High School Books

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

A Terrible Beauty

Vincent and Theo: the Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

New York : Goldwin Books, Henry Holt and Co., 2017.

454 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.

This book brings up some of the problems I find with the whole YA book marketing enterprise. This is a superb book - one that anyone with the slightest interest in the visual art of painting should read, and by anyone I mean young person, young adult, middle-aged adult, or senior citizen. It is a wonderful book that lovingly tells the story of artist Vincent Van Gogh and his slightly younger brother Theo, who devoted himself to supporting and championing the work of Vincent. But it is packaged as a YA nonfiction selection - and has deservedly won awards in that category. It may seem I'm nitpicking, but it really seems wrong to me that this book didn't get equal promotion as an adult nonfiction book - it's that good! Also, as much as I hate to say it, it's length (454 pages) is just going to turn off a lot of younger readers - even those with an interest in art.

With all that said, I can say that I loved this book. I learned a lot from it (e.g. how Theo correctly pushed Vincent to add more color to his palette which was originally muted and grounded in earth tones). The book really opens up the terrible mental anguish and affliction that Vincent suffered and also does justice to the truly inspiring (and sometimes difficult and contentious) love between these two brothers. Both Vincent and Theo emerge from this telling as very, very human and also very heroic figures. One finishes the book with a great appreciation for how doggedly Vincent worked at teaching himself and practicing his art and how unstinting Theo was in supporting him. Importantly, Heiligman gives credit to Theo's wife Jo, who also (in spite of being married to Theo for only the last year and a half of his short life) ensured that Vincent's work and legacy was championed and preserved.

Another positive feature of this book is that it includes excellent end material: a descriptive list of prominent characters, a timeline, copious notes, and a thorough index.

I'll add in closing that I was surprised at the emotional impact of the book. Heiligman's retelling of Vincent and Theo's deaths (just six months apart) left me teary eyed. This is a wonderful book and it is one that I'll be recommending to young and older readers alike.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Define Short

A Short History of the Mongols by George Lane

London : I.B. Tauris, 2018.

xvi, 236 p. : ill., maps ; 22 cm.

This is the second "Short History of" book I've reviewed, the previous one being on the Weimar Republic. I liked that one, but found this history of the Mongols to be too much information for me to take in. I can't fault the author too much for that, since I think my own ignorance of the period (ca 1206 - 1300) covered in the book made its broad scope overwhelming for me.

Additionally, the events of this period are very convoluted and complex. I think most readers like me will be able to follow along with the rise of Temujin to become the great Genghis Khan, but will be a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of the rise and fall of his descendants and their khanates - ending with the famous Kublai Khan.

I think this short history would be a great resource for a student with some prior knowledge of the Mongol Empire, or doing research on that empire. I think it's a useful resource to have in the library, but will be of limited interest to the general young adult reader.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Boldly Going

This is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew

New York : Penguin Workshop, [2020]

63 p. ; 16 cm.

This short, little book packs a punch! I'm always on the lookout for small books that I can drop for a student, hoping that the size and design will not scare them off. This is one of those.

I had no idea what to expect from this book, but it was a pleasure and an education. The book is essentially the art-map story of Kimberly Drew's journey from from being a financially pinched and very smart (but unknown) Black college student who feels the pressure to pursue a "realistic" major (e.g. architecture, engineering, medicine) even though what she loves is art. On the recommendation of a professor, she applies for and lands an internship at the Harlem Studio Museum that changes her life and launches her on the way to become a force in the art world.

The only drawback of this book is that it lacks an index and has no photographs/illustrations to accompany all the amazing artwork Drew introduces to the reader. And there is A LOT of art she discusses and most of it is stunning, and not widely known. If she ever puts together a YA book of these artists and their works, I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

To help me (and you if you're reading this) find/remember the artists she touches on I'm diverging from my usual review and posting the following list of art/artists/collectives in the order that they come up in the book. Where possible, the first reference is to Drew's Tumblr - Black Contemporary Art. Just a glance there will show you how superb many of the artists she highlights are!

