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The team of Amy Hest and Amy Bates, co-creators of The Dog Who Belonged to No One (2008), return in this heartwarming tale sure to appeal to the youngest dog lovers and their parents. (Watch out: It might lead to requests to add a new puppy to the household.)

One cloudy day at the beach, a boy encounters a truly adorable black-and-white puppy with no collar or tags. Yet even when the little dog helps him dig a sand castle, the boy isn’t quite ready to scoop the stray up. Instead, the newcomer just serves to remind the boy of his old pal, Oscar. “I know what you want. You want to be pals,” the boy observes. But there can only be one pal for him: “My old pal. Oscar. My one and only dog.”

But the little dog is persistent, following at the boy’s heels. As they walk, the boy is reminded of how much Oscar loved windy days walking by the seashore, and how the boy came to the beach the day after Oscar died. Like Oscar, the puppy isn’t quite sure about dark clouds and thunder. When the storm breaks, the boy scoops his new friend up to run home through the wind, just like he and Oscar used to do.

With its simple text and gentle pencil and watercolor illustrations, this story about letting new love into one’s life comes to a satisfying conclusion with a sleepy boy and puppy curled up at home, together at last.

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

Biography, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Biography

Being Mrs. Adams

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

In this engaging and well-researched biography, writer and historian Louisa Thomas rescues a former first lady from near obscurity—Louisa Catherine Johnson, wife of sixth president John Quincy Adams and the only presidential spouse born outside America.

Louisa Johnson met her future husband in London, where she was one of seven children of a patriotic American merchant and an elegant English mother. When John Quincy Adams began turning up for dinner in the fall of 1795, he was entranced by the six Johnson girls, whom he called “pretty and agreeable.” But which one was he actually courting? At a ball to celebrate her 21st birthday, much to her older sister Nancy’s dismay, it became clear that the prominent young American diplomat had chosen Louisa.

She had been educated to be married, and after leaving school at 15, Louisa focused on the ladylike pursuits of dancing, painting and embroidery. Yet John Quincy Adams did not marry a woman who, as she once put it, “only intended to play an echo.” Louisa was more adept than her husband at socializing, and she used those talents as she dutifully followed him to diplomatic postings in distant capitals from Prussia to St. Petersburg (once traveling almost 2,000 miles across Europe in winter with her young son to join her husband in Paris). But she also struggled with her role as first lady, with feelings of being an outsider and with family tragedy: Only one of her four children survived her.

Louisa is a fascinating portrait of a complex woman, her sometimes tumultuous marriage and the extraordinary era in which she lived. “She witnessed a world in transformation, and a country inventing itself,” writes Thomas, “and she played a role in that invention.”

Nature, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Nature

The fight to protect the mountain lion

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Unlike OR-7, the much-watched Oregon wolf whose wanderings have captured the public’s attention (OR-7 has his own website: http://or7expedition.org/), the mountain lion in science writer William Stolzenburg’s Heart of a Lion has no name. Nor is there a happy ending to his story—in June 2011, the 140-pound mountain lion (Puma concolor, cat of a single color) was killed on a parkway in Connecticut, where his like had not roamed for more than a century.

But don’t let the tragic demise of this amazing wild creature stop you from reading Stolzenburg’s book. He uses his considerable journalistic skills to piece together the fascinating story, enabling readers to become witnesses to the “remarkable journey of one lone, impassioned cat,” a trip, it turned out, that was the farthest land trek ever recorded for a wild animal in America.

In a way, the mountain lion’s public end (scientists speculate that other mountain lions heading east are shot and not reported), helped researchers find his beginning: DNA testing confirmed that the wild cat hailed from the Black Hills of South Dakota. From there, the 3-year-old male set off across the Great Plains and the Mississippi River, through the Midwest, into northern forests, and finally, to Connecticut.

Like wolves, mountain lions are feared and often misunderstood. Heart of a Lion is also an impassioned call for less hunting, and more tolerance and protection for this versatile and elusive hunter, descendent of the ancient American cheetah. As a model, Stolzenburg points to California, which has rejected the zero-tolerance policies of other Western states.

