FOR THE BIRDS: THE LIFE OF ROGER TORY PETERSON

FOR THE BIRDS: THE LIFE OF ROGER TORY PETERSON, by Peggy Thomas, ill. by Laura Jacques (Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press 2011)(ages 8+). As a child, Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) was considered a bit of an odd bird.  He'd spend all his time exploring the woods in his small town, bringing home nests and wildflowers and butterflies and moths.  Early on, though, he became enamored of birds, and studying them and drawing them became his life's work.  Ultimately, he would become one of world's foremost ornithologists, and in 1934 would publish the first of the famous Peterson Field Guides.

FOR THE BIRDS provides a thoroughly fun and evocative introduction to the life and work of one of the premier naturalists of the 20th Century.  The text is compelling and the art is realistic and richly detailed.      

FEYNMAN

FEYNMAN, by Jim Ottaviani, ill. by Leland Myrick (First Second, Aug. 2011)(ages 12+).   In this biography in comic format, Ottaviani and Myrick bring to life one of the giants -- and true eccentrics -- of 20th Century physics.

From Feynman's childhood when his father told him stories about dinosaurs (!), young adulthood and college and graduate school, and later life when he worked on the Manhattan Project, won the Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics, and served on the Challenger Commission, Ottaviani and Myrick provide a fascinating look at the private and public lives of a man who truly thought "outside the box."

FEYNMAN touches on the concepts behind quantum electrodynamics and the Feynman diagram, and provides interesting background to the genesis of the now-famous Feynman Lectures on Physics.  But in addition to introducing the professional life of the scientist, FEYNMAN also captures the mundane, the poignant, and the whimsical: Feynman's relationships with his wives, his safe-cracking, toying with military censors, and how he dealt with fame and the famous.

Altogether, FEYNMAN makes excellent use of the graphic format, providing a funny and fun introduction to the science and the scientist.  FEYNMAN should appeal to both the scientifically and non-scientifically inclined and makes an excellent accompaniment to Feynman's own memoirs, SURELY YOU'RE JOKING MR. FEYNMAN and WHAT DO YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK?            

HENRY AARON'S DREAM

HENRY AARON'S DREAM, by Matt Tavares (Candlewick 2010)(ages 8-10). Young Henry Aaron had always dreamt of becoming a major league baseball player. So he dedicated himself to that task, practicing at every opportunity. It still seemed impossible, in the 1940s, in segregated Alabama. But, then, Jackie Robinson burst onto the scene and Henry's dream seemed just a little more real.

So he worked even harder, playing first in the Negro League and then in the minors, until in 1954, he earned a position with the Milwaukee Braves. And, then, twenty years later, he broke Babe Ruth's home run record...

HENRY AARON'S DREAM is an uplifting and heartwarming account of how, through perseverance and ignoring the nay-sayers, Hank Aaron made it to the Major Leagues to become baseball's home run king.

Personal Note: I remember how excited my brother and I were when my mom took us to see the Braves play the Cubs at Wrigley Field that summer, and especially the ovation Hank Aaron received when he came up to bat. It was the first time I'd ever seen the fans stand up en masse and applaud a player on another team.

UNDER A RED SKY: MEMOIR OF A CHILDHOOD IN COMMUNIST ROMANIA

UNDER A RED SKY: MEMOIR OF A CHILDHOOD IN COMMUNIST ROMANIA, by Haya Leah Molnar (Frances Foster/FSG 2010)(ages 12+). Eight-year-old Eva Zimmerman (as the author was previously known) lives with her family in tight quarters in Bucharest, Romania. Her family, Holocaust survivors, have hidden Eva's Jewish heritage from her, in the hopes that it will shield her from anti-Semitism. Formerly well-to-do, the family has suffered under the Communists and is trying to emigrate to Israel. But when her family applies for visas, they are fired from their jobs.

UNDER A RED SKY is, at its core, the sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, story of the day-to-day life of a young girl trying to discover who she is in a society where even school-children can be government informers. More broadly, it provides a compelling and sometimes chilling look at the tribulations of life in post-war Romania and living under Communist rule.

ALMOST ASTRONAUTS

ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 WOMEN WHO DARED TO DREAM, by Tanya Lee Stone (Candlewick 2009). At the dawn of the American manned space program, a group of test pilots -- all male -- was chosen as the original "Mercury Seven" astronauts.

And then, a new study was undertaken: to see how women would do if given the same battery of stress and psychological tests given the men.

And they passed with flying colors...

ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is a fascinating and uplifting story of the space program; and the politics and societal attitudes that swirled around its early years. More, it is a story of individual courage and hope and dreams. Highly recommended.

