Summary

Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power, by Milton Meltzer is a compilation of 10 essays that reveal details about the personal and private lives of several powerful female rulers. The novel is a unique mix of history and biography that spans the course of 2,000 years. Many of the rulers in the novel were in power at a surprisingly young age. Several were groomed to rule, but some were not. Meltzer uncovers how these 10 women came to power and explains how they were able to lead nations to greatness.

Some of the women described in the novel are well known such as Cleopatra, Catherine the Great and Elizabeth I. Meltzer also includes some lesser known female leaders such as Ester who was in power in the 5^th century B.C., Boudicca (60 or 61 A.D.), the queen of the British Iceni tribe led the native people to fight against the occupying Roman Empire and Zenobia who united groups of people in the East in A.D. 269. Other leaders included in the text are Eleanor of Aquitaine, Maria Theresa and Christina of Sweden.

The portraits in the book help captivate young readers. There are portraits of Notre Dame, Russia’s Hermitage Palace and the Tower of London. Christina of Sweden is drawn with a haughty expression and Boudicca has fiery hair that helps to portray her warrior personality.

Ten Queens won several awards since it was first published including a Booklist Editors’ Choice award in the Social Studies field, an International Reading Association’s Teachers’ Choice and a Bank Street College Best Book.

Summary

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is told from the perspective of the novel’s main character, a young boy who frequently gets into entangled in adventures with his close friend Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn tells his story in the backdrop of Mississippi during the antebellum period of the 1800s. Mark Twain explains the ideas and attitudes of southerners during the period to add historical context to the work.

The work begins where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer leaves off. Both Huckleberry and Tom have accrued a significant amount of money from their adventures in the prior novel. Huckleberry has been left in the care of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson who attempt to “civilize” Huckleberry, which Huckleberry finds too restraining. Tom helps Huckleberry escape and they are joined by Tom’s “gang” who plot to carry out minor crimes.

Along the way, Huckleberry runs into his dad who is an abusive alcoholic. Huck’s father regains custody of Huck and attempts to steal Huck’s fortune. To escape from his father, Huck fakes his own death in the Mississippi River. While faking his death, Huck meets Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. Jim decides to escape after he discovers that Miss Watson intends to sell him “downriver” where conditions for slaves are much harsher. During the time together, Jim explains to Huckleberry what it is like to be a slave. Huckleberry and Jim quickly form a friendship and Huck helps Jim get to Ohio because it is a free state.

Summary

In Lilies of the Field, by William J. Barrett is a story about faith and determination involving the unlikely friendship between Homer Smith and a group of German nuns.  The work shows how God works through ordinary people to create great things.

Homer is an African American military veteran who is living out of his car while driving through the southwest United States to look for work. Along the way, Homer stops in a rural area of the dessert to ask a group of nuns for water to cool down his overheated vehicle. Homer decides to do a few chores for the nuns as repayment for their help before he leaves to continue his search for work. Homer discovers that the nuns are attempting to build a church for the Hispanic population of that area. The nuns have little to no knowledge about construction and their efforts seem hopeless. Homer has what the nuns desperately need to built their church- strength and knowledge about building.

Homer and the nuns learn much for each other because of their differences. The nuns do not speak English and Homer does not speak German. Homer also is not familiar with Catholicism, but he helps the nuns because he can see that they desperately need assistance to fulfill their mission. Frequently through out the novel Homer becomes frustrated with the nuns for their lack of construction knowledge and their humble lifestyle, but despite Homer’s threats to leave he stays with the nuns until their project is completed.

Summary

Mildred D. Taylor wrote Let the Circle Be Unbroken as a sequel to the novel Roll of Thunder. Let the Circle Be Unbroken won the Coretta Scott King Author Award in 1982. The Award is given to African American authors and illustrators for excellence in composing works about the African American experience that are geared toward young readers.  

