Once I got past the rocky start, I really enjoyed this book.  The letters are in majority to and from Juliet Ashton who after World War II has ended is living in London.  Juliet is a columnist and receives a letter from Dawsey, a member of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, based in Guernsey, who is simply making an inquiry about another author and would she be so kind to send the name and address of a bookshop in London so he may order more of his books by post.  His letter has caught her attention because Guernsey was occupied for five years during World War II and his description of the society brought into being because of a roast pig kept hidden from the German soldiers.  She wants to know more.

Juliet and Dawsey begin a correspondence that soon includes several other members of the book society.  Juliet begins to research everything that she can find out about Guernsey, its people, and the occupation in which she hopes will be material for a new book.  Through the letters, she creates a close kinship with the people of Guernsey and feels a strong desire to visit.  She does and never leaves!

I can’t help but point out Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit, who reviewed the book yesterday, because I so enjoyed her description:

This novel is one of those books that will hone in on the perfect reader.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is chock full of bookish quotes and must have been written with the love of books in mind. Beyond the WWII details, the rationing, the tip-toeing around German officers, and the loss of good friends shipped off to concentration camps, this is a novel about a writer who blooms in the countryside among new friends and new scenery.

The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society is just that.  It’s a fun read because of the quirky and fleshed out characters (one of the books many strengths) but yet it was touching and sad when learning of concentration camp stories and details of the German occupation.  Details about the war was what I appreciated the most about this book.  I love learning facts and tidbits about the war and the many stories had me completely fascinated.  The other central part of this story is about Juliet and how she comes to transplant herself among new people.  They are all healing from the war and it is through their shared membership of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society that they are able to begin to move on with their lives.

Excellent video of Annie Barrows discussing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society:

I recommended this book to my mom several months ago before I even read it because I knew she would like it.  After finishing the book, I was happy that I had already told her to read it.  And really, telling your mom to read a book?   Sometimes I read a book and think, no way am I telling my mom to read that!  Not so, with this book.  I liked it and so did my mom.  And really, what more of a recommendation do you need than that?

The publisher has made available five copies to give away to each of the  TLC  Book Tour stops.  So here’s your chance to  pick up a free copy for yourself.  To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post answering this question:  are a member of a book club and if so does it have a name? If so, what is it? Anything to rival the name The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society?

Links of interest:  Visit other reviews/interviews at other TLC  Book Tour stops, other blogger reviews, readers guide for book clubs, Potato Peel Pie recipe and more, Annie Barrows website.
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Dial Press.  July 29, 2008
Hardcover, 288 pages.  ISBN:  0385340990
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s and Amazon.

There are so many different plot points of Pope Joan as it covers a period of at least forty years so I won’t go into too much detail, otherwise I could go on forever.  While we were explaining the plot to a couple of people in our book club, it took us like twenty minutes to go through the entire time line and not leave out anything important.  Not that it’s a confusing book because by all means it’s not.  I highly enjoyed it and found myself always wanting to pick it up to read and thinking about it when I wasn’t able to.

I’m not Catholic nor am I familiar with Catholic history but Pope Joan is about the rise and stardom of a female Pope during the ninth century, which I imagine is a topic of hot debate among historians, so I appreciated the author’s note “Was There a Pope Joan?”  I fully admit that I haven’t researched further into the subject as it’s part of history that completely intimidates me, but Pope Joan is an excellent book to breach the subject and act as a springing board if one wants to further explore or discover this part of history.  I fully appreciated the details in the book about how people lived during the ninth century, especially how women were treated.  Besides the fact that a female was able to rise to Pope under the guise of a man, I probably found this the most fascinating aspect of the book.

Joan was never at peace because born a female in the ninth century meant that she was viewed as inferior to men and was never allowed full access to education.  She was smart and eager to learn and begged her older brother to teach her how to read and write in secret.  A kind priest recognizes her talent and against the wishes of everybody around her, particularly her father, insists on educating her.  This is unheard of.