I WANT TO LIVE: THE DIARY OF A GIRL IN STALIN'S RUSSIA

I WANT TO LIVE: THE DIARY OF A GIRL IN STALIN'S RUSSIA, by Nina Lugovskaya (Houghton Mifflin 2007). In 1932, in the heart of Stalinist Russia, thirteen year old Nina Lugovskaya began writing her diary. It covers everything you'd expect: stories of her friends, crushes, siblings. And experiences with the police state that sent her father to prison camp.

The diary was seized by the NKVD (forerunner to the KGB) when Nina herself was arrested at 18 and used as proof of Nina's anti-Soviet sentiments. The volume(s) was uncovered after the fall of the Soviet Union in the KGB archives.

I WANT TO LIVE is a chilling account of life in a totalitarian state. Particularly intriguing are the passages marked by the State as indicative of anti-Soviet thoughts. At once terrifyig and compelling, I WANT TO LIVE offers a searing portrait of the girl, the place, and the period.

THE BOY WHO INVENTED TV

THE BOY WHO INVENTED TV: THE STORY OF PHILO FARNSWORTH, by Kathleen Krull, ill. by Greg Couch (Knopf, 2009). This picture book biography tells the story of Philo T. Farnsworth, credited with inventing, among other things, the first electronic television (U.S. Patent No. 1,773,980).

THE BOY WHO INVENTED TV describes Farnsworth's modest upbringing in Utah and his flash of inspiration while plowing a potato field when he was 14 (which he subsequently described to his science teacher) that led to his development of the first working "image dissector" at age 21.

With illustrations that provide a period "feel," THE BOY WHO INVENTED TV is an excellent introduction to a little-known piece of television history.

THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS

THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS: THE TRUE STORY OF BOB AND JOE SWITZER'S BRIGHT IDEAS AND BRAND-NEW COLORS, by Chris Barton, ill. by Tony Persiani (Charlesbridge 2009). In this stunning picture book, Chris Barton presents the true story of the two brothers who invented the now uniquitous "day-glo" colors: an amazing tale of perseverance, hard work, and how one's dreams can take one on different and unexpectedly satisfying paths.

Persiani's illustrations offer a bright and charming accompaniment to the story arc, as they begin in a drab black-and-white world and (vaguely reminiscent of movie of The Wizard of Oz) ultimately culminate in one filled with the fluorescent colors we know today .

LEAVING GLORYTOWN

LEAVING GLORYTOWN: One Boy's Struggle Under Castro, by Eduardo Calcines (FSG, 2009)(10-14). In this memoir, Calcines (b. 1955) provides a fascinating (and sometimes chilling) look at how his family's lives -- and the lives of other middle class Cubans -- were affected by the thuggery of the Castro regime.

Calcines artfully portrays the frustrations of daily life in communist Cuba and his family's decade-long quest for freedom (until, finally, in 1969, they are allowed to leave everything and everyone behind to come to America).

Throughout LEAVING GLORYTOWN, Calcines's humor and love for family and friends shine through, even in the toughest of times. From beginning to end, LEAVING GLORYTOWN is an affecting story of faith, family, love, and hope. Highly recommended.

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING: MARIE CURIE AND RADIUM, by Carla Killough McClafferty (FSG 2006), tells the story of Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel science prize and the only person to have won in two different sciences (chemistry and physics).

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING provides a fascinating portrait of the woman who discovered and named radium and polonium. From her roots in partitioned Poland and her clandestine efforts to obtain an education; through her study in Paris, and her scientific breakthroughs both alone and with her husband Pierre; and to her ultimate fame, Curie's life is a remarkable story of hard work, perseverance, and triumph over nearly impossible odds.

McClafferty's volume also weaves in the cultural impact of the discovery of radium: its widespread and casual uses as a medical cure-all and the subsequent realization that it is, in fact, highly toxic.

Altogether, SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING provides excellent coverage of the life and times of one of the giants of 20th century science.

Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers : How a First Lady Changed America

A picture book biography of Lady Bird Johnson with text by College Station's Kathi Appelt and illustrations by San Antonio artist and wildflower afficionado Joy Fisher Hein. As always, Kathi Appelt's prose is wonderful, capturing the essence of the beloved former first lady. The art, too, truly brings to life the glory of spring in the Texas Hill Country.

Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly

Austin author Anne Bustard's long-awaited picture book biography of Buddy Holly (Simon & Shuster/Paula Wiseman Books) is now available! Bustard's text sings. Hot-diggity!

The lyrical prose is evocative of both the west Texas plains and Holly's music itself. Kurt Cyrus's art is a perfect match to this scintillating celebration of one of the founders of rock-n-roll.