By Jan Pease
In 1994, an unusual
little book, “The Giver,” won the Newbery Medal, for most distinguished
children’s book. I remember talking to
other librarians about the book, as I read it around the time I attended some
meeting. I don’t want to spoil the book
for you if you haven’t read it, but the ending was left intentionally
ambiguous. It seemed to depend on the
pessimism or optimism of the reader.
Somehow I missed “Gathering Blue” and “Messenger,” vaguely knowing that
they were part of the trilogy, but I didn’t read them. In October, Lois Lowry’s fourth book in the
series, “Son,” was published, turning the trilogy into a quartet. I read all four books over a recent weekend
because Mary Hansen had the Middle School Book Club read “Messenger” and
“Son.” She
does a fantastic job with the book club, but I sometimes like to read along
with them.
Reading the quartet
simply blew my socks off. I found several
critical, even harsh reviews of Ms. Lowry and “The Giver” online. Most of the
comments, however, praise the book, especially when taken in context with the
rest of the series. It foreshadowed the
current trend of books about dystopic societies and tyrannical
governments. “The Giver” was published
three years before the “Harry Potter” books, and nearly 15 years before “The
Hunger Games.” Now “Son” concludes the
quartet, answering many questions, but raising others. Read Lois Lowry’s biography on her website,
loislowry.com, for insight into her life and her books.
“A Soldier’s Secret” by Marissa Moss is a new book about
Sarah Edmonds. It is historically
accurate, with reproductions of photographs from the time, a time line, a
bibliography, and brief biographies of the Union Army officers who knew Sarah
as Frank Thompson. Ms. Moss admits that
the last scene of the book is what she thinks should have happened instead of
the actual events; after all, this is a novel, not a biography.
More than 400 women served in the Civil War,
but most of them followed husbands, brothers, or boyfriends who helped them
live in the camps. The real Sarah Emma
Edmonds is the only woman known to have lived as both a man and a woman. As a teenager, Sarah Edmonds dressed as a
boy, with short curly hair, calling herself Frank Thompson. She passed as a young man for three years and
then enlisted in the Union Army. Sarah
Edmonds wrote a bestselling book, “Unsexed, or the Female Soldier,” in
1864. It was later reprinted as “Nurse
and Spy in the Union Army: comprising the adventures and experiences of a woman
in hospitals, camps, and battlefields.” Her account is available for Kindle, Nook, and
free at Project Gutenberg . Sarah
Edmonds died at the age of 56, and is the only woman of her time allowed to be
buried in the Civil War section of a cemetery in Houston. She is also the only woman who was mustered
into the Grand Army of the Republic. If
you enjoy “A Soldier’s Secret,” look for Sarah’s own version of her adventures
as a Union Army soldier, available through mnlink.
Juvenile books can be
exciting, thought-provoking, and heart-wrenching. I enjoyed
reading “A Soldier’s Secret” and “The Giver Quartet” and would recommend
them to anyone. See you at the library!