After her older brother dies and her younger brother is later killed in a horrible viking attack, Joan assumes his identity and enters a monastery as John Anglicus.  Under this deception, she becomes one of the most talented and wise priests and learns the art of healing.  She eventually makes her way to Rome where she becomes entwined with the politics of the papal seat and in time rises to its very throne.

Joan fears that her secret will be found out at any moment and I loved the tension that this underlying current created.  If discovered, there would understandably be an uproar among the people and death for herself.  There is a fantastic love story as well.  Hmm . . . I just tried to explain it but it comes out all jumbled and funny.  Let it suffice to say that I thought the love story was . . . well, fantastic!

Pope Joan is a novel that at it’s theme is the empowerment of women.  How they were viewed as less than human, built to be incapable of even thinking or acting like a man.  Almost as cattle simply to give birth.  They were undervalued and underappreciated.  It is this huge prejudice that Joan fights against her whole life and even as John must endure the men’s way of thinking as she has immersed herself into their world.  As Pope she tries to change this but comes up against much prejudice.  But yet, what is so sad is that 1200 years later and this way of thinking in many parts of the world has not changed.  It felt so barbaric in the ninth century but yet one could see so many parallels between then and today.

The best part about reading Pope Joan was having the author Donna Woolfolk Cross call in to our book club and chat with us for over an hour! I really wish I had transcribed everything that we discussed but I was too busy enjoying myself (and going in and out of the room because of course that’s the one time I have to bring my two kids with me!).   The hot topic of discussion was research and what was based on fact and what was fictional.  What characters were real and which ones had no counterpart in history.  My favorite part of the call was talking about how cruel and savage this time period was in the treatment of women and how in some cases we have gained so much but yet so little.

We also discussed the movie.  Because, yes, there will be a movie!!  Donna even gave us a “secret” link (sorry folks, wish I could share) to the movie trailer and it looks SO good.  I can’t wait to watch it.  But you want to know the best part?

*Donna has a fabulous promotion going on right now and YOU have the chance to be flown out to the US movie premiere and walk the red carpet!*

How do you ask?

All the details and exactly how to enter is on the author’s website where she says:

Simply buy a new, Three Rivers Press/Crown Publishing paperback edition of Pope Joan by August 9 and send me the original receipt. In August, I’ll pick randomly from the pile of receipts to select someone and their guest to join me at the U.S. movie premiere in the fall (exact date still to be determined).

Includes two tickets to the movie premiere, plus round trip airfare for two from any location in the continental United States or Canada,
and one night hotel accommodation for you to share with your guest.

To tell you the truth, your odds right now are pretty good and after visiting with Donna I would love to win and hang out with her, so not only is Pope Joan worthy to add to my library anyways but this extra incentive has me returning my library copy and buying a new copy in a heartbeat.

Check out these movie stills:

(Image copyright:  Summit Entertainment)

I hope the movie just as good as it looks, but it looks great!

So seriously, go buy the book.  You’ll want to read (and watch) this one!

Links of interest:  Pope Joan website and promotion details.  Details on how you can have Donna at your book club! Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? is giving away a copy of the book (which you’re buying anways, right?).
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Three Rivers Press, June 9, 2009.  (Original hardcover published by Crown September 1996)
Paperback, 432 pages.  ISBN:  0307452360
Pope Joan is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Set in the 1930’s during the great depression in the dust bowl of Oklahoma, Out of the Dust is told as a diary in free verse form, a style of writing that I love more with every book I read.  Billie Jo is fourteen and loves to both write and play the piano.  She’s also eagerly anticipating the birth of her baby brother.

But that all changes when an accident leaves her hands wounded and her mother and brother die in childbirth.  Billie Jo’s father is emotionally unreachable:

I don’t know my father anymore.
He sits across from me,
he looks like my father,
he chews his food like my father,
he brushes his dusty hair back like my father,
but he is a stranger.

I am awkward with him,
and irritated,
and I want to be alone
but I am terrified of being alone.
We are both changing,
we are shifting to fill in the empty spaces left by Ma.
I keep my raw and stinging hands
behind my back when he comes near
because he
stares
when he seems them.