And should there be other intrepid travelers like the mountain lion who ended his short life in Connecticut, they will not find themselves without informed and committed advocates. Christopher Spatz, who features prominently in Stolzenburg’s account, along with others interested in re-wilding mountain lions in the east, is part of the volunteer-run Cougar Rewilding Foundation. After reading Heart of a Lion, readers who wish to learn more can avail themselves of Stolzenburg’s extensive bibliography or visit www.cougarrewilding.org.

Unlike OR-7, the much-watched Oregon wolf whose wanderings have captured the public’s attention, the mountain lion in science writer William Stolzenburg’s Heart of a Lion has no name. Nor is there a happy ending to his story—in June 2011, the 140-pound mountain lion (Puma concolor, cat of a single color) was killed on a parkway in Connecticut, where his like had not roamed for more than a century.

Children's & YA, Middle Grade

Children's & YA Middle Grade

Navigating grief with new friendship and a little mystery

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Bestselling YA author Ally Condie’s debut middle grade novel transports readers to a small desert town called Iron Creek, in the first summer following an automobile accident that changed 12-year-old Cedar’s life. Cedar’s father and younger brother Ben, a boy with special needs, were killed by a drunk driver, leaving Cedar, her mother and youngest brother Miles to try to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Buying a house in the town where she grew up is Cedar’s mother’s idea, and Cedar does her best to be supportive, though it’s hard to drum up much enthusiasm. It’s not until Cedar spies a boy named Leo speeding by on his bicycle that she begins to take an interest in making new connections. Through Leo, Cedar gets a job selling concessions at the Summerlost Festival, a Shakespearean festival held on the town’s college campus each year.

As Cedar forges a friendship with Leo, she realizes they both often feel different. She has been teased in the past on Ben’s account, and a group of local boys makes fun of her Chinese-American features and Leo’s theater costume. Cedar also gets drawn into the mystique surrounding the town’s most famous resident, a Hollywood actress who got her start on stage at Summerlost and later died in town. That’s not the only mystery plaguing Cedar: Someone is leaving odd gifts on her windowsill at night. Is it Leo, the strange birds in the tree or her brother’s ghost trying to make contact?

Summerlost is a sensitive look at the power of family and friendship in the grieving process, with humor and mystery that will draw in boy and girl readers alike.

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

Children's & YA, Picture Book

Children's & YA Picture Book

A little bird finds her talent

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Sally Lloyd-Jones, a leading author of inspirational and Christian books for children, teams up with acclaimed illustrator Jen Corace in this attractive picture book about a little wren searching for her own unique gifts.

Corace’s bright, inquisitive wren will be especially appealing to young children just venturing into new settings. Like a young child, Baby Wren is curious about her surroundings, but also uncertain just how she fits in and what she can do. After all, when you’re just a little wren, it seems that everyone else is a lot more accomplished.

As Baby Wren watches a kingfisher skillfully spear dinner, she stands on the shore and asks, “Why aren’t I a kingfisher. . . . So I could fish, too?” She meets other creatures: cartwheeling, ring-tailed cats; bright, swimming sunfish; and majestic eagles wheeling high in a stormy sky. It’s not easy being a tiny wren sometimes!

When the sun paints her canyon home a glorious pink, the little wren discovers that she does possess a special gift all her own. She bursts out into joyful song: “And her bright carol reached down to the river and leaped off the cliff walls and soared into the sky.” Somehow, one tiny wren has filled the air with singing.

Inspired by a Martin Luther quotation, “As long as we live, there is never enough singing,” and graced by Corace’s child-friendly illustrations, Baby Wren and the Great Gift is a lovely way to both share the joys of the natural world with young children and also talk about how each person is unique.

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

YA, YA Nonfiction

YA Nonfiction YA

Revelations of a 12th-century samurai

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Fans of Margi Preus’ award-winning middle-grade historical fiction set in Japan (Heart of a Samurai and The Bamboo Sword) now have the chance to delve further into samurai history with Pamela S. Turner’s action-packed biography of the legendary warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune.

It’s no small feat to reach back hundreds of years into the past to tell this story, but Turner, who has written nonfiction books on science, including the Orbis Pictus Honor Book The Frog Scientist, is more than equal to the task. She sets the stage with a short introduction that places Yoshitsune in historical context: “Yoshitsune’s story unfolds in the late twelfth century, during the adolescence of the samurai,” and goes on to tell readers that Yoshitsune was at the heart of the awakening of this bold, rebellious culture.