The novel follows the lives of the Logan family and it shows the family’s daily struggle against racism and poverty. The area the Logan’s live is dominated by greedy white land owners who control much of the area’s profit from cotton.

At the beginning of the novel many African Americans in the community are drawn together after  T.J. Avery is falsely accused of murdering Jim Lee Barnett, a white man. T.J. is tried by an all-white jury who find him guilty and sentence him to death.

Later, Suzella comes to live with the Logans. Suzella, who has a black father and a white mother, flaunts her white physical traits to attract males in the town. Suzella meets Stuart Walker, and Stuart assumes that Suzella is white so he is friendly toward her. Stuart’s behavior causes Suzella to struggle more with identity issues.

All the issues the Logans face help empower their children and help them become stronger individuals. The novel shows of the Logan family supports each other during difficult times.

Summary:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is told from the perspective of the novel’s main character, a young boy who frequently gets into entangled in adventures with his close friend Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn tells his story in the backdrop of Mississippi during the antebellum period of the 1800s. Mark Twain explains the ideas and attitudes of southerners during the period to add historical context to the work.

The work begins where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer leaves off. Both Huckleberry and Tom have accrued a significant amount of money from their adventures in the prior novel. Huckleberry has been left in the care of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson who attempt to “civilize” Huckleberry, which Huckleberry finds too restraining. Tom helps Huckleberry escape and they are joined by Tom’s “gang” who plot to carry out minor crimes.

Along the way, Huckleberry runs into his dad who is an abusive alcoholic. Huck’s father regains custody of Huck and attempts to steal Huck’s fortune. To escape from his father, Huck fakes his own death in the Mississippi River. While faking his death, Huck meets Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. Jim decides to escape after he discovers that Miss Watson intends to sell him “downriver” where conditions for slaves are much harsher. During the time together, Jim explains to Huckleberry what it is like to be a slave. Huckleberry and Jim quickly form a friendship and Huck helps Jim get to Ohio because it is a free state.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings, by Michael Coren is a biographical account of J.R.R. Tolkien’s life from childhood to his success as the creator of the Lord of the Rings. The work is written in a conversational style geared toward young readers. Coren avoids interpreting any aspects of Tolkien’s life and instead focuses on providing the writer the basic facts about Tolkien and what lead him to become a famous novelist.

Coren introduces the reader to Tolkien as a youth. The novelist was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and spent his childhood in South Africa. The novel goes on to describe his youth in Great Britain, his involvement as a solider during World War I and eventually his professorship at Oxford University where he began to work on the Hobbit. The novel focuses on personal aspects of Tolkien’s life including his spirituality, family and friendship with fellow writer C.S. “Jack” Lewis.

Coren praises The Lord of the Rings as one of the best books ever written and he includes several short segments from The Hobbit and the Lord of the Lings trilogy for those who have not read the books.

Coren is a columnist, radio host and television talk show host. Coren is famous for his work on The Michael Coren Show that aired on the Crossroads Television System. He later went on to work on the television show The Arena.

Summary:
Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson received the Newbery Medal in 1981 for excellence in juvenile literature. The title of the novel is from a verse in the Bible about the rivalry between brothers Jacob and Esau, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” The story follows the lives of Truitt Bradshaw and his twin daughters Sara Louise “Wheeze” and Caroline. Caroline is born sickly and immediately draws in the attention of everyone around her. Throughout their lives, Caroline is clearly favored by her parents and other people in the community over Sarah Louise because of Caroline’s beauty and talent.

The novel follows Sarah Louise’s attempts to separate herself from Caroline’s shadow from their childhood until they are both adults. Sarah Louise becomes close friends with McCall “Call” Purnell although Call never understands any of her jokes.  Both Call and Caroline leave the island. Caroline leaves to attend music school where she and everyone else expect her to find her way to fame. Call is forced to leave to join the navy in order to support his mother and grandmother. After Caroline and Call have left, Sarah Louise’s mother begins to recognize Sarah Louise’s need to get off the island and she encourages Sarah Louise to leave.