September 1934.

Dust is just as much of this story as anything else.  It’s everywhere and non-relenting.  It makes for a bleak and harsh environment.  Billie Jo wants to escape it all but when she does she comes to realize that the landscape is more a part of her than she realized.

Out of the Dust is a great historical fiction novel for young readers and I loved the free verse.  Recommended.

Genre:  Historical fiction, ages 9-12.
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks.  October 1, 1997
Paperback, 240 pages. ISBN:  0590371258
Out of the Dust is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Before the war . . .

. . . the evenings lingered longer, and it was always summer when it wasn’t Halloween, or Christmas.  Long, lazy light reached between the houses, and the whole street played our version of hide-and-seek, called only by olly-olly-in-free and supper time.  Before I could keep up, I rode my brother’s shoulder’s, hung in the crook of Dad’s good arm.  I rode them across the long shadows of afternoon, high over hedges, heading for home base, when our street was the world,

before the war,
when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Doesn’t that just draw you in?  If it was that great before the war than what about after the war?  Is it not always summer?  Does nobody play hide-and-seek anymore?  Is it dark and stormy?  I love how the first page gives you the promise of a great story to follow.

Davy Bowman has two heroes in his life:  his father and his older brother.  His dad is a grown up kid who could always be relied upon to play out on the street with all the other neighborhood kids and catch Halloween pranksters with pranks of his own.  Davy never had to worry about saying something wrong in front of his Dad.  But his father’s heart is breaking as his older brother, Bill, is in training flying B-17s and about to be shipped overseas to help with the war effort.   With the war now invading the home front, Davy is finding that his childhood and his family is changing in ways that he never could have expected.  With neighborhood wide blackouts, the kids no longer play out on the street.  Instead they scrounge around for rubber and scrap metal to donate to the war effort.  With teachers now short of hand, Miss Titus, an ancient woman, finally puts Davy’s classroom in order.  She’s a fireball and easily one of my favorite characters in the book.  Bill, finally overseas, has gone missing while on a flight mission and when Davy’s grandparents move in his mother goes to work so she can avoid sitting home all day and worrying.

What I loved most about On the Wings of Heroes was that weaved into this great story and memorable  family was the little details that made this war feel so real and believable.  Wouldn’t you know it?  I was learning something!  This is historical fiction at it’s best.  If you want to know what it was like for a family and community to be on the home front during World War II then this book will take you right there.

I have been fortunate to hear Richard Peck speak not once but twice (which I still have photos and a post to share with you from months ago!) and I am fascinated with the passion that he has for research, writing, characters and great stories.  With more than 40 books under his belt, I have a lot of back titles to go through.  I’m looking forward to the task ahead of me.

Who is an author that once you get hooked, you have to go back through their entire backlist?  For me it’s Richard Peck, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jacqueline Woodson and Anita Shreve.  You?

Links of interest:  Why oh why does Richard Peck not have a website?  The Maw Books reviews of A Long Way from Chicago,  A Year Down Yonder.
Genre:  Juvenile, Historical Fiction.  Ages 9-12
Publisher: Dial Books.  February 15,  2007
Hardcover, 160 pages.  ISBN: 0803730810
On the Wings of Heroes is available at your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

• Ali from Worducopia.  Ali is so much fun!  She’s hosting the Diversity Rocks Challenge which I’m really, really regretting not joining.  Ali seems to review a bit of everything.  Graphic novels, literary fiction, young adult and more.  Ali’s going to do the read-a-thon for the first year this time too.  I’m glad I won’t be the only newbie!

• Suey from It’s All About Books.  If you’re not friends with Suey, you are missing out.  I was bummed when she wasn’t able to come to the Laurie Halse Anderson signing.  I totally missed her.  Suey and I have met on more than one occasion and she’s just as nice in real life as she is on her blog.  Lately, Suey has been reading tons on young adult books.  But who can blame her?  They’re really good!  Suey and Raidergirl3 from An Adventure in Reading are also the brains behind the Bookword Game.  And if you’re a Josh Groban fan?  Say no more.  You have a new best friend.

