My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann RinaldiMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I struggled with My Heart Is on the Ground, especially after reading the article about its inconsistencies. I remember reading almost all of the Dear America books growing up, so it’s possible that I read this one too, though I couldn’t tell you if it had any effect on me, or if I understood the extent of its inaccuracies. What drew me to this series as a child was the range of experiences of the various characters, and the diary format, which makes it more apparent that the book is fiction. While this story has aspects of reality - there were boarding schools meant for Native Americans in the late 1800s - there were far too many “artistic licenses” taken for anyone to recommend this book to children, at the very least without bold disclaimers.
Personal wars and victories set during an actual war highlight the variety of living situations during a time period, and The War that Saved My Life shares a powerful story of how World War II affected women and children in England particularly. The history of this book lives more in the background and edges, while Ada’s story takes center stage. This is a character novel that just so happens to be set in history. There are important historical details - the existence of child evacuees during WWII, blackout curtains and food rationing, a distrust of medical knowledge - but the growth of Ada as a character and the development of her and Jamie’s relationship with Susan are what this book is really about.
In The Madman of Piney Woods, the reader learns about generational similarities and differences between the children of Irish immigrants and enslaved people in Canada. The history of this book comes through on every page, in its characters and their conflicts. While I have no connection to either Benji or Red, I could still relate to the friendship of two seeming opposites, and to the power of shared experiences. Told in a he said/he said format, this book starts slow, but has a satisfying conclusion. Once Benji and Red meet, I enjoyed watching their friendship develop and anticipating how they would navigate their differences. An author’s note describes the motivation for telling this story, and lends credibility to the details.
Rita Williams-Garcia portrays the “why” of 1968 Oakland through the eyes of three sisters, and the eldest in particular in One Crazy Summer. In the context of a summer camp run by the Black Panthers, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern explore their identities as black children in America, as sisters to each other, and as daughters to their poet mother. There was definitely research done to portray the girls accurately, as well as to include factual events and keep the style and tone reflective of the time period, Delphine’s background, and the setting of the story. Delphine, as our narrator, is matter-of-fact and quite descriptive of her own feelings as well as her interpretation of others’ feelings. I appreciated her no-nonsense style and could relate to her challenges of being an older sister while also recognizing her unique situation in history.
Told as a series of free verse poems, Brown Girl Dreaming is an autobiographical account of Jacqueline Woodson’s childhood and how she found her identity as a writer. Creative liberties and poetic style aside, this novel leans more towards personal history within the larger context of growing up in both South Carolina and Brooklyn in the 1960s and 70s. We see Woodson struggle with the feeling of not belonging anywhere in relation to her family’s struggles to adapt to different ways of life as political and social changes occur. There is a dreamlike quality to the poetry of this novel, and it was a joy to read about another writer’s journey to herself.
Jimmy McClean and his grandfather follow Crazy Horse’s path and we hear of his deeds as Jimmy learns to love who he is and what it means to be Lakota in In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. Maps, a glossary, and a bibliography help to ground this story in fact, and this book felt more educational and historical than others we read. There is less dramatic character development, besides Jimmy eventually coming to terms with how he looks, and the fiction itself is set in present day, though it is geographically and politically accurate for the story.
I listened to the audiobook version of 90 Miles to Havana, read by the author, and appreciated hearing the names and dialogue straight from the source. The events that occur in Julian’s life are similar to Flores-Galbis’s experience of Operacion Pedro Pan, and are therefore credible and relatable. Themes of identity, family, and revolution weave in and out of the narrative and color each interaction. It was easy to feel the emotions of the story and to cheer for the characters.
Dead End in Norvelt is also an audiobook read by the author, inspired by his childhood. It’s historical in that the events of the story happened in the past, and are affected by the real life events of the time, but the story itself focuses more on the characters and the mystery of their fellow neighbors passing away at an accelerated rate. Some of Jack’s adventures remind me of stories my dad likes to tell of growing up in a small town, especially when he gets in trouble or is in some sort of danger and he shrugs it off.
It’s difficult for me to evaluate verse novels because they tend to be my favorite, but Inside Out & Back Again was both sad and hopeful, and remained true to both the poetic style and the historic settings of Saigon and Alabama. These poems are about acceptance, belonging, and identity, and share universal truths even in their specific details. While the details are about the fallout of the Vietnam War for one family, and Ha in particular, any reader who has felt out of place or not “something” enough to fit in will relate to this novel.
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