From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2002 12:30:17 -0800

I enjoyed Angelica's comments about detractors of "Shipwrecked." I think if we go too far in the name of accuracy we'll wind up with a lot of very safe, impeccably footnoted, and very dull books that kids won't pick up. I want non-fiction that's exciting and involving. Blumberg might have been more strictly accurate if she'd qualified every description of Manjiro's emotional state ("he 'must have been' fascinated...the castaways were 'probably' thrilled"). Had she done this, the whole narrative would have lost some of that sense of immediacy and excitement that draws the reader right in. I think footnotes in "Black Potatoes" would have had a similar effect. Bartoletti did a great job of making a depressing topic very interesting, while subtly revealing just enough of her research process without distracting us from the events. I'm glad to let the author make those delicate decisions, as long as I get a rewarding reading experience out of it. There are plenty of people out there who can write flawlessly documented histories (or dissertations or whatever), but only a handful who bring history to life the way the Blumbergs and Freedmans and Bartolettis do...I'd rather give those the benefit of the doubt when they decide just how to present their facts.

Steven Engelfried, Children's Division Librarian Beaverton City Library 12375 SW 5th Street Beaverton, OR 97005 503R6%99 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Sat 06 Apr 2002 02:30:17 PM CST