• Chartoose from Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage! I remember the very first time I stumbled upon Chartoose’s blog because I turned to my husband and said check out the name of this blog!  I knew immediately how irreverent and fun she would be.  I must admit she probably doesn’t think that I read her blog that often because I’m terrible at commenting, but I do.  And you should too.

• Jackie from Farm Lane Books.  I somehow missed having Jackie’s blog in my reader.  I seriously do not know how that happened.  That situation is now rectified.  Sorry!  Jackie reviews mostly literary fiction and is trying to make it through a bunch of prize lists like the Orange, Booker, and Pulitzer.  Thinking about it just makes my head hurt.

• Marg from Reading Adventures.  I wish I could read as much as Marg.  She read 17 books this past month.  Marg reads a lot of historical fiction and also blogs at the Historical Tapestry blog, as well as romance, mysteries, and young adult fiction.  In addition to all the challenges that she does, Marg also finds the time to make beautiful cards as well.  Marg has been blogging since 2005.  That sure makes me feel like the new kid on the block!

• Em from Em’s Bookshelf.  Em reviews young adult books.  If you’re looking for a recommendation, head on over there.  She’ll have one.  I had to laugh.  Em is taking on Maureen Johnson’s challenge to blog every day in April.  And she’s going to buy herself peanut M&M’s if she does.  Made me realize that I need to slow down!  I think I’ll buy myself something if I DON’T blog every day in April.  I wonder what would happen if I skipped a day?  Wait.  Nothing.  Brilliant!   Why didn’t I think of this before?

Thanks everybody for stopping by!  I wish I could highlight you all.  I was going to try to go for ten spotlights this month but my boys who are supposedly “napping” just found a bottle of spray suntan lotion and sprayed it all over their walls.  Welcome to my life.

A Thousand Never Evers centers around an event that takes place in a community garden that is supposed to be shared by both blacks and whites, but somebody sabotages the garden by overplanting it with butter bean seeds and successfully chocking out everything else.   In the note to the readers, Shana mentions that as part of her research for the novel she baked butter bean cookies.  As butter beans play a large role in the book, I knew right away that I had to ask her about that, which she graciously did during our author interview.

So here we are baking butter bean cookies!  Dang. I’ve got the cutest kids. Here’s my littlest ready to get in on the action. As you can see, he’s already gotten into the flour.

When my husband saw the following photo, he said ewww. Yes, those would be the butter beans which are being substituted for half of the butter in the recipe.  More protein and half the butter!  Not bad.  I wasn’t sure at what point to put in the beans but a quick email to Shana (who was so excited that she eagerly emailed later to see how they turned out) clarified that they are put in straight from the start.

Doesn’t he look so proud of himself.

This was the first time I let my youngest have at the beaters.

Shana recommends putting extra cocoa into the batter to make the cookie not only extra chocolaty but also to help the white bean that we’ll put on top “pop.”

And this is the batter ready to be placed by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. You would never know that there are beans in there. They blended in nicely.

And there you go! The finished product!

Halfway through the baking time I slide the cookies out and placed one butter bean on top. My husband begged me to only do this to half of the recipe. So half had beans on top and the other half were plain.

My husband, Taylor, checking it out. He much preferred the cookies without the bean on top.   Actually, I think he would have just liked normal chocolate chip cookies (I NEVER make them – my preferred cookie of choice is snickerdoodle).  And to tell you the truth, if he hadn’t seen the can of butter beans and seen me make the recipe, he wouldn’t have known that there were any beans in there at all. Visually, I don’t think he could handle it.

My oldest loved the cookies! He did however gag when he bit into the bean on top. That didn’t stop him from eating tons more, he just chose the cookies without the bean and was none the wiser about beans actually being inside the cookie!

This guy just likes cookies no matter what.

I’m so embarrassed to put an out of focus photo on my blog, but these are the happy little guys after filling up on cookies.  Very happy.

