" Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Caroline Fraser

Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls―the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser―the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series―masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder’s biography. Revealing the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life, she also chronicles Wilder's tumultuous relationship with her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books.

The Little House books, for all the hardships they describe, are paeans to the pioneer spirit, portraying it as triumphant against all odds. But Wilder’s real life was harder and grittier than that, a story of relentless struggle, rootlessness, and poverty. It was only in her sixties, after losing nearly everything in the Great Depression, that she turned to children’s books, recasting her hardscrabble childhood as a celebratory vision of homesteading―and achieving fame and fortune in the process, in one of the most astonishing rags-to-riches episodes in American letters.

Spanning nearly a century of epochal change, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wilder’s dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. With fresh insights and new discoveries, Prairie Fires reveals the complex woman whose classic stories grip us to this day.

I think it's been well established that I am quite the Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. I just finished re-reading the series again a few months ago and that always revs up my desire to visit each of the places Wilder resided (someday, it's going to happen). This book had been on my list for quite some time and while it was an enjoyable read, I'm not certain it will make it onto my read again list.

First off, this is a heft of a book. I read Prairie Fires on the Libby app and would be reading for quite some time only to discover that I had only made 1 or 2% progress. While this was a bit daunting, I did find the material overall quite interesting, but I can see why others would not. This book goes heavy into the history of the Ingalls family, starting with events before Laura's birth. Additionally, it spends a great deal of time talking about events of the era, not just what was immediately surrounding Laura and her family. This theme runs throughout the book. Personally, I liked this element. As Laura's life spanned from covered wagon to the very beginning of the space race, I felt like those extra details helped give me some perspective. That said, these passages made this book very long. Additionally, quite a bit of this book focuses on Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Again, I could see where this would get tiresome for casual readers, but I did find the in depth research interesting (and have also decided that I am not very fond of Rose, but that doesn't effect the quality of this book).

The amount of information presented in the book is enormous. It's clear that Caroline Fraser put a tremendous amount of time into researching Laura and her family. Overall, the writing style isn't nearly as engaging and inviting as so many other pieces about Wilder, but I'm okay with that. Though she presented her family's life to be full of happy endings in her novels, there were many moments in Laura Ingalls Wilder's life that lacked joy. As we all know, much of this was omitted from the Little House series and they were written for children so it makes sense to have the stories reworked to be more cohesive and a bit happier. However, Fraser dug deep and gives details about the Ingall's time in Burr Oak and the struggles brushed over in The First Four Years. I especially appreciated the focus on Wilder's life between leaving De Smet and writing the series, it seems that this era is usually glossed over in other biographies, especially those aimed at younger readers. I also appreciated that she didn't gloss over Rose's existence. While I am not her biggest fan, we wouldn't have The Little House had it not been for Rose. In some ways, I feel that this is the most honest biography I have read as it does acknowledge Rose's influence on her mother's writing. 

Personally, I don't feel like this book is going to appeal to anyone who isn't deeply interested in learning more about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The details are a bit too much and the writing a bit too dry. But for those looking for the in depth story behind The Little House books, this book may be of some enjoyment. I have zero regrets in choosing this book and loved that I learned some new things. However, I also wouldn't be surprised if other's decided that this book just wasn't for them.

Happy Reading!

-Melly

"Who Was Walt Disney?" by Whitney Stewart

I must say, despite my one bad experience with a kindle edition, I am pretty pleased with the Who Was biography series. Who Was Walt Disney gives the basic run down of Disney's childhood and how he developed the Disney empire from a tiny production to the mass marketed universe we know today. In my life I have read quite a few biographies about Disney so I didn't learn anything knew from this book, but I did like how the information was presented in an easy to read fashion and with illustrations that only add to the book. 

I see this being a great book for kids. Since Disney is still such a popular movie company, brand, and is still very much a household name, I think kids would enjoy learning about the man that started it all. I also think that there are probably a lot of kids who aren't aware of how the Disney line as a whole came to be. I know as a child it was interesting to learn about Walt Disney's childhood and the creation of Mickey Mouse so I would hope that other kids would enjoy learning about his life as well. I think that Whitney Stewart  has done a great job of capturing such an interesting life and I'm willing to bet that kids who like this book will want to pick up other titles in the series and learn about the lives of other historical figures. 

