Medal Winner: Lincoln: A Photobiography
Abraham Lincoln stood out in a crowd as much for his wit and rollicking humor as for his height. This Newbery Medal-winning biography of our Civil War president is warm, appealing, and illustrated with dozens of carefully chosen photographs and prints.
Russell Freedman begins with a lively account of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood, his career as a country lawyer, and his courtship and marriage to Mary Todd. Then the author focuses on the presidential years (1861 to 1865), skillfullly explaining the many complex issues Lincoln grappled with as he led a deeply divided nation through the Civil War. The book’s final chapter is a moving account of that tragic evening in Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Concludes with a sampling of Lincoln writings and a detailed list of Lincoln historical sites.
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I found this a bit dry and boring as a child, but what stands out in my memory are the plethora of photographs. I think this book would be a great companion to any unit on Lincoln, even if the text isn’t super engaging.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
After the Rain
At fifteen, Rachel is a worrier. She worries about whether her family understands her, whether her friends like her, and whether she’ll get her first kiss before she turns sixteen. And she worries about whether she can handle having a real boyfriend if he does come along.
But it takes a dying old man — her grandfather — who has never been easy for anyone to handle, to show Rachel she has very special abilities. With love and compassion, she reaches the heart of an old tyrant who has always been unreachable. And in so doing, she comes to a better understanding of her family, her friends, and herself.
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I don’t remember much about this novel, but according to my teenage notes, I really enjoyed it. It’s a tearjerker, but sweet and relatable. I’m guessing that the reason I liked this book is because many of Rachel’s dilemmas are universal to many young teens, so it must have crossed my path at just the right time.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Hatchet
Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake–and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure.
Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage–an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive.
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Gary Paulsen is the king of survival stories. Several years ago, I read his memoir Guts, in which Paulsen describes his own childhood and how his personal experiences enabled him to write such realistic and gripping survival stories. Hatchet is, in my opinion, his finest work. It was a book I loved as a child, and I know many other kids who felt the same. Even if you don’t think you like the survival genre, I recommend giving it a try. Hatchet is the first in a series of five books about Brian’s adventures in the wilderness; I’ve only read the first two, so I can’t speak for the series as a whole, but if you love this book you’ll have several more to try out next.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Newbery and Beyond 