By Clare Vanderpool.

The story which moves back and forth between 1918 and 1936 is narrated by a 12 year old girl living in 1936. It covers many historical happenings such as The Prohibition, The Great Depression,  World War One, Spanish Influenza, orphans, and immigration. Abeline Tucker who drifted with her father from one place to the next is left to live in Manifest, a small town in Kansas where he once lived.  Abeline unearths the past lives of the town inhabitants from old letters, old articles and from the talk of some town folks.  Abeline discovers the hardships faced by the immigrants in 1918 as they coped with tough conditions in the mines, prejudice against foreigners, the Influenza, World War I and its trenches, bootlegging, and more. Abeline who is trying to find out about her father’s impact on the little town, realizes in the end, that the town itself that had an effect on him. At last, she recognizes her love for the people there and that she has finally found a home in Manifest.
 
By Mark St. Germain

This is a hilarious play which I suggest listening to (starring Alan Alda).
It is about a 1921 camping trip that Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and President Warren G. Harding took.  During their adventure, they discuss love, politics, prejudices, ambitions, and their opinions of each other. The author brings out their human side, their complaints, their disappointments and what brings them joy. Henry Ford comes out as an arrogant businessman who seeks out the presidency. Humble Warren Harding    does not wish to be a president. Thomas Edison seems to want to be left alone and does not see himself as a genius who changed people’s life for the better.  The conversations are fiction, but still we discover a lot about the time period and the events in the lives of these important men.

 

By Nancy Horan 

An early 20th century story about the turbulent love affair between  Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect, and Mamah Borthwick Cheney and its tragic consequences. The focus of the book is Mamah,  an intelligent, educated woman, married to another, in a time where such an affair was a scandal. Mamah got a divorce from her husband but Frank's wife refused to divorce him.  As in other stories whose main characters are brave women ahead of their time, not able fulfill themselves, in this book, the female protagonist pays a heavy price in the end.  We go through Mamah emotional pain, doubts and her complicated relations with others beside Frank. We learn a lot about an unforgiving, condemning public that would not accept the affair and who saw her as an unfit mother and a home wrecker. 

 


by Linda Sue Park
 Tree-Ear, a young orphan in 12th century Korea is determined to be a potter. He lives  with Crane-man, a straw weaver that raises him.   A starving orphan, Tree-ear is in constant struggle for survival .  Accidently  he breaks a pot of his village master potter, Min. Tree-Ear works for him to pay off his debt and then as a helper. In the end, Min entrusts him with two sample pieces to be presented in the royal court. On his journey, disaster strikes and he is left with a single shard to show. Though the book set in Korea, it could have taken place almost anywhere in times when no help was available for homeless children. These children, with their humility, toil and wit succeed in enduring their harsh lives and tried their most to be someone's apprentices.
 
By Candice Millard

For those who love adventure and excitement, this is not the book.
President Theodore Roosevelt and his Kermit joined Brazilian explorer Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, on a dangerous journey into the Amazon in the early 1900's. The book which chronicles the events that take place during the expedition, also delves into the relationship between the former President and his son, into the strong and competent character of Rondon. Without Rondon, the trip would have ended tragically for Roosevelt. The readers discover the President’s humility, humanity and perseverance. Hoping for a pleasant voyage, this poorly planned trip ends up being a struggle for survival.  The participants faced food shortage, diseases, inadequate supplies, treacherous terrain, un-navigable rapids, dangerous animals, predatory insects, poisoned arrows, and their own inexperience. What is fascinating about this novel are the descriptions of the jungle with its wilderness and perils. One has to admire those who dared years ago with limited resources, to venture into the unknown. 

 

By Barbara Kingsolver 
Set in the Congo in 1959, the novel is about Nathan, a missionary, his wife, four daughters, and their troubles and tribulations during Congo’s war of independence from Belgium. For one who is not familiar with the history of the Congo, it was an eye opener as for the atrocities committed in the name of Colonialism and greed.

Yet, a great sympathy goes to the wife and four daughters facing the harsh conditions in the country, the bullying/fanatic personality of Nathan, and the painful tragedy with the death of one of the daughters. The beauty of this book is that it is narrated by the female characters.  We feel for their insight, pain, and the changes that take place within them even after they leave Nathan.


 

By Christopher Paul Curtis

"Fragile" is how others describe 11 year old Elijah who cries easily. Elijah is from  Buxton, an 1860 Canadian settlement of free former slaves. Elijah is the first child born here -unaware of the horrors of slavery and the fate of those who escaped when caught. I loved listening to the book. The narrator in the audio version, Mirron Willis, sounds just like a happy and innocent boy. Yet, his voice changes to reflect a maturing Elijah who encounters the harsh treatment of his people when venturing into the United States.  In the end, Elijah proves his strength and loses his "fragility" while facing danger where slavery is a reality. I admire authors who can draw us into the reflections of a child. The tenderness in children reminds us of their gullibility.  Though Elijah is funny, he faces the grim truth with hope and courage.
 
By Chinua Achebe
 The novel is a portrayal of the tribal traditions, superstitions and social interactions in a village in Nigeria before the arrival of colonialism and missionaries. The hero, Okonkwo, is a proud farmer who rules his wives and children with an iron fist. Even though he is a courageous, admired leader, Okonkwo biggest fear is to resembling his unsuccessful father. This concern controls him and he is in constant struggle to prove his manhood. The story is about the inner struggles of a man against his society and the threatening changes beyond his control. Okonkwo's tragedy is that he is no match against the increasing power of the incoming Christian church and the white man. Eventually like  others who cannot acclimate, he succumbs. Things do Fall Apart for him and others who cannot adapt.
 
By Louis de Bernières 
Taking place in a little village in Turkey in the eve of WWI, the story is about Turkish Nationalism, the rise of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk  the father of modern Turkey, the relationship between Moslems and Christians, and religious intolerance. The reader cannot escape from the sadness and the sympathy that one feels toward the characters -  ordinary people from different religions. They are victims of chains of events which turn friends into foes and change the landscape forever. If you want to have a better understanding of the past and the present  in this part of the world, this is a very informative novel.
 
By Tatiana de Rosnay
A heart wrenching story told by American woman in Paris, Julia Jarmond, who is investigating Vel' d'Hiv's, a day sixty years ago when French police, collaborating with the Nazis, arrested Jewish citizens to be sent to the death camps. Julia discovers the ordeal of a little Jewish girl, Sarah, who was rounded up with other Jews in 1942.  Sarah survived and was saved by the kindness of a French family. For the rest of her life, Sarah was haunted by the fact that she hid her little brother in a closet (just before being marched out of her apartment with her parents), promising him to come back and get him. She never did. As Sarah grew up she could not sustain relationships with those who loved her and did not tell her story to the new people in her life in America. The novel also focuses on Julia, and her family relations. Julia is brave  while seeking the hidden truth about France's ugly past, family secrets, and searching for those who knew Sarah. Yet, the image of a little boy waiting in a dark closet for his sister, grasps one’s heart throughout the reading, leaving Julias' life on the sideline.