YALSA Morris/Nonfiction Challenge Check-in #3

   

I transitioned from nonfiction to fiction this week. I still have 1 more NF book to go, but I am still waiting for it to be processed by the library.

The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson  gives the back story on both the target as well as the assassin, then follows the order of events to the finite detail and then the conclusion and epilogue to the story. It is a fast-paced read, full of photos and illustrations that help the reader understand what happened. Swanson is unapologetically a believer in the “long gunman” theory, but adds a section about conspiracy theories. If you think you know a lot about JFK’s assassination, you should read this, because I suspect you will learn even more.

Dr. Birds’s Advice for Sad Poet’s by Evan Roskos tell the story of Walt Whitman loving, tree-hugging James Whitman. James is struggling with anxiety and depression. In telling us of his claustrophobic life, James writes verse in Whitman’s style, hugs trees to maintain his sanity, and talks to an imaginary pigeon therapist. He is looking for help, a way out,  information to explain why his sister was kicked out of the house and expelled from school, but no one seems willing to talk to him.  This could be a very dark book, and it is at times, but there is a thread of humor throughout. The book doesn’t have a happy ending, but it has a realistic ending, which I think is far more important.

Crime, Punishment & Presidential History

Fifty years ago today, I was a year, a month and a day away from being born. Growing up, I was like the kids I teach. When people asked  “Where were you when you heard the news” I had nothing to say. My 4th graders weren’t born in 2001, so they can’t answer the 9-11 version of that question. No one is left to answer the Lincoln version either.

Fortunately there are two non-fiction books that can help us understand presidential history a little better.

The assassination of JFK was a pivotal moment in American history. In  The President Has Been Shot ,James L. Swanson does an excellent job of going through the background of the key players, expressing facts that really laid out the event from many perspectives. While maintaining historical accuracy, the story is woven together through the eyes of all involved. I found myself feeling Oswald’s tension, the secrets service’s hesitance, the President’s gentle joy, and most powerfully, Jackie’s heartbreak.The book has a lot of pictures to support the text, other supporting material at the back, source notes, a list for further reading and  an extensive bibliography that includes a list of conspiracy theory literature.

This is a well-researched book that I bet will appear on a non-fiction award list for 2013.

Although not about the assassination itself,  Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin is another good read.

The book tells an odd bit of history.Yes, a group did try to steal Abraham;s Lincoln’s body. In telling this bizarre tale, Sheinkin sheds light on counterfeiting, the Secret Service and 19th century body snatching. It reads like a thriller and is hard to put down