Deborah Hopkinson

Children's & YAPicture Book

A brother, a sister and their adorable dog

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

It’s harder than it looks to craft an endearing tale of two kids and their adorable dog while subtly teaching beginning reading skills and spatial concepts. But in this colorful and lively collaboration, two award-winning creators manage it—just as easily as dachshund Rosie plays and runs all day.

The large-format picture book is divided into sections, following the daily life of two unnamed African-American children and their very, very long dog, Rosie. Mini chapters offer early readers lots of visual references for rhythm and word repetition. At the same time, the text contrasts opposites, such as lost and found, or good and bad.

Linda Davick’s bright, sparkling palette is the perfect complement to Cynthia Rylant’s sweet, assured text. In “Rosie In and Out,” we see Rosie eagerly begging to come inside, then desperately throwing herself at a window to be let out to chase a rabbit. Then readers are treated to a hilarious illustration of Rosie stuck in and out of her heart-emblazoned doghouse. 

We Love You, Rosie! is a joyful chronicle of childhood, family and the pleasure of sharing love with a pet. A perfect book for preschoolers and young readers alike, this simple but evocative celebration is bound to become a family favorite. 

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

We Love You, Rosie! is a joyful chronicle of childhood, family and the pleasure of sharing love with a pet. A perfect book for preschoolers and young readers alike, this simple but evocative celebration is bound to become a family favorite. 

YA FictionYAThriller

An inspiring new heroine

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Sixteen-year-old Tina lives by the skin of her teeth as a Goonda, a member of the gang of thieves operating in Sangui City (a fictional place in East Africa). Although she has erased most of her past, Tina secretly visits her younger sister, Kiki, at her boarding school. But she has cut ties with the Greyhill family, for whom her mother, Anju, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, once worked as a maid. Except that now Tina hopes to prove what she has long suspected, that mining executive Roland Greyhill is responsible for her mother’s murder.

When Tina breaks into the Greyhill mansion, she is caught by Roland’s son, Michael, her childhood friend. Convinced that his father is innocent, Michael persuades Tina to try to look for the real killer. Michael and Tina, along with fellow thief Boyboy, embark on a perilous search to unravel Anju’s tortuous past—a search that brings them into the midst of unrest and violence.

In Tina, author Natalie C. Anderson has created an unforgettable heroine, who, like Katniss Everdeen and Lisbeth Salander, leaps off the page as a distinct individual, both strong and vulnerable. Tina’s passions—her love for her sister, a desire for revenge and her growing feelings for Michael—drive the narrative forward at breakneck speed.

Anderson drew from stories she heard firsthand while working with refugees in Kenya. While the story is fiction, there is a sobering authenticity in its themes of war, refugees, poverty and violence against women, which are sure to generate discussion in and out of the classroom.

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sixteen-year-old Tina lives by the skin of her teeth as a Goonda, a member of the gang of thieves operating in Sangui City (a fictional place in East Africa). Although she has erased most of her past, Tina secretly visits her younger sister, Kiki, at her boarding school. But she has cut ties with the Greyhill family, for whom her mother, Anju, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, once worked as a maid. Except that now Tina hopes to prove what she has long suspected, that mining executive Roland Greyhill is responsible for her mother’s murder.
Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

Get lost in a book—literally

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Sixteen-year-old Amy Lennox has inherited what she calls her family’s “crazy gene.” She and her mother are crazy enough to spontaneously decide to move from their home in Germany one morning and be on a plane that afternoon. Their destination? The island of Stormsay off the coast of Scotland, where Amy’s grandmother, Mairead Lennox, Lady of Stormsay, lives in a mansion called Lennox House. 

In Lennox House, books are everywhere. There are paintings of people reading, a spectacular oak banister carved in the shape of books and a mysterious, ancient library on the moor nearby, set deep in a cave at the foot of a hill. Amy discovers she has inherited a secret family birthright: She is a book jumper, with the ability to jump inside stories and interact with the characters she finds there. Most of all, as a book jumper, she has a duty to protect literature.

Amy’s training includes practice excursions into The Jungle Book, Oliver Twist and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But, along with a fellow reader named Will, Amy uncovers a disturbing problem: There is a dangerous thief in the book world, a thief who is somehow altering stories and stealing ideas from them. And it’s up to Will and Amy to solve the mystery.