Any omissions or link/spelling mistakes are mine. I hope you'll read her little book and visit her big world of activism and art. You won't be sorry.
___________________________________________________________

“Tribute in Light” – https://creativetime.org/projects/tribute-in-light/
Gran Fury’s “Kissing Doesn’t Kill” – https://creativetime.org/projects/kissing-doesnt-kill-greed-and-indifference-do/
Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ “Untitled” – https://creativetime.org/projects/untitled-1995/

Felix Gonzalez-Torrres (Foundation) - https://www.felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org/about/foundation-statement

Blues for Smoke exhibition - https://whitney.org/exhibitions/blues-for-smoke

Rodney McMillian - https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/rodney+mcmillian
https://vielmetter.com/artists/rodney-mcmillian

Alma Thomas – https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/Alma+Thomas
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/alma-thomas-4778

Kerry James Marshall – https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/Kerry+James+Marshall
https://jackshainman.com/artists/kerry_james_marshall

Zoe Leonard’s “1961” – https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/33792

Guerilla Girls - https://nmwa.org/art/artists/guerrilla-girls/

Dread Scott – https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/dread+scott
https://www.dreadscott.net/

Black Lives Matter at Black Contemporary Art – https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/search/Black+Lives+Matter

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Misrule of Law

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei [also Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott ; art by Harmony Becker]

Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions, [2019]

204 p. : chiefly ill. ; 23 cm.

This graphic novel is a super addition to books on the internment/incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. As most people know, Pres. Roosevelt (FDR) ordered the seizure and imprisonment of Japanese Americans shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which officially launched the US into the Second World War. This act was clearly racist, unconstitutional and immoral - though it took about 40 years for the US government to admit it was wrong and pay restitution to survivors. It took even longer for the Supreme Court to condemn (in 2018) its complicity in this crime (re the Korematsu ruling of 1944). All this is covered in the book, but the heart of the book is in Takei retelling the story from the viewpoint of a child experiencing his family's ordeal of being arrested, transported and imprisoned in two different internment camps.

The child's viewpoint is in fact Takei's. He was about 5 years old when his family was ordered out of their Los Angeles home and deported by train to Arkansas. He captures the innocence of a young child taking in much of the experience as a grand adventure though being confused at the crying and hushed whispers of the adults. The book is also strengthened by the life of George Takei who was one of the original stars of Star Trek and who is currently a significant online personality with millions of followers on Facebook and Twitter.

I learned a lot in this book. It was especially painful to see how parents tried to figure out what was best to keep their families safe - as when loyalty oaths were offered to the detainees and some out of conscience refused to sign them. He also gives kudos to both the young Japaneses American men who chose to enlist and fight in the war and to those who refused and were imprisoned at Leavenworth.

I thought the book was really tight up until the very end. It felt a little jumpy and didactic in the last 20 pages or so as Takei keeps trying to hold up the successes of the US system of government when it finally confronts this injustice. That being said, it is a powerful and moving book and I would highly recommend it.

Friday, April 16, 2021

Rise Above It

Eiffel's Tower for Young People: the Story of the 1889 World's Fair by Jill Jonnes ; adapted by Rebecca Stefoff.

New York : Triangle Square, 2019.

xi, 354 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

World's Fairs offer excellent subject matter for history writers. Think of Eric Larson's macabre and fascinating bestseller about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. World's Fairs offer a glimpse into the way the dominant culture/s of the time viewed themselves, including who and what was celebrated. The fairs featured extravagance, spectacle, celebrities and adventure. The 1889 Paris World's Fair was no exception. There were bitter rivalries between artists, the spectacle of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, a hall of inventions, superstar guests like Thomas Edison, and international rivalries, too. Above all there was the now iconic Eiffel Tower at the center of it all - and at the center of this accessible history - an adaptation for younger readers of Jill Jonnes' Eiffel's Tower.