And then we delve right in. Yoshitsune’s story begins in 1160, and Turner wastes no time in letting readers know just how high the stakes were for this boy, whose father left him “a lost war, a shattered family, and a bitter enemy.” Turner traces Yoshitsune’s early life, from exile in a monastery to teenage runaway, and his long journey to acquire the skills of a warrior by mastering the sword and shooting arrows from warhorses. Readers then follow Yoshitsune’s famous career as he joins his half-brother Yoritomo in an uprising against the most powerful samurai in Japan, to his death in 1189.

Teachers and librarians will be pleased to see the extensive back matter, including an informative author’s note, source notes, a timeline, bibliography and glossary. Although the setting and time period may be new for young American readers, Gareth Hinds’ arresting brush and ink illustrations create a gorgeous package and help to extend Turner’s rich, vivid narrative. Samurai Rising is compelling nonfiction at its best.

Although this is a Junior Library Guild selection for grades nine and up, younger readers comfortable with the subject matter of war will also enjoy this title—and so will adults with an interest in Japan.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

American History, History, Nonfiction

Nonfiction History American History

FDR’s lifelong passion for preservation

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Who knew that FDR was a budding oologist at age 10? Not only did he collect birds’ eggs and nests (oology), the young Franklin Roosevelt (burdened during his Groton years with the nickname “Feather Duster”) was a fairly serious ornithologist and naturalist. These lifelong pursuits, along with a deep and abiding appreciation for his Hudson River home, would help shape and define his conservation legacy during his presidency.

Bestselling author and Rice University history professor Douglas Brinkley is no stranger to the Roosevelt family. His 2009 book, The Wilderness Warrior, celebrated Theodore Roosevelt’s love of the outdoors and his vision to protect more than 200 million acres of wild America. In this new work, Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, Brinkley brings his masterful research and storytelling skills to the life of Theodore’s cousin Franklin. But this is not simply a narrow examination of one aspect of the president’s interest in the outdoors. Instead, Brinkley uses FDR’s love of the natural world as a biographical lens, offering readers new insights into this complex national figure.

From Roosevelt’s boyhood in the Hudson, Brinkley traces his marriage to Eleanor and subsequent political career. He explores New Deal Conservation (1933-1938) and the ways in which Roosevelt married conservation goals to economic policy to combat the unemployment of the Great Depression. Anyone who has hiked on an old trail has probably been reminded of the enduring legacy of the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps, which as Brinkley reveals, had a dual purpose. “If the primary selling point to Congress was work relief, the long-term vision was nothing less than to heal the wounded American earth.”

Roosevelt, asserts Brinkley, was nothing less than “America’s landscape planner.” The president made his mark in a variety of ways, from his efforts to establish local and regional park systems, to his campaigns to preserve national resources, working alongside leading environmental visionaries of the era.

Even if you’ve read other Roosevelt biographies or seen Ken Burns’ documentary, The Roosevelts, there are surprising insights in store here, as Brinkley masterfully chronicles Roosevelt’s strengths and weaknesses and the progress of the environmental movement itself during his years in office. For anyone interested in the history of our natural treasures, or who thought they understood the Roosevelt presidency, Rightful Heritage is a must read.

Bestselling author and Rice University history professor Douglas Brinkley is no stranger to the Roosevelt family. His 2009 book, The Wilderness Warrior, celebrated Theodore Roosevelt’s love of the outdoors and his vision to protect more than 200 million acres of wild America. In this new work, Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, Brinkley brings his masterful research and storytelling skills to the life of Theodore’s cousin Franklin.

Children's & YA, Middle Grade

Children's & YA Middle Grade

One boy speaks up to save a mountain

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Ever since 12-year-old Curley Hines can remember, his grandfather has been giving him new words to learn each week. They begin with “A” in January and run through the alphabet twice during the course of a year. Papaw tells the seventh grader: “Well, Curley, words are your way out of the holler.”