Originally published in Germany, Mechthild Gläser’s novel combines romance, fantasy and adventure. Like Grace Lin’s When the Sea Turned to Silver, The Book Jumper celebrates the enduring power of literature and the integral role that stories can play in young lives.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sixteen-year-old Amy Lennox has inherited what she calls her family’s “crazy gene.” She and her mother are crazy enough to spontaneously decide to move from their home in Germany one morning and be on a plane that afternoon. Their destination? The island of Stormsay off the coast of Scotland, where Amy’s grandmother, Mairead Lennox, Lady of Stormsay, lives in a mansion called Lennox House. 

NonfictionTrue Crime

A forgotten detective’s story

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

In 1917, the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger caught the nation’s attention. Wearing her blue winter coat and a floppy hat, the recent high school graduate left her family’s Harlem apartment to run errands on a cold February day. At first her family assumed Ruth had gone ice skating, since she’d left with her skates in hopes of getting them sharpened.

But hours later, as the skies darkened and snow fell, Ruth still hadn’t returned home. Retracing Ruth’s steps, her sister tracked down the motorcycle shop where Ruth had left her skates, run by a man named Alfredo Cocchi. A few days later he, too, had vanished.

Police detectives got busy—to no avail. Although they searched Cocchi’s shop, they found nothing. More than two weeks later, authorities concluded that Ruth had simply run away from home. Unwilling to give up, the Crugers hired a lawyer and detective named Grace Humiston, who didn’t rest until the case was solved, months later, with the discovery that Ruth had indeed been murdered at Cocchi’s hands.

Brad Ricca’s account reads like a fictional detective story, with the fascinating figure of Humiston at the center. Although she later faded from public view, Humiston remained dedicated to crimes involving women and girls, even publishing a magazine entitled New Justice, aimed at the protection of girls.

Ricca, a filmmaker and expert on comics, brings an interest in popular culture and media to his narrative, much of which had to be pieced together from newspaper accounts. Ricca’s dramatic, novelistic storytelling makes for a great read. And thanks to his detective work, Humiston and her remarkable commitment to justice have been rescued from obscurity and brought to life.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In 1917, the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger caught the nation’s attention. Wearing her blue winter coat and a floppy hat, the recent high school graduate left her family’s Harlem apartment to run errands on a cold February day. At first her family assumed Ruth had gone ice skating, since she’d left with her skates in hopes of getting them sharpened.
Nonfiction

A celebrated female astronomer

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Dava Sobel, best known for such remarkable books as Galileo’s Daughter and Longitude, chronicles the groundbreaking careers of several little-known women scientists in The Glass Universe. 

Sobel begins her story in 1882 at a glittering dinner party held by Dr. Henry Draper and his wife, Anna Palmer Draper. Dr. Draper, a physician and amateur astronomer, died five days later, leaving Anna with a deep desire to continue his work. 

Her support, along with that of fellow heiress Catherine Wolfe Bruce, made it possible for women such as Antonia Maury, Williamina Fleming and Cecilia Payne (who earned Harvard’s first Ph.D. in astronomy) to work at the Harvard Observatory and contribute to the discoveries of the day.

One of the pleasures of seeing history through Sobel’s eyes is her delectable prose and her ability to realize scenes from the past. Her new book is a compelling read and a welcome reminder that American women have long desired to reach for the stars.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Dava Sobel, best known for such remarkable books as Galileo’s Daughter and Longitude, chronicles the groundbreaking careers of several little-known women scientists in The Glass Universe.
NonfictionMemoir

A novelist’s moving portrait of his immigrant parents

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Mark Slouka may be familiar to readers through his award-winning fiction, including Lost Lake, The Visible World and Brewster, a powerful coming-of-age story set in 1968 in Brewster, New York. In his new memoir, Nobody’s Son, Slouka uses his considerable literary talents to tell the searing, haunting story of his life with his Czechoslovakian-immigrant parents.

Slouka’s approach is novelistic, and far from a straight chronological account. He writes, “I believe the record of our time, told as truly as possible, is never, or rarely, chronological,” he writes. “Life is always looping back, revising itself, elaborating itself.”

One of the “loops” Slouka returns to again and again is the story of his mother, a powerful presence in his life. The author works to uncover the hidden forces that shaped her past in Czechoslovakia and, to a large extent, shadowed her future in America: her tortured marriage, a long, secret love affair, struggles with mental health and her complex relationship with her son.

