What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction, read by Channie Waites

It's the summer after fourth grade and Carrie is looking forward to spending the lazy days with her best friends Zora (Neale Hurston) and Teddy. Zora is a born storyteller and when she claims she has seen a local man with a gator's head, she spins a yarn that the adults refuse to believe and the children aren't sure what to think. Carrie gets sucked into Zora's wild adventure to find the gator man and solve the mystery of a local murder. Zora's tale may have disastrous consequences for everyone in Eatonville, whether it's true or not. This story focuses more on the power of storytelling to make sense of confusing subjects rather than the historical time period. I found Zora's story of the half-man/half-gator a bit hard to follow though and there was too much involved to keep track of by the time she pieces together the story. Zora is a really well-developed character and I enjoyed seeing what one of my favorite 20th century authors could have been like as a child. Carrie is a good sidekick. She has her own voice and her own story without overshadowing Zora but still remaining a protagonist. Zora's tall tales are a bit hard for adults to swallow but kids will probably enjoy wanting to believe in them the way Carrie and Teddy do in the book. I loved Channie Waites's narration. She changes her voice for each character and had a pleasant tone which makes listening fun. I liked this book and recommend it to fans of Zora Neale Hurston and kids who love a good yarn.

The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick -- Historical Fiction

This adult novel tells the story of Clara Estby who, in 1896, walked across the country with her mother, Helga. (See my review of The Year We Were Famous). Clara Estby works as a domestic in a wealthy household in Spokane. She has a crush on her employer's son and wants nothing more to be the wife of a banker, being his partner is business as well as in life. She resents her mother choosing her to go on this wild and impossible journey across the country. The first part of the book tells the story of Helga and Clara's courageous walk and the difficulties they encountered. A shocking secret about Clara comes to light and leaves Clara wondering who she really is and where she belongs. She's determined to be practical and find a way to help her family. Helga thinks Faith will see them though. The women hope to write a book about their adventures with Clara's illustrations, but back in Washington, tragedy awaits and their voices are silenced. Filled with grief and guilt and not protecting her children, Helga allows her husband to control her and willingly submits to the silence. Clara is not so willing. She struggles to find a place to belong while still trying to help the family who raised her. Their unwillingness to discuss anything related to the trip finds Clara at odds with her family and out on her own, all alone. A family friend helps her find a position and Clara finds friends, meaningful work and a way to support herself. She's still missing her family though and their rejections keeps her from true happiness. The first part of the book is pretty dry. It summarizes the trip and does not add any excitement or drama, at least not for me because I already knew the story. It seems to be setting up for the action of the plot but the plot never really picks up. I was curious to see what happened to Clara and how the author came to create the story. The story deals with issues of gender roles within the Norwegian community and issues of Faith. The mentions of God and Scripture are not overbearing and fit in well with the characters' personalities and culture. The author did extensive research and her story is very believable but I do not feel the writing really sparkles. This is a good companion to The Year We Were Famous. There is nothing really objectionable for young adults though they might find the story boring.

What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg -- Young Adult Historical Fiction

This novel is based on the true story of the author's great-grandmother and great-aunt. In order to save their family farm in Washington state,  mother and daughter accepted a $10,000 wager to walk across the country in 1896. After the death of her son Henry, Helga takes to her bed in a fit of dismals, leaving seventeen-year-old Clara to care for the younger children and the home by herself. Clara's father is trying to come up with ways to save the family farm and keep them from destitution but one bad harvest after another is not making ends meet. Clara could marry the boy next door, Erick Iverson, a hard-working dependable Norwegian boy, much like Clara's own father. Clara isn't sure what she wants out of life but she knows she doesn't want to get married now and be a farm wife the way her mother did. She dreams of going to college and maybe one day becoming a writer. Then her mother gets the crazy idea to walk across the country to prove women have the endurance for such a thing. At the end of the walk, a publisher in New York will award them $10,000 and publish a book based on their experiences - IF they make it, IF they survive and IF they can get there by the deadline of November 30. Clara thinks her mother's scheme is crazy. Clara has secretly longed for adventure though walking across country isn't what she had in mind. Her father urges her to go along to keep her mother motivated and on track. With a satchel each filled with necessities for emergencies, $5.00 each and sturdy walking shoes, the mother and daughter set forth on a walk across the continent. They manage to gain more publicity the farther east they go, meeting famous people along the way and gathering signatures and stories for their book. Clara learns a lot about the country but she also learns a lot about her mother. The two have a difficult relationship. They have opposite personalities and don't understand each other very well. Clara also learns her mother has been keeping a big secret from her. The walk not only challenges their endurance but it challenges their relationship with each other and the rest of the family they left behind. Along the way they encounter flash floods, sun stroke, Indians and tramps. They wonder if they will ever reach New York and find their way back home again. This is an exciting adventure tale/coming-of-age novel. It imagines the journey taken by the author's ancestors and provides descriptive details about what the pair encountered on their walk. It also looks more deeply at the mother-daughter relationship between Helga and Clara and imagines how their life experiences would have shaped their outlooks on life. Clara is a girl most teen girls can relate to. She isn't sure yet who she is and what she wants to do with her life. She thinks her mother doesn't understand her and isn't sympathetic to her feelings. The introspective plot woven into the adventure makes the book more realistic and interesting. I really liked Clara's personal journey and think the author did a wonderful job shaping her great-aunt. Helga comes across as sometimes unkind and uncaring but she wants what's best for her family and is willing to defy convention to do it. That makes her very admirable in my opinion. The writing style is casual and easy to read. It sounds like a real diary and real letters would. If I wasn't already familiar with the story, I would have been up all night reading to find out of they made it to New York. A map on the endpapers helps the reader follow along Clara and Helga's journey. This is a great book for kids 11+ and adults.

The author's note explains more about the family story and her motivation for writing which is very interesting. If you want a more scholarly/biographical look at Helga and Clara Estby's walk, (the book includes many photos) read Bold Spirit by Linda Lawrence Hunt.