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YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:01:43 -0600
I'll second the appreciation for "Charles and Emma" by Deborah Heiligman that Kathleen Odean stated earlier this week. This is a book that I didn't want to end because I found it a pure pleasure to read. It's a vivid history full of humor, drama, passion, and keen details of time, place, and personalities. If I were in a high school library, I'd want to share it with teachers of natural sciences and literature, and anyone doing courses about or connected to religious studies. (And I've already recommended it to a number of adult friends.)
I've heard CCBC director K.T. Horning mention it as a book that would appeal to teen readers who have found Jane Austen, and I agree. It's also such a great example of non-fiction as story: The rich primary source material was clearly a treasure trove for the author--the letters of Charles and Emma alone must have felt like a biographer's dream. But beyond these, there is a narrative tone in Charles and Emma as satisfying to me as that of a terrific novel--it was irresistible. And I think there are teen readers who will think so, too. Others may come to it from an interest in science rather than story, and there, too, the book has so much to offer, detailing how Darwin's voyage on the "Beagle" influenced and helped solidify his thinking in the years that followed.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Fri 12 Feb 2010 12:01:43 PM CST
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:01:43 -0600
I'll second the appreciation for "Charles and Emma" by Deborah Heiligman that Kathleen Odean stated earlier this week. This is a book that I didn't want to end because I found it a pure pleasure to read. It's a vivid history full of humor, drama, passion, and keen details of time, place, and personalities. If I were in a high school library, I'd want to share it with teachers of natural sciences and literature, and anyone doing courses about or connected to religious studies. (And I've already recommended it to a number of adult friends.)
I've heard CCBC director K.T. Horning mention it as a book that would appeal to teen readers who have found Jane Austen, and I agree. It's also such a great example of non-fiction as story: The rich primary source material was clearly a treasure trove for the author--the letters of Charles and Emma alone must have felt like a biographer's dream. But beyond these, there is a narrative tone in Charles and Emma as satisfying to me as that of a terrific novel--it was irresistible. And I think there are teen readers who will think so, too. Others may come to it from an interest in science rather than story, and there, too, the book has so much to offer, detailing how Darwin's voyage on the "Beagle" influenced and helped solidify his thinking in the years that followed.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Fri 12 Feb 2010 12:01:43 PM CST