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World" & "Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World" by Cynthia Chin-Lee, illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy

How I wish that these books had been around when I was younger!  When I was in the 6th grade, I went through a crazy biography phase. Remember the Childhood of Famous Americans series?  Well, my school library probably had about 50 of them and I read every single one of them during that school year (except for one that always seemed to be checked out).  Everytime my family went on vacation and I saw one of those books, that what I wanted instead of souvenirs.  I just couldn't get enough.  Reading these books brought back some of these memories.

Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World & Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World by Cynthia Chin-Lee (and illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy) are exactly what you'd expect from the title.  Each page covers a different famous person in history, in alphabetical order by first name, from A-Z.  Though the descriptions are incredibly brief (each person does only get a page), I feel that the author really did her research and does a good job capturing the person in that small amount of space.  I think that these books are perfect for any teachers that plan to assign biographies to their students.  I remember getting such assignments and watching the majority of my classmates struggle to find someone to write their paper on. I think these books would be an excellent first step in that process.  Students could read the book and find someone they are interested in and then begin the more in depth research process.  I certainly would have enjoyed these books when I was younger.

I can't talk about these books without mentioning the illustrations- they are gorgeous!  It is clear that a lot of time and effort went in to the design of this book.  The pictures are made up of various elements- images of the people, paint, paper and other found objects that are tied together beautifully.  I think I spent more time pouring over the illustrations than the text (teachers, this might also be an idea for an assignment too).  Halsey and Addy certainly are talented and I plan to look for more of their projects soon.  These books are my current favorite reads of the year (so far)!

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous" by Georgia Bragg

I am a biography fan.  When I was in the sixth grade, I spent a good chunk of my free time in the school library going through the collection of biographies.  So, despite the gruesomeness, I was highly intrigued by How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg.  Instead of focusing on the lives of those that filled our history books, it tells the tale of their demise.  That sounds kind of horrible, but this book was pretty fascinating (though at times a tad disgusting).  Sure I knew the history of Mario Antoinette, but didn't know about her life as a prisoner and the last words she spoke as she approached the guillotine.  I also didn't know about Mozart, Einstein or the plethora of other famous people included in this book.

I enjoyed that this book also included random facts that were quite interesting but might not fit into other books.  Each chapter ends with some sort of tidbit- whether is be various words that could be used in a crossword puzzle to mean "dead" or interesting tidbits about the historical figure.  This was a quick read, I polished it off in an evening.  I could definitely see tween boys enjoying this book, there is just enough gross tied in to keep the pages turning.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"I Beat The Odds" by Michael Oher with Don Yeger

Why yes, I am a fan of The Blind Side.  So yes, I read Michael Oher's I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond (written with Don Yaeger).  This book tells the whole story of Oher's childhood, both the good and the bad.  Of course you cannot compile 20 some years of a person's life into a decent two hour movie and without it being confusing and possibly boring.  So movie makers only use the really good bits with some Hollywood flair thrown in.  So as much as I love the movie, it was nice to get the read the whole story.

Oher, born in the middle of eleven other siblings, started off at home with his mother but later in life bounced from one foster family to another and later from one friends house to another before being taken in permanently by the Tuohy family.

I found this book very inspiring.  It is clear that Oher has not forgotten about his rough past.  He talks about reasons for not owning multiple million dollar houses and cars and devotes an entire chapter with ways that the reader can give back to their community.  It was nice to read a book by a "celebrity" that made it clear that it took a lot of hard work to gain their success.  Oher describes the hours of dedication it took to complete his high school and college careers as well as the support had from others that helped to make his dreams a reality.  It is very clear that Oher wrote this book from the heart to share his story and to inspire others to realize that they can make a difference, both in their lives and the lives of others around them, no matter what their circumstances.

If you need an uplifting read, this just may be it (and no, you needn't be a spots fan to enjoy it)!

Happy Reading!
-Melly