If you’d like to try something a little different, do check out Shana’s instructions for butter bean cookies. I would love to try it again but use white chocolate chip cookies, they would go nicely with the darker color.  And these would be perfect refreshments or activity for a book club.  I love how baking these cookies took me into the book in such a fun way!

Links of interest:  Butter Bean cookie recipe.  Shana Burg’s website and blog.  My book review and author interview with Shana Burg.

Maw Books:  If you could only use one word to describe your new novel Longhorns and Outlaws what would it be?

Linda Aksomitis: Western

Maw Books:  I’m always interested in knowing how authors come up with their ideas.  Where did you come up for the premise of Longhorns and Outlaws?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, I’d have to say Longhorns and Outlaws is a mesh of ideas. I always wanted to write something full of old west adventure and excitement, so when I was researching a book I wrote about Southern Saskatchewan (Backroad Mapbooks Southern Saskatchewan) and explored Outlaw Station #1 on the Outlaw trail, everything started to come together.

Maw Books:  Tell us about your background in ranching and horses and how that influenced you in writing Longhorns and Outlaws.

Linda Aksomitis: I grew up on a horse ranch, doing all the usual things – riding gymkhana, barrel racing, horse shows, and trail rides. Then I married into a rodeo family, so I continued to collect all kinds of valuable experiences for writing about the old west, from getting chased by cantankerous cows to branding calves in the spring. Without this background I wouldn’t have considered starting a novel like Longhorns and Outlaws, because there are just too many experiences involved to rely on third person research, at least for me!

Maw Books:  Tell us about researching Longhorns and Outlaws.  Did you do all the research first?  Combine writing and research?  How do you decide when and where to set your book and which historical events to include?

Linda Aksomitis: As you’ve guessed, Natasha, there was lots of research involved in writing Longhorns and Outlaws. The first was, of course, years of experience with horses and cattle, and just as important, getting to know others in these Western communities, so I can help my readers relate to how it feels to be part of that segment of society. I first discovered the outlaws I included in the story in 2004, on a couple of research trips through Southern Saskatchewan and Montana, so spent a year finding out all I could about them before beginning the first draft of the novel in 2005. Before I started the second draft in 2006, I took a week long trip through Montana, following the Yellowstone River from Billings to Culbertson, taking pictures, visiting museums, and talking to people. Then I took another few days to come from Culbertson up to Saskatchewan’s Big Muddy, finding tons more information in addition to what I’d gathered the year before. My final draft in 2007 focused on archival print materials, which I drew from to create a lot of Lucas’s past and perfect the voice and writing style I wanted for the story.

Maw Books:  What about young fictional heroes appeals to you as a writer?

Linda Aksomitis: I like stories that are full of adventure, so I find books with young heroes both more fun to write and to read!

Maw Books:  Lucas likes to learn by the book while his brother Gil is more of a hands on learner.  Which type of learner are you?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, what an interesting question! I’m really a cross between Lucas and Gil, I guess, since I do learn many things from books, while others I have
to get completely immersed in and do. I think it depends on what I’m doing, which may be part of what Lucas learns as he gradually becomes proficient at riding Ebenezer and riding drag behind the cattle herd.

Maw Books:  What’s your favorite scene from the book?  Or perhaps one which has changed the least since your first came up with it?

Linda Aksomitis: Ah, you’re right and many scenes changed during the various edits of this book! The one that changed the least was how Lucas managed to free Ebenezer from the outlaw corral. I’d say the scene was inspired by the many old westerns with daring rescues and escapes that I watched with my dad as a child, so it came to life in full detail when I started writing.

Maw Books:  Was there any point while writing Longhorns and Outlaws that you struggled writing the book?  And vice-versa a point where the creative juices just flowed?

Linda Aksomitis: I always struggle with the beginning, Natasha. In fact, I workshop it with my writers’ group, then rewrite the first chapter at least 20 or 30 times before it comes to its published shape. It’s challenging to get enough backstory included to set up a scene, but still have the excitement I want to pull the reader into the story. The first chapter is also the place where I need to establish the writing style and voice, so it takes a lot of revision to get the exact feel I want.