I like that this adaptation of Eiffel's Tower moves chronologically, but also builds on storytelling by giving ample time to central characters in the fair: Gustave Eiffel (of course), Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Thomas Edison, the painters James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Paul Gaugin. Vincent Van Gogh even gets a mention. Yes, so much was happening at that moment in history.

The book also presents the racism & colonialism running through the fair - exhibits of "model villages and streets" of Frances colonies and targets for colonization. The book also lightly touches on the contradictions of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show whose company included many Sioux Indians who Cody treated well as workers, but who were also part of the propaganda of the show celebrating the "taming of the US west."

I'd recommend this book for any student interested in history, especially late 19th century history - a fascinating time when Europe dominated the world not long before descending into the murderous self-destruction of WWI, a period covered in much more detail by Barbara Tuchman in The Proud Tower.

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Roadtripping the Past and the Present

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III

New York : Amulet Books, [2015]

165 p. : ill., map ; 21 cm.

This is a little gem of a book! I love a brief, emotional and enlightening book. Marshall succinctly retells the story of Lakota Indian and warrior, Ta-sunko-witko - known more commonly as Crazy Horse.

Marshall embeds the story of Crazy Horse within the story of Jimmy, a contemporary eleven-year-old Lakota boy growing up in South Dakota. This boy has light hair and blue eyes and so is teased and bullied by a couple of classmates. During the summer his beloved grandpa takes him on a road trip through South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana - tracing places in the life of Crazy Horse which the grandpa fills in with storytelling. As he teaches Jimmy about Crazy Horse's great character and courage, he also notes that Crazy Horse also was known as "Light Hair" when he was young - something that connects him with Jimmy.

As they trace the places important in the life of Crazy Horse - Nebraska near Ash Hollow State Park, Forts Laramie and Reno in Wyoming, and battle sites like the Hundred in the Hands (Fetterman Fight) in Wyoming and the renowned Battle of the Little Bighorn (Battle of the Greasy Grass) in Montana. They even visit Fort Robinson in Nebraska where Crazy Horse surrendered and was murdered.

Within all this history, is a lovely story of an elder passing on his knowledge to his grandson. The grandfather, a Vietnam veteran, is clear-eyed about the cruel nature of war and battle, and also keenly aware that courage also means protecting the vulnerable and those you love. By the end of the story, Jimmy is starting a new school year and - though fearful of the bullies - has a newfound strength in confronting them.

I definitely recommend this novel.

Friday, March 26, 2021

13 in 13

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf

New York : Abrams ComicArts, 2020.

279 p. : chiefly ill., maps ; 27 cm.

Meticulously researched and passionately drawn and retold, this graphic novel account of the Kent State Massacre of May 4, 1970 is superb. This is a great book for bringing a tragic history alive. Having known about the Kent State killings for decades, I was surprised by how much I learned and by the emotional power of Backderf's storytelling.

In Backderf's graphic novel about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer he centers it around his actually being a high school "friend" of Dahmer. In Kent State, Backderf opens the book with a personal touch: his childhood memories of Ohio National Guard troops being used near his hometown to crush a Teamster's strike in the days before they were sent on to the Kent State campus where they wounded and killed 13 people in just 13 seconds.

In this retelling Backderf manages to recreate the personal lives of significant figures in the Kent State tragedy. We learn about student life on campus, radical activists, the peace movement, the culture of the college town, and the utter incompetence and immorality of political and military leadership at the time - leadership that was willing to kill, lie, and cover-up. In the aftermath of the massacre, leaders lie about the protesters, the culpability of the men who fired on the students, and the leaders who gave the orders (one officer, Capt. Ronald J. Snyder even lied under oath about finding a gun on one of the students killed).

I would highly recommend this book to any adult or young adult. There is a lot to think about and learn from this terrible event of 1970. In addition to the carefully structured story and illustrations, Backderf also includes copious notes at the back of the book that fill out information and indicate the pages in the novel that they refer to.