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1956

Editor's Note: Many of the books are out of print. The header information will be as complete as I can make it.

Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (Houghton Mifflin, $12.80, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0395068819.	The Medalist Wonderful, fact-based story about a remarkable man and his discoveries in the world of sailing. Thoroughly enjoyable story about sailing and navigation. Much of interest to land-lubbers too, because the tale is so well told and accessible. Science teachers looking for a literature tie-in to units on geography, astronomy, etc., would do well to look here. Note: Works well with Glory of the Seas, but you will get an entirely different view of Bowditch in that book.
The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings/illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (San Mario Bookstore, $12.95, fourth-grade level). ISBN: 0935259023.	Honor Book A young girl living in the bayou uses a few words of enigmatic advice from a wise woman to find a river packed with fish, which she catches and then uses to relieve poverty among the forest folk. Calpurnia is too young to understand the larger political currents that seem to be causing the depression that afflicts her region, but she understands hunger and sadness. The old woman tells her to follow her nose, which leads her to the secret river. The girl pays for her return passage through the forest with fish, then uses the remainder to jumpstart her family's fortunes. Ripples of kindness spread outward. This book is often described as the author's only book for children, though her far-more famous title, The Yearling, has always struck me as a kids book. This manuscript was printed posthumously. It feels like an incomplete work; not a novella, not a short story. In this era it would have been a picture book. The tone and content are a bit hard to categorize, too. The narrative contains elements of classic fairy tales and certainly would give sustenance to fans of the hero cycle. The author wanted to wade in psychological currents, but I can't ascertain a pattern. The publishers claim that the story is an endorsement of the power of imagination seems a bit shallow. As you can tell, the story provokes a conflicted response. I plan on throwing this at graduate students in a couple of years and forcing them to figure it out.
The Golden Name Day by Jennie Linquist (paperback, Harper & Row, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 06-4400024-7.	Honor Book A preteen girl is asked to spend a year with her beloved grandparents on their farm while her mother recovers from a long illness. If there is a medal for pathetic whining, the girl in this book would get it. Virtually her entire extended family in the small upper Midwestern town, circa 1908, does everything in its power to make her feel comfortable. If Nancy so much as breathes, 15 people give her presents and throw a party. I realize that it's difficult to judge a 50-year-old book by modern standards, but I've read many a Newbery novel older than this one in which the girl isn't so weak. By modern standards, this book has virtually no redeeming virtues. Fans of Swedish culture might beg to differ, but I doubt it.
Men, Microscopes and Living Things by Katherine Shippen (Viking, fifth-grade level). ASIN: 0670468754. Out of print	Honor Book The author traces the development of scientific thought and experimentation in the field of biology. This is another of the older Newberys that doesn't deserve to be in print. Shippen quite concisely, if somewhat glowingly, describes the evolution of biology from Aristotle's magnificent observations to latter developments in the study of heredity. Because the book was written in 1955, it lacks all of the newer discoveries. However, is provides a wonderful overview of the field and some nifty portraits of little known but quite important scientists.

Copyright David Ross 2003