 “You can’t reclaim someone’s past, no matter how fearless your imagination—not really,” Slouka writes. But as he imagines and pictures his mother, for instance, meeting F., the man she truly loved, she comes alive for the reader much the way a character in fiction does. The photographs included here remind us that she was very much a real, and often tortured woman.

“I’ve been writing her all my life,” Slouka says of his mother at one point, noting that his novel The Visible World was “a memoir embedded in a novel; an apt description of my life.”

In a similar way, Nobody’s Son sometimes feels like a novel embedded in a memoir. More than anything, beyond the labels, it is a moving and remarkable reading experience.

Mark Slouka may be familiar to readers through his award-winning fiction, including Lost Lake, The Visible World and Brewster, a powerful coming-of-age story set in 1968 in Brewster, New York. In his new memoir, Nobody’s Son, Slouka uses his considerable literary talents to tell the searing, haunting story of his life with his Czechoslovakian-immigrant parents.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

A second chance at life

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

“When my death came it was swift,” reports 12-year-old Daisy. “One moment I was in the car, the next on the road, and then I wasn’t anywhere.” But Daisy isn’t left wondering for long. She soon finds herself in a sort of job center for souls about to be returned to Earth. 

There’s only one hitch: Although instructed to go through the door on the right to take up her new corporeal form, Daisy goes through the door on the left. The result is her reincarnation into a puppy, and she remembers everything about her past life as a girl.

Although perfectly able and willing to take up her canine responsibilities, Daisy finds her first home leaves a lot to be desired. But after running away, she finds a true companion in a homeless boy called Pip, who names her Ray. Pip and Ray set off on a series of adventures: Pip is seeking the father who doesn’t know he exists, and Ray is hoping to catch sight of her own parents, whose lives have been inextricably altered since Daisy’s fatal car accident. 

The Dog, Ray by Linda Coggin, first published in the U.K. in 2010, is told from Daisy’s often-humorous perspective: “It’s perfectly obvious to me what sit means. She doesn’t have to say it slowly, in a loud voice, as if I come from a foreign country.” While the voice is lighthearted and Daisy’s story has a satisfying ending, the book’s themes of death, the afterlife and homelessness make it best suited for readers age 10 and older.

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

This article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

“When my death came it was swift,” reports 12-year-old Daisy. “One moment I was in the car, the next on the road, and then I wasn’t anywhere.” But Daisy isn’t left wondering for long. She soon finds herself in a sort of job center for souls about to be returned to Earth.
NonfictionMilitary HistoryHistory

The secret strike force that changed the course of war

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

In June 1941, there was no hint that a well-born, unfocused young Englishman named David Sterling would become the leader of one of the most daring units of World War II. Nicknamed “the Giant Sloth” by friends, Sterling had spent most of his posting in Cairo gambling or frequenting nightclubs. His commando military career almost ended before it had begun when he injured his spine in a parachute training run, becoming temporarily paralyzed.

But as Ben Macintyre (author of the 2014 bestseller A Spy Among Friends) reveals in his thrilling account of the SAS exploits in the desert and later in Nazi-occupied Europe, it was that accident that inspired Sterling to propose an innovative combat model that endures today in special forces units such as the Navy SEALs.

“Do you want to do something special?” Sterling would ask recruits. And the mission was indeed unique. The SAS, or Special Air Service, was originally designed to drop small groups of elite, exceptionally well-trained soldiers deep into enemy territory to inflict the maximum amount of damage on airfields and other targets. While the initial concept focused on parachute jumps, an early disastrous failure led Sterling and co-founder John “Jock” Steele Lewes to turn to jeeps for their attacks against Rommel’s desert forces. Hiding by day and attacking by night, the SAS “rogue heroes” soon became a striking force that won the admiration and respect of Winston Churchill himself.

The stalwarts of the SAS were complex, driven men, who risked, and often lost, their lives under brutal and dangerous conditions. Macintyre, who had unprecedented access to SAS archives, is a compelling storyteller who honors their legacy in this thrilling, well-researched narrative.

n June 1941, there was no hint that a well-born, unfocused young Englishman named David Sterling would become the leader of one of the most daring units of World War II.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

A breathtaking adventure rooted in ancient folklore

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Newbery Honor author Grace Lin returns to an imagined ancient China in her new fantasy novel. Like her previous books, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky, When the Sea Turned to Silver celebrates the power of storytelling while taking readers on an exciting, danger-filled adventure.