Maw Books:  Would you describe you book as being a good match for reluctant readers?

Linda Aksomitis: I think there’s a book for every reader and the ideal reader for Longhorns and Outlaws is one who’s drawn to the old west by interest or experience. My author visits in areas where the children come from horse and rodeo backgrounds have been very positive, since there really aren’t that many westerns for them to read. I also hoped that Longhorns and Outlaws would appeal to readers who’ve had some first hand experience with surviving hurricanes, as many in the coastal areas have. Reluctant readers should be drawn along by Lucas’s many challenges and adventures!

Maw Books:  And what do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?

Linda Aksomitis: I hope children feel they have had a great old west adventure!

Maw Books:  Tell us about Kidnapped by Outlaws, the sequel to Longhorns and Outlaws and when can we expect to see it available in stores?

Linda Aksomitis: In Kidnapped by Outlaws, Lucas end up in even more trouble with the border outlaws, some of whom appeared briefly in Longhorns and Outlaws. Much of the conflict of the story, however, deals with the need to belong and how gangs have fulfilled that need for many young boys and men over the past few centuries. In terms of when it will appear in stores, not for awhile yet, as I hope to get a draft ready for my publisher to see by this summer.

Maw Books:  How many books do you plan on writing for this series?  And what is it like to write a series?  Do you know where the story is going to go?  Do you preplan all the books?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, great question, but I really don’t know the answer. I wrote Longhorns and Outlaws planning a series, which was one reason I took so many
drafts before publication. The continuing thread through all the books will be encounters with outlaws, rather than the cattle, so each book lets me explore a new stage and setting. In the Outlaws sequel, Gil appears briefly in the opening scene and Cousin Henry in the last scene, but otherwise it’s new characters and adventures. Currently, I’m searching for a real outlaw story somewhere in the west that draws my interest for book #3, since I like to base my historical fiction on real events of the past.

Maw Books:  What are some of your favorite experiences so far from book signings, school visits, interviews, and other promotional activities for Longhorns and Outlaws?

Linda Aksomitis: I loved doing the virtual tour with the school in Texas! It was awesome to be able to share my slide show and story with children thousands of miles away, then answer their questions.

Maw Books:  This is a question that I ask every single author that I nterview and that’s to share a recipe with us, particularly if it was in the book and then I try to make it later.  Coming to my mind is pan fried bread and beans.  Is this something that you know how to cook or is there another “western-style” recipe that you could share with us?

Linda Aksomitis: Baked Beans & Ham

Ingredients:
1 pound dried navy beans
6 cups water
1 small ham bone with 1/4 pound ham (I usually use leftovers from a large baked ham, including the juice)
1 teaspoon salt (if you use ham juice no salt is required)
1/2 cup of molasses
1/2 cup ketchup

Preparation:  Cover beans and ham with water in a small roaster, casserole dish, or crockpot. Add all ingredients and stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 3-4 hours, until beans are soft. Check periodically to ensure beans are covered with fluid, adding water as required.  Serves 6 to 8.

Maw Books:  Mmmm.  I can’t wait to try this one!  I couldn’t help but notice that with the exception of one color we use a very similar color scheme on both of our websites!  And here I thought I was so original.    Great minds think alike!  How has having an online presence affected you personally and as a writer?

Linda Aksomitis: I’ve been online since 1995 and owe many of my current books to contacts I made via the Internet. Right now I teach a course called Introduction to
Internet Markets where I help other writers take that all important leap to getting established on the Internet.

Maw Books:  Tell us a little bit about the other books that you have published.

Linda Aksomitis: I have nineteen books out right now, but I’ll just focus on my children’s historical fiction here. Run (Pearson Education), which came out in 2007, was a finalist in the 2008 Saskatchewan Book Awards for YA fiction.  Adeline’s Dream (2005), from the same publisher (coteau Books) as Longhorns  and Outlaws, was part of the very popular From Many Peoples series. All three novels are set in the same decade: Longhorns in 1901, Adeline’s Dream in 1910, and Run in 1911. I love this era because it’s a time just before the changes in technology and society that followed World War I.