Like Papaw’s words and his best friend, Jules, the holler is important to Curley. He loves his home in Wonder Gap, a coal-mining region in eastern Kentucky. But that love is tinged with pain: Coal claimed the life of Curley’s father in a mining accident, and four years later his mother and little brother were killed in a coal-related mud slide.

When the coal company changes hands, Curley and Jules are thrown together with the new owner’s son, JD, to collaborate on a science project on the eastern elk. When Curley learns that JD’s father and Tiverton Coal plan to remove the top of Red Hawk Mountain through a process called Appalachian surface coal mining, he sets out to make an Internet video to muster public opinion and garner opposition to the project. Curley uses his Papaw’s words to help guide his decisions and cope with personal challenges, and each word and its definition are featured at the end of the chapter.

Mary Knight’s heartfelt debut novel paints a vivid picture of a boy and his community, bound together by deep ties and a love of land and family. The novel is especially timely given current debates about the future of coal energy.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

Children's & YA, Picture Book

Children's & YA Picture Book

Celebrating one of the first female sports journalists in American history

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

Although she’s not well known today, Mary Garber, born a century ago in 1916, was a pioneering sports reporter of her time. Sue Macy’s engaging picture-book biography effectively captures the young Garber’s early love of sports, including football—which she not only watched but also played.

Like other women in the 1940s, Garber found more doors open to her when men left for World War II. She was able to move from her job as a society newspaper reporter (not at all her cup of tea) to take over the sports section. After the war, she continued to report on sports, covering such milestones as Jackie Robinson’s first year with the Dodgers in 1947.

C.F. Payne’s evocative mixed-media illustrations help to provide young readers with historical context for the challenges faced by pioneering reporters like Garber. One especially effective illustration is Garber wearing a press box ID tag that clearly states that women and children are not admitted. She also broke new ground by covering high school games in Winston-Salem’s segregated schools.

Garber had a remarkable and lengthy career doing exactly what she loved best—writing about sports and athletes. Although she officially retired at age 70, she continued to write for the Winston-Salem Journal until she was 86. In addition to an author’s note, Miss Mary Reporting includes a helpful timeline, resources and source notes. Teachers and librarians will especially enjoy being able to share this biography with young sports fans and budding journalists.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

History, Nonfiction

Nonfiction History

The legendary soldiers of the American Revolution

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

In his new book, bestselling military historian Patrick K. O’Donnell turns his attention to a forgotten story of the American Revolution. Today, only a rusted metal sign memorializes 256 Maryland soldiers who fell during the Battle of Brooklyn in August 1776. The men were part of a legendary regiment whose heroic actions in that battle—and others in the years to come—helped determine the outcome of the war.

O’Donnell became curious about the men while on a walking tour of the Brooklyn neighborhood where the undiscovered remains of the soldiers still lie. Through his research, he uncovered the fascinating story of Major Mordecai Gist, who formed an independent company of men in Baltimore in 1774, when war clouds were gathering. The unit would become one of only a few that fought throughout the war, disbanding in November 1783. (Gist, who survived, named his sons Independent and States.)

O’Donnell gives a stirring account of the remarkable resilience and bravery shown by the Maryland soldiers. In the summer of 1776, British troops and warships sailed into New York’s harbors, set on invasion. Compared with the British, the American army was a ragtag affair.

General George Washington “faced a nearly impossible strategic situation,” O’Donnell notes. Although outmatched and outmaneuvered, the Marylanders proved to be stalwart and daring soldiers, helping to cover the Americans’ retreat and causing Washington to cry, “Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose!”

While O’Donnell focuses on the Marylanders, his absorbing narrative takes readers into the larger story of the Revolutionary War itself. In the process, he makes a compelling case for honoring these forgotten heroes with more than a rusted sign.

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

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

The buoyancy of hope amid war

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

BookPage Teen Top Pick, February 2016

On January 30, 1945, a Soviet submarine torpedoed the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff, killing more than 9,000 people. While designated as a military transport vessel, the Wilhelm Gustloff was severely overloaded with civilian evacuees from the Baltic region, including an estimated 5,000 children. The high death toll makes this sinking the greatest maritime tragedy in history. Today, the wreckage still lies off Poland’s coast and is often referred to as “the ghost ship.”