Quiet Pinmei lives with her grandmother, Amah, in a mountain hut. Although Amah ekes out a living with her embroidery, visitors are most attracted to her stories. But with the ascension of the Tiger Emperor, fear fills every heart, and one day the emperor’s men come for Amah. Pinmei manages to escape capture, and she and her friend Yishan set out on a quest to release Amah by bringing the Emperor the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Along the way, the two young travelers encounter adventures and magical creatures (including an amazing dragon horse), and shy Pinmei is often called upon to be brave and to tell the stories she knows—tales that help unlock the mystery of their epic quest. 

Lin (whose own artwork graces the book) was inspired by ancient Chinese folklore to create her stories. Readers familiar with her other books will rejoice, and newcomers have not one, but three wonderful books to discover. 

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Newbery Honor author Grace Lin returns to an imagined ancient China in her new fantasy novel. Like her previous books, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky, When the Sea Turned to Silver celebrates the power of storytelling while taking readers on an exciting, danger-filled adventure.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Introducing a brilliant new sleuth

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Twelve-year-old Florian Bates has recently moved to Washington, D.C., where both his parents work in art museums. His new school is Alice Deal Middle School, where he is in seventh grade along with his new best friend, a dynamic black soccer player named Margaret. He’s learning a new language (Romanian), of which he has mastered just one phrase, which translates to “My hovercraft is full of monkeys.”

Oh, and one more thing: Florian has a new job. He’s a covert asset for the FBI.

Florian was recruited into the agency thanks to his remarkable observational abilities, which rival the great detective Sherlock Holmes. Florian’s skills are all based on the fundamental philosophy he developed called T.O.A.S.T, which stands for the “Theory of All Small Things.” He tells Margaret, “That’s how I read people and places. The idea is that if you add up a bunch of little details, it reveals the larger truth.”

Of course, what use is a detective without a mystery? And luckily for Florian (and his fans, of which there are bound to be many), there is no shortage of cases to solve. It helps to have a father in museum security and a mother who specializes in art history and forgery. And when several valuable impressionist paintings disappear from the National Gallery of Art, Florian and Margaret put their observational skills to work to help find the thief.

This intriguing, lighthearted mystery features an appealing middle school friendship with a bit of art history and FBI lore thrown in for good measure. Framed! would make a great selection for pleasure reading, while also offering a number of STEM connections for classroom use. Let’s hope the T.O.A.S.T. mysteries keep coming!

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

Twelve-year-old Florian Bates has recently moved to Washington, D.C., where both his parents work in art museums. His new school is Alice Deal Middle School, where he is in seventh grade along with his new best friend, a dynamic black soccer player named Margaret. He’s learning a new language (Romanian), of which he has mastered just one phrase, which translates to “My hovercraft is full of monkeys.”

NonfictionHistory

Riding into war

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

For dedicated World War II readers comes an absorbing history of an unusual rescue mission in the closing days of the war in Europe. Elizabeth Letts, author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion, is an accomplished equestrian herself, and her love of horses shines through this complex story.

The author introduces readers not only to the key human players, such as Austrian Olympian Alois Podhajsky, director of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, and Hank Reed, a career officer who saw the last days of the U.S. cavalry, but also to a few of the horses caught up in the war: Witez, “the Polish Prince,” and Podhajsky’s faithful stallion, Africa.

While the daring, unexpected mission in which Col. Reed and his men (with the blessing and permission of his fellow polo player General George Patton) rescued more than 300 horses from a stud farm in Czechoslovakia in April 1945 forms the centerpiece of this history, Letts has a more ambitious goal in mind. Her narrative encompasses the role that thoroughbred horses played in Poland and Austria, shows how horse breeding was viewed by Gustav Rau, a German horse expert in the Third Reich and reveals the heartbreaking costs of conflict on individuals. 

Letts does an excellent job of bringing the various players to life, and The Perfect Horse includes a helpful list of characters, as well as an epilogue detailing what happened to some of the men and horses in the postwar years, including a touching interaction in 1950 between Podhajsky (who performed for Gen. Patton before his death), and Mrs. Patton.

Although not all the rescued horses ended up in their original homes, it was especially heartening to learn that Witez, the magnificent colt who was almost lost several times during the war, celebrated his 27th birthday in California in 1965 with a carrot cake. The Perfect Horse would be a perfect gift for horse lovers fascinated by history.