Maw Books:  Great!  You say you have held 45 jobs for pay and they are all fascinating!  Which of those jobs has been the most unusual, the most fun, the hardest, and the most rewarding?

Linda Aksomitis: I tell people I’m like a kid in a candy store, and I want to try every flavour. Most unusual job: racing snowmobiles (spent more money than I earned). Most fun: travel writing (travel writers can do pretty much anything in the name of “work”). Hardest: waitress (no kidding!). Most rewarding: teaching (I teach people about books and libraries, so what else could possibly be more rewarding?).

Maw Books:  I’d love to be a travel writer (well, maybe just the traveling part!).  I was flabbergasted with all that you have done.  Between all your amazing vacations, ranching, snowmobiling, writing, teaching, etc. it seems like you’ve just about done it all.  Two questions.  How do you manage your time to accomplish so much and what’s the one thing that you haven’t done that you still want to do?

Linda Aksomitis: I manage my time by prioritizing what I want to do, and then planning a year-ahead calendar to make the pieces fit together as well as possible. I also find that the more productivity I have out of each time investment, the more I can do. For example, by using a great deal of the research I did for the travel guide to Saskatchewan in Longhorns and Outlaws, I not only got to know my subject really well, I also maximized my effort in terms of returns on time invested.

Maw Books:  Describe yourself as a reader. What books influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?

Linda Aksomitis: I was a voracious reader as a child and read absolutely everything in sight. My favorite books were ones that stretched my experience and imagination, so I felt like I’d really been there. A Wrinkle in Time was my ultimate favorite as a young reader and now I can’t say enough for Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn series for young readers.

Maw Books:  I haven’t read the Airborn series, I’ll have to look into those.  What’s the last book you read, the book you’re reading now and a book that you’d like to read next?

Linda Aksomitis: The last book I read was Meggido’s Shadow (historical fiction from Arthur Slade, another Saskatchewan author); right now I’m reading Journey to a
Revolution (A personal memoir and history of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956) by Michael Korda; and next I’d like to read Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Maw Books:  I loved Elijah of Buxton!  If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only charge was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

Linda Aksomitis: Sit on an open balcony overlooking a beautiful beach seascape in the sun and read a good book.

Maw Books:  Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of the Maw Books Blog?

Linda Aksomitis: Nothing, Natasha, except to say that I’ve really enjoyed our visit and thank you so much for participating in the virtual tour for Longhorns and Outlaws.

Maw Books:  Thank you Linda!

Visit the Cowboy’s and Outlaw’s website and other stops on Linda’s tour to learn more about Longhorns and Outlaws.  My Longhorns and Outlaws book review.

Recent immigrants from the Netherlands, Lucas is just getting used to living in a new country, when his parents and little sister die in the 1900 Galveston Hurricane and he’s left orphaned.  His older brother Gil, aged 16, comes home and sells off all of their possessions and takes Lucas to Montana to work on a cattle drive.  The only problem is that Lucas doesn’t know anything about cattle or horses.  In fact, he’s never even ridden a horse.  The cattle drive will take them through the last known location of their cousin Henry, whom Lucas hopes will take him in so he can go back to school.

Gil and Lucas are in constant conflict with each other.  Lucas loves books while Gil can’t see the use.  In comparison, Gil loves everything about cattle drives and Lucas learns that he has a lot to teach him.  Fueled by the books he reads, Lucas wants to be a Pinkerton Agents when he grows up, the detectives who trail and capture outlaws.  Lucas studies all the outlaw wanted posters on the cattle drive and soon finds himself in real danger when he runs into the Sundance Kid and his gang.  The only problem is that nobody believes him, including Gil.  When Lucas’s outfit finds all their horses stolen, including Eb the horse that he has come to love, he will take matters into his own hands and find his Cousin Henry’s whereabouts at the same time.