After she finishes college, Sarah Louise settles in a small town that incidentally has the same name as her father (Truitt). Sarah Louise marries a widowed man in the town and Sarah Louise eventually gives birth to twins. One of the twins is born sickly and near death. Sarah Louise becomes so engrossed in caring for the twin who is sick that she begins to forget about the healthy twin. Sarah Louise recognizes the similarity between how she cares for her twins and how her family and others cared for Caroline and is able to reconcile her frustration over Caroline’s ability to attract attention from others.

Summary:

Invincible Louisa, the Story of the Author of Little Women is a biographical work that traces author Louisa May Alcott’s life from her childhood to her success as the writer of Little Women. Invincible Louisa won the Newbery Award winner for Cornelia Meigs’ ability to tell Louisa’s story in the context of the political and social backdrop of the Civil War. Meigs explains important events and movements of the time including Abolitionism, the Underground Railway, women’s rights, the Transcendental Movement and the Shaker religion.

The novel reveals much about Louisa’s family life as it explains how her family went from comfortably living in Germantown, Philadelphia to struggling with poverty in Boston, Massachusetts. The novel also describes the Alcott’s close relationship with many famous writers of the time including Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and Emily Dickinson. Emerson even told Louisa that her father, Bronson Alcott, might be Plato because of his imaginative ideas about things like education. Through experiences with Louisa’s family it is easy for the reader to infer how Louisa’s relationship with her sisters inspired her novel Little Women.

Summary:

Many of the events that occur in David Copperfield follow real events in Charles Dickens’ life, which is why the work is often considered autobiographical. The story follows David Copperfield’s life from when he is a child until he is an adult. David’s father passes away six months after his birth. David’s mother later remarries Mr. Edward Murdstone.
Mr. Murdstone and his sister Jane come to live with David and his mother. David does not get along with either Mr. Murdstone or Jane. Mr. Murdstone often thrashes David for falling behind on his studies. During one thrashing David decides he has had enough and bites Mr. Murdstone. As punishment, David is sent to live at the boarding school Salem House.
At Salem House, David continues to experience mistreatment this time from the headmaster, Mr. Creakle. David quickly becomes friends with James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles who help him deal with living at Salem House. When David leaves Salem House for the holidays he finds out that his mother gave birth to another baby. Shortly after David returns to Salem House; however, he receives news that the baby and his mother have passed away. David is forced to return home after his mother and the baby’s passing, and Mr. Murdstone forces David to work in a factory.
David eventually decides to flee London and moves to Dover with his only living relative Miss Betsey Trotwood who agrees to take David in and renames him “Trotwood Copperfield.” David is revisited by several of his friends who appear earlier in the book while he is in Dover, and he eventually marries Agnes who has loved David for many years. Agnes and David have a daughter that they decide to name after Betsey Trotwood.

Summary:

Captain’s Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling is a maritime adventure about Harvey Cheyne whose rich family spoils with overindulgence. Harvey is swept overboard a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by fishermen who work onboard the small ship We’re Here. The fishermejn refuse to take Harvey ashore and do not believe Harvey’s claims that he is the son of a wealthy railroad magnate. Disko Troop, the captain of the ship, offers Harvey a job as part of the crew, and Harvey is forced to adjust to a completely different lifestyle than he is accustomed. Disko Troop’s son, Dan Troop, helps Harvey adjust to his new life as a crewmen and the two quickly become friends.

As the ship Harvey is on comes to shore he is reunited with his parents who are amazed at the transformation Harvey has made. Harvey has transitioned from a selfish child to an industrious and self-sufficient young man who values hard work and a simple lifestyle. To reward Disko Troop for assisting Harvey, Harvey’s father hires him to work at a prestigious post onboard his tea clipper fleet. Harvey’s father also offers Harvey an opportunity to work on the tea clipper fleet alongside Disko Troop, and Harvey accepts his new career and responsibilities to his family.