For dedicated World War II readers comes an absorbing history of an unusual rescue mission in the closing days of the war in Europe. Elizabeth Letts, author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion, is an accomplished equestrian herself, and her love of horses shines through this complex story.

Children's & YAPicture Book

A grand (and fun!) suffragist road trip

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

What perfect timing! Mara Rockliff and Hadley Hooper’s lively nonfiction picture book celebrates a cross-country road trip taken in 1916 by suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke to spread the word about votes for women.

The two women set out from New York City in a little yellow car on April 6, 1916. On their journey to California and back, their luggage included a sewing machine, a typewriter and, yes, a “wee black kitten” (named Saxon in honor of their little runabout made by the Saxon Motor Car Company).

Hooper’s vibrant illustrations convey a delightful retro feel, while effectively capturing a sense of adventure and place. Readers are treated to a suffragist rally, a sun-drenched field with butterflies and birds and a spectacular double-page spread of a blizzard. Rockliff’s prose is just as lively. We follow the two intrepid travelers as their car nearly falls in a hole, chugs through wet sand and, at one point, goes “bump and squelch” before finally getting stuck in the mud.

In addition to a large map highlighting the suffragists’ route, there is a wealth of back matter. In an informative author’s note, Rockliff notes that while Alice and Nell’s “ten thousand bumpy, muddy, unmapped miles” might have been a challenge, the road to achieve women’s suffrage in America was far longer, stretching back to the first organized efforts at the Seneca Falls conference in 1848.

Around America to Win the Vote will be a wonderful complement to classroom discussions during this election year and an important addition to the literature surrounding the upcoming centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The final message for all readers: Vote!

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Steamboat School.

What perfect timing! Mara Rockliff and Hadley Hooper’s lively nonfiction picture book celebrates a cross-country road trip taken in 1916 by suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke to spread the word about votes for women.

YA FictionYA

Extreme efforts to keep a family together

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Louis Bayard may be familiar to fans of his adult novels, including Roosevelt's Beast, or from his deliciously entertaining reviews of “Downton Abbey” for The New York Times. Now he brings his prodigious talents to a young adult novel set in 1934, Depression-era Virginia. The protagonist of Lucky Strikes is a spirited, gutsy 14-year old named Amelia, a dedicated older sister and gas station proprietor who can “fill a radiator faster than anyone this side of the Blue Ridge.”

As the story begins, Melia has just buried her mama. Literally. During her mother’s illness, Melia took to visiting her favorite spot on a nearby hill, and soon began taking a shovel there. By the time Mama passed on, Melia, along with her younger brother and sister, Earle and Janey, simply drive the truck on over and lower Mama into the waiting grave. When Janey wonders what they’ll do next, Melia’s thought that out as well. Melia will carry on running Brenda’s Oasis as best she can—fixing cars, pumping gas for tired truckers coming off Highway 55 and, most of all, trying to stay ahead of their bills.

It won’t be easy. And Melia also knows it won’t be long before the vultures start circling. First, there’s the evil Harley Blevins (surely the most villainous gas station owner in all of literature), who won’t be satisfied unless he eats up the station (and Melia, too). The only good thing about Blevins is his nephew, Dudley, whom Melia can’t help noticing. Next, there are the do-gooders, ready to split the siblings up and put them in dreaded “Fos. Ter. Care.”

Melia simply won’t have that. So when a vagrant with a dubious past falls off a flatbed truck carrying coal, Melia hatches a plan to turn Mr. Hiram Watts into her long-lost father.

While the violent steps Blevins takes to try to destroy Melia’s gas station (and the regrettable and unnecessary inclusion of a pejorative Native-American term) makes it best suited to older teen readers, Lucky Strikes is a memorable, warmhearted story of family and redemption with an engaging, unforgettable heroine.

 

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is A Bandit's Tale.

Louis Bayard may be familiar to fans of his adult novels, including Roosevelt's Beast, or from his deliciously entertaining reviews of “Downton Abbey” for The New York Times. Now he brings his prodigious talents to a young adult novel set in 1934, Depression-era Virginia. The protagonist of Lucky Strikes is a spirited, gutsy 14-year old named Amelia, a dedicated older sister and gas station proprietor who can “fill a radiator faster than anyone this side of the Blue Ridge.”

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