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An American Plague
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 15:50:31 -0600
I agree with everything already expressed about the strengths of "An American Plague" by Jim Murphy.
Some nonfiction books published for children and/or young adults during these years show increased attention to end notes of acknowledgment, documentation of sources, and bibliographies citing additional information. "An American Plague" is a good example of that trend.
Some of the bibliographies in today's books for young readers are actually so chock full of scholarly citations that sources that they must be daunting for most young readers, as helpful as they are for certain exceptional young students and possibly for their teachers. Regardless of how erudite some bibliographic sources cited might be, I always appreciate seeing an annotated, sub-divided bibliography in a nonfiction book for children and/or young adults. A curious young person who might want to pursue one aspect of the subject matter can be guided and even encouraged by a bibliography of suggested or further reading. Often such a list contains books written for young readers. I like to find such a list at the beginning of a bibliography; that's where the books on it might catch the attention of someone at the same general interest or information level for which the book in hand has been written. That's my preference, but there's no rule about the placement of such a list. I look for an annotation, too, because a concise description makes life easier for the kids who don't know these other books.
"An American Plague" has a helpfully organized, complex, annotated bibliography. It seems that most of the sources cited in it were written and published for adults, and that probably indicates much of the author's own search for information about his subject. Within the bibliographic section titled "Yellow Fever," I was glad to see two novels originally published for young readers recommended there: "Fever, 1793" and "Path of the Pale Horse."
My enthusiasm waned as soon as I noticed the phrases accompanying each book. Each phrase is completely useless. In addition, neither phrase is comparable to descriptions accompanying other sources cited in this bibliography. These two wretched "annotations" would be sent back for rewriting to a student of any age. After I commented on that to others, a colleague pointed out that the name of one of the authors is misspelled, as well!
Might either of these flaws lessen the reading pleasure and informational value of the book's text? No, but they diminish my appreciation "An American Plague." Judge for yourself:
"Yellow Fever: Fiction [page 146]:
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
A very good book for young readers ten years old and up.
Fleishman, Paul. (note incorrect spelling of his last name) Path of the Pale Horse. New York: HarperCollins, 1983. Another good book for young readers."
Hmm...
For outstanding guidance about evaluating books of information written for children and/or young adults, see the first chapter in "From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books" by Kathleen T. Horning (HarperCollins, c1997, in hardcover & paperback editions).
Best, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Director Emeritus, Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 18 Dec 2003 03:50:31 PM CST
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 15:50:31 -0600
I agree with everything already expressed about the strengths of "An American Plague" by Jim Murphy.
Some nonfiction books published for children and/or young adults during these years show increased attention to end notes of acknowledgment, documentation of sources, and bibliographies citing additional information. "An American Plague" is a good example of that trend.
Some of the bibliographies in today's books for young readers are actually so chock full of scholarly citations that sources that they must be daunting for most young readers, as helpful as they are for certain exceptional young students and possibly for their teachers. Regardless of how erudite some bibliographic sources cited might be, I always appreciate seeing an annotated, sub-divided bibliography in a nonfiction book for children and/or young adults. A curious young person who might want to pursue one aspect of the subject matter can be guided and even encouraged by a bibliography of suggested or further reading. Often such a list contains books written for young readers. I like to find such a list at the beginning of a bibliography; that's where the books on it might catch the attention of someone at the same general interest or information level for which the book in hand has been written. That's my preference, but there's no rule about the placement of such a list. I look for an annotation, too, because a concise description makes life easier for the kids who don't know these other books.
"An American Plague" has a helpfully organized, complex, annotated bibliography. It seems that most of the sources cited in it were written and published for adults, and that probably indicates much of the author's own search for information about his subject. Within the bibliographic section titled "Yellow Fever," I was glad to see two novels originally published for young readers recommended there: "Fever, 1793" and "Path of the Pale Horse."
My enthusiasm waned as soon as I noticed the phrases accompanying each book. Each phrase is completely useless. In addition, neither phrase is comparable to descriptions accompanying other sources cited in this bibliography. These two wretched "annotations" would be sent back for rewriting to a student of any age. After I commented on that to others, a colleague pointed out that the name of one of the authors is misspelled, as well!
Might either of these flaws lessen the reading pleasure and informational value of the book's text? No, but they diminish my appreciation "An American Plague." Judge for yourself:
"Yellow Fever: Fiction [page 146]:
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
A very good book for young readers ten years old and up.
Fleishman, Paul. (note incorrect spelling of his last name) Path of the Pale Horse. New York: HarperCollins, 1983. Another good book for young readers."
Hmm...
For outstanding guidance about evaluating books of information written for children and/or young adults, see the first chapter in "From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books" by Kathleen T. Horning (HarperCollins, c1997, in hardcover & paperback editions).
Best, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Director Emeritus, Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 18 Dec 2003 03:50:31 PM CST