Acclaimed author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) explores this little-known World War II tragedy in her intense and compelling third novel. Salt to the Sea focuses on the lives of four young people from different homelands, each separated from their families during wartime. The narrative shifts throughout as Joana, Emilia, Florian and Alfred chronicle the often terrifying events that bring them together. The first three are seeking escape on the crowded ship; Alfred is one of the Nazi soldiers stationed on it.

To tell this harrowing tale, Sepetys traveled to several countries to research the event, but she also has a family connection: Her father’s cousin fled Lithuania and had a pass for the ill-fated voyage, but she ended up on another ship. In the author’s note, Sepetys writes: “As I wrote this novel I was haunted by the thoughts of the helpless children and teenagers—innocent victims of border shifts, ethnic cleansings, and vengeful regimes.”

Teen readers will be drawn in by the short chapters, strong characters and heartbreaking story. In scenes reminscent of the sinking of the Titanic, matters of life and death are decided in a single moment.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

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

Education, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Education

Reading as a catalyst

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

“Together and alone, we need literature as the California valleys need rain,” muses David Denby, author of Great Books (1996) and staff writer for The New Yorker. But, he wondered, in an age of texting and tweeting, are teens still reading complex literary works? And can an appetite for serious reading be developed in high school?

To find out, Denby decided to return to school himself, exploring 10th-grade classrooms and the reading habits of 15-year-olds. Denby opted for a subjective, arbitrary approach, spending the 2011-2012 academic year observing teacher Sean Leon’s class at The Beacon School, an alternative high school in Manhattan; the following year he visited classes in two other public high schools. As Denby glances at a student’s essay draft at the beginning of the year in Leon’s class, he can’t help but think that Leon had “his work cut out for him. They all did, the English teachers of America.”

Denby is an engaging writer and a keen spectator: The teachers and students he observes spring off the page as real people. He also explores the books along with the students themselves. (If you hated The Scarlet Letter in high school, here’s your chance to revisit it.)

Like many of the teens around him, Denby himself isn’t always on the same page as the teacher who’s asking for total engagement with, say, Dostoevsky at 8:00 in the morning. “I couldn’t believe I was even there. At that moment, I couldn’t handle The Sound of Music.” Yet, he comes to realize, many of the students are juggling not only multiple classes but part-time jobs and challenging home situations.

Denby gives us a dramatic, fascinating look at teachers and students struggling, questioning and growing together. Lit Up is a testament to the power of extraordinary teachers and the willingness of young people to engage—not just with books, but with the serious business of becoming adults.

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

Children's & YA, Middle Grade

Children's & YA Middle Grade

Kids facing big decisions in the midst of war

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

by Deborah Hopkinson

At the start of World War II, more than 3.5 million people were evacuated from British cities to the countryside. But it wasn’t until Cheryl Blackford began writing Lizzie and the Lost Baby that she realized her father had been sent away from the embattled city of Hull in Yorkshire, where she was born. Although she now lives in Minnesota, Blackford draws on her love of rural Yorkshire in her warmhearted debut novel for young readers. Ten-year-old Lizzie and her world come alive with sparkling details, from the blacked-out windows of the train that takes Lizzie and her little brother, Peter, to safety in the countryside, to the potted meat sandwiches their mother has packed for them.

Everything is new and strange in Swainedale, the fictional village where the evacuees are sent, and Lizzie feels less than welcome. Here readers meet Elijah, a Gypsy boy trying to cope with local prejudice and to bring in money to help his mother and sisters, including baby Rose. But when Elijah is pressured into making a mistake that puts Rose in jeopardy, Lizzie and Elijah are brought together in unexpected ways.

This is a well-told story of two young people making difficult choices on their own. Though the setting and situation may be new to American children, a helpful glossary defines unfamiliar terms.

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

Deborah Hopkinson

Remembering a friend with help from someone new

Being Mrs. Adams

The fight to protect the mountain lion

Navigating grief with new friendship and a little mystery

A little bird finds her talent

Revelations of a 12th-century samurai

FDR’s lifelong passion for preservation

One boy speaks up to save a mountain

Celebrating one of the first female sports journalists in American history

The legendary soldiers of the American Revolution

The buoyancy of hope amid war

Reading as a catalyst

Kids facing big decisions in the midst of war

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