Review-Beholding Bee, by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Beholding Bee

by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
February 12, 2013
Hardcover, 336 pages
978-0375868368
Lexile: 790L

Review by Wisteria©

Beeholding Bee will engage readers from the first page.  Life has not been fair to Bee who at eleven became an orphan when both parents were tragically killed.  She was born with a disfiguring facial birthmark which causes her to hide and withdraw inwardly.  However, fortunately,  Pauline, a carnival worker who knew her parents has befriended her.  They both work for Ellis, the sleazy owner of the traveling carnival.   By day Bee cuts onions and works with Pauline at the hotdog concession.  Her home is the back of a hauling truck used by the carnival. She fears Ellis, who lurks around with threats to include Bee in his freak side show act.  

Kimberly Newton Fusco uses precise descriptive prose to setting and place for readers to fully realize.   Characters are multi-dimentional, descriptively real thus a perfect novel to have students focus on character traits.  The novel is written in first person through Bee's voice an important author strategy that makes the reader feel Bee's pain and low self-esteem.  Bee would rather be a shadow, hidden and forgotten.  Another devastating break forces Bee to take charge, in order to find a new place to live.  Readers will adore her spunk and vulnerability, a memorable and relevant character to identify with. 

Beholding Bee lends itself to classroom discussion and literature group study in elementary and early middle school.  A perfect classroom read aloud with themes reminiscent of Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. 

Themes that emerge for discussion-difference, acceptance, bullying, special needs, courage and perseverance, women's roles/rights and more. 

Beholding Bee, by Kimberly Newton Fusco is an essential first choice purchase for school and public libraries, and consider a classroom set purchase grade 3+. I'm sure this will be a student favorite...highly recommended. 

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was borrowed with no compensation. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review-A Royal Experiment by Janice Hadlow

A Royal Experiment

The Private Life of King George III

by Janice Hadlow

Published by: Henry Holt & Company

November 18th, 2014

704 pages, 9780805096569

Most American's have an opinion of King George III as the king who overtaxed the colonies, a stubborn and unreasonable tyrant. If you believe that then, A Royal Experiment, by Janice Hadlow will intrigue you.

The American Revolutionary Era in American History stands out as one of my most favorite historical time periods. I have read and studied the history of this era in post-grad classes and it never fails to dominate my personal curiosity with an influence on my reading choices. Whether non-fiction history or historical fiction, I gravitate to this setting with un-satiability. I have read biographies, memoirs, primary documents, historical texts, articles and non-fiction books that focus on the American side of the Atlantic. However, this is the first book that I have read that takes place entirely on the other side of the ocean.

From the moment I read about this book, I planned to fit it into my TBR book list. I was then fortunate to receive a review copy by the publisher, Henry Holt and Company. Janice Hadlow has written an account of King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte that is not about the American Revolution, but instead depicts the man in his less familiar role as father and husband. Who would think King George !!! had any wish to provide a stable and loving home? He and Queen Charlotte had fifteen children. Charlotte was first pregnant at age eighteen. Remarkably, thirteen of their children survived infancy.

The king was determined to show that his commitment to fidelity and family life were paramount in his life. He planned to show his kingdom, a view far different from his ancestors. It was important to him that the world see him as a devoted father and faithful husband as well as king. It was to be, as Janice Hadlow so aptly titles her book, A Royal Experiment.

Hadlow's author's notes offered new insight for this reader. I learned that Queen Charlotte, was a highly intelligent woman who resented her twenty plus years of pregnancy.She was a woman out of sync with her generation. King George !!! believed "the personal was always inextricably linked to the political" (pg xvi) and his hope was that the public would want to mirror his private life. I assumed that if his label as a tyrant in the colonies was genuine, it would carry over to his personal life. (No spoilers.)

Janice Hadlow relied on countless 18th century letters, diaries and correspondence to gather the most honest and personal account of this royal monarchy. The letters available by friends and family during the 18th century of her research are abundant. I found it humorous that she discovered they were inclined to gossip and they loved to write. One wonders what the 18th century Facebook would be like?

A Royal Experiment is a richly detailed book about King George III and Queen Charlotte. Hadlow is able to provide a fascinating full dimension view of the American Colonist's former monarch. A compelling and highly recommended history. 

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review and possible post by Henry Holt and Company.  This is  my unbiased personal review. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review: Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin

REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,

Carol Berkin

Vintage Books

February 14, 2006

Paperback, 224 pages,  $16.00

978-1400075324.  

Much praise is given to Carol Berkin for this important addition to our American Revolutionary War history shelves. It is a fascinating history of women that may surprise some readers and raise questions for others.  Often overlooked and forgotten, the women who lived and died while the struggle for our independence was fought are recognized in REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

Some may be surprised to learn that Martha Washington and many other officers wives accompanied their husbands in battle.  British and Hessian officers adopted a temporary substitute wife, while the average soldier, had numerous women to pick from the hoards of camp followers who tagged along.  What Berkin points out is that it was only natural for women to follow men into battle, because men needed someone to care for them. Whether to do laundry, cook, nurse the sick or carnal pleasure, the men were better soldiers with their women along, and their leaders knew it.   

Whether the women were involved in actually fighting, which they were or travelling along side their spouse, women of all races had numerous roles to satisfy.  Chapters detail the various roles women played in Colonial Society and during and after the war. There were those who were left home, others who followed, some were General’s wives, or loyalists in exile, Indian Women, African American Women and many women became spies or couriers.  

This book evokes a penchant to read more about forgotten and omitted women who have historical relevance.  The endnotes and bibliography offer a place to begin. Readers will no doubt recognize famous men from this war, but those who find it difficult to name any famous women, will devour with fervor, REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

Wisteria Leigh

December 2013

Disclosure: Self-purchase

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2013]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.