Longhorns and Outlaws has a lot to think about including emigration, life after a natural disaster, the wild west frontier, life on a cattle drive, outlaws, courage, and what it takes to be a hero.  I found myself getting into it a bit slowly, but once I was able to get going I became really engrossed in the story.  I think this book would have a lot of appeal for younger readers, including reluctant readers and boys.

You can find more information about the Outlaw Book series including a detailed teachers guide to use Longhorns and Outlaws in the classroom on the Cowboy’s and Outlaw’s website.  Also check out the other stops on Linda’s tour.  You can learn more about Linda Aksomitis on her personal website as well.  Linda is simply amazing.  Much of Longhorns and Outlaws is based on Linda’s personal experience as she’s worked with horses and cattle a lot (among all of her other interests!)  Want more?  I’ve got more!  Coming up next an interview with Linda herself.  Lot’s of fun information, watch for it coming right up.

“Shorty” was thus nicknamed because he was smaller than all of his classmates.  He was always the last to picked for any team when they played games.  Everything got worse when he began to be called names that he didn’t understand and nobody talked to him.  His parents then pulled him out of school when it was time to move out of their house and into the horse stalls that was a temporary stop on their ultimate destination to a dusty and desolate barbed wired internment camp.

The longer they stayed there, the worse things got.  The youth were becoming more and more despondent and disrespectful to their elders.  Knowing that they needed a outlet, Shorty’s father decided that the camp would benefit from having a baseball field.  Soon, there were baseball games going on all the time for both kids and grown-ups.  Shorty played as well but this time around it wasn’t so bad because he was the same size as all of his other Japanese friends.  But  he didn’t like playing under the watchful eye of the gaurd in the security tower who seemed to scrutinize his every move under his dark sunglasses.  Shorty got so mad that he was determined to show that guard exactly what he was made of.  And he did!  Hitting the ball hard he made it all the way to home base and onto the shoulders of his teammates.

But that didn’t make everything better.  Eventually, Shorty and his family returned home to the same classmates who made fun of him before he left.  He was both taunted and ignored.  The book ends as Shorty is again playing baseball, but this time among his white peers.  But he had gotten better during his time of playing baseball in the camps.  Can he prove that he is just as good as his peers?

Ken Mochizuki does an excellent job showing why the Japanese were sent to internment camps, what life was like there, their attitudes towards themselves and their fellow Americans, as well as the difficult transition when they returned home.  As always, the illustrations by Dom Lee are wonderful.  Still mostly monochromatic, there is color in Baseball Saved Us, unlike most of Dom Lee’s other books.  The illustrations inside the camp were more bleak in color and the illustrations outside the camp were more vibrant in color.  A great comparison between the “outside world” and the camps.

Ken Mochizuki’s own parents were sent to internment camps during World War II.  Coming up next is a great author interview where Ken talks about his parents experience and how that influenced his writing of Baseball Saved Us.  Don’t miss it!  Ken is also the author of  Be Water, My Friend:  The Early Years of Bruce Lee (reviewed here),  Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story (reviewed here), Heroes, and the young adult novel Beacon Hill Boys.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

Harriet Tubman relied deeply upon her faith in God.  Her journey back and forth is very much a spiritual journey, as the voice of God guides her.  Told in a lyrical text that incorporates the voice of both Harriet and God, the story flows well.  I also loved the use of font.   Enhancing the reading experience is a comprehensive author’s note that details the life of Harriet Tubman as well as a forward putting the text into context.

The illustrations by Kadir Nelson are dynamic, beautiful, and striking.  Well deserved of the Caldecott.  A picture book that should be read to all especially to introduce the story of one of the Underground Railroad’s most inspiring figures.

Visit Carole Boston Weatherford website and Kadir Nelson’s website.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.  Also reviewed this month: Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russel Freedman, Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons, The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox,  Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, The Well by Mildred D. Taylor,  Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and  Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.  Other reviews of interest:  A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman.