free verse unveils how Mary Shelley’s unusual experiences shaped her imagination and inspired her to give the world the first “mad scientist” in science fiction." Judge successfully captures her readers from the cover and how much thought was placed into each and every page.

Mary Shelley was a teenager when she ran away from her home to follow Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she fell in love with regardless of what society may have thought. From an early age, she felt the pain of death, alone, and unwanted, particularly from her step-mother. Additionally, she is banished by her father for following her heart and still manages to persevere on her own. Mary goes on to endure tough situations that are heartbreaking and which are told, and illustrated, to match the tone, such as: infidelities, being belittled for being a woman, betrayal, deaths of numerous people around her, and having to feel the death of her own children. 

Unlike that which is commonly thought, that she wrote Frankenstein in one sitting, Lita Judge offers readers numerous life instances which, along with that influential night, helped bring Shelley's monster to life. Laura Ruby, a Printz Award-winning author, states, "With gripping text and heartbreaking images, the story unfolds like a gothic fairy tale―crackling with rage, riven with pain, and pulsating with ferocious beauty." You read and feel this rage from the start, with Judge's verse and illustrations. The prologue offers commentary from her monster, which tells the reader what Shelley's life was filled with "She was not silenced. She fought against the cruelty of human nature by writing." 

Lita Judge's illustrations are beautiful and haunting. The black and white used throughout gives it a gothic feel and her free-verse successfully relates Mary's life and torment which help create this engaging biography. 

Review Excerpt(s) and Awards

2019 Amelia Bloomer Book List 

A 2019 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book

School Library Journal starred review "Readers will be enthralled by the dark and exacting verse, beautifully accompanied by haunting black-and-white watercolor spreads. . . A must-purchase."

Booklist review "This is a stirring, impeccably researched portrait of a remarkable woman and her literary 'progeny.' Much like Mary, Judge forges a Creature all her own."

Kirkus review "Darkly evocative . . . Students of literature will appreciate the powerful poetry that brings life to Mary Shelley's story the way that Shelley herself breathed life into her novel of a scientist who animates a corpse."

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books review "A godsend for high school students approaching the Romantics with skepticism (and for teachers charged with demonstrating their relevance) . . . A booktalk-ready title with broad YA appeal."

Connections

*This title would be great to introduce the Romantics and gothic literature with students.

*This would be a great title for students to inquire how it connects to the book, Frankenstein, and how it could mirror Mary Shelley's life. 

*You may want to look for different informational titles which give insight to the authors and how they write. 

*Similar titles: 

Jarrow, G. Ambushed! The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield. ISBN 9781684378142

Quintero, I. Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide. ISBN 9781947440005

Crowder, M. Audacity. ISBN 9780147512499

Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. (A. Spiegelman, Illus.). Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc. ISBN 9780394747231

Plot Summary

This is a thought-provoking account of Spiegelman's father and his experiences leading up to arriving at Auschwitz. Through art, Spiegelman tells the story which was told to him by his father, depicting Jews as mice, Polish as pigs, and Germans as cats. Additionally, the graphic novel weaves in the author's scourgeful relationship with his father. 

Critical Review 

Art Spiegelman's Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History is incredibly interesting by the way he tells a story within a story and finds a way to keep a well-known faset of history, but making his own commentary about it. Although the story in itself is tough to read, due to the contents, what really stands out is the illustrations. Spiegelman depicts the Jewish community as mice, the Nazis as cats, and the Polish community as pigs. His clear division between each community helps differentiate how each felt, grew to learn about happenings, and how they experienced the events that unfolded, which also creates a parallel to the animal world of hunted and hunter. 

Spiegelman uses his personal family dynamics and conflicts and honestly shows the reader his own feelings and struggles he has had to understand his father. The addition of this brings complexity into the story and humanizes these issues and feelings that anyone can experience. Although the main story depicted is that which Vladek Spiegelman, his father, witnessed and is horrific in itself, the complexity comes from the internal, and ending in external, conflict when Vladek confesses that he destroyed Anja's, Art's mother, notebooks. The other characters depicted add insight as to why Vladek's life has taken shape in the manner it has, particularly Anja and his late son Richieu, who ultimately did not survive.

Some topics seem throughout the novel are: power over others, connections with the past, anti-semitism, genocide, ethics, family dynamics, and race issues. Spiegelman successfully relates his family's story with the readers. By using panels and animal drawings, Art Spiegelman helps the reader push through the controversial issues discussed. Although it can be a tough read, as any reading about genocide is, this story is important and must be told so that these acts could be prevented in the future. A review from the Washington Post states, "By using talking animals, Spiegelman allows his readers just enough emotional-safety distance to be able to follow a story that takes place during the Holocaust."

What may not work for some readers is that it is written in comic book form and some may claim that by Spiegelman using animals as characters, mice, cats, and pigs, he can be belittling specific cultures. The use of animals helps readers grasp the tough concept of this important read. Overall, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a must read for patrons of all ages. Society has much to learn from this text, whether it be on the effects that genocide can have on society or the struggles to keep and maintain a positive family environment, this volume can speak to all. 

Review Excerpt(s) and Awards

Pulitzer Prize Winner

School Library Journal review "Told with chilling realism in an unusual comic-book format, this is more than a tale of surviving the Holocaust...This is a complex book. It relates events which young adults, as the future architects of society, must confront, and their interest is sure to be caught by the skillful graphics and suspenseful unfolding of the story."

Connections

*This informational book includes topics that may need to be discussed, such as: genocide, the Holocaust, hunger, power over others, fear, the importance of family connections, and violence. 

*This would be a great book to use as a connection to other works about genocide.

*English and History teachers may be interested in having this title in their classroom libraries.

*You may want to continue with the second part, titled And Here My Troubles Began. 

*This book will show readers why empathy is important and why it is important to remember and learn from the past.

*Similar titles:

Glanzman, S. A Sailor's Story. ISBN 9780486798127

Satrapi, M. The Complete Persepolis. ISBN 9780375714832

Clowes, D. Ghost World. ISBN 9781560974277