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Da Vinci

Da Vinci by Mike Venezia, 1989.

This book is part of a series of biographies of famous people from history. I’ve been familiar with the part of this series about famous artists since around the time the first ones were published. I was in elementary school school at the time, and we had the books because my mother used to teach the Art Masterpiece program at the school. She would come to class and talk about famous artists and show their paintings, and there would be an art project for the kids to do based on the style or subject matter of the artists. So, when I was young, we had books from this series (among other art books) around the house that she used for the art classes and a lot of arts and crafts materials (a tradition which exists to this day). At the moment, this is the only book from the series that I have because the book about Leonardo da Vinci was my favorite.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance, particularly known for his paintings The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, but he was more than just a painter. The book is full of interesting facts about his life as well as his work. Aside from showing photographs of da Vinci’s work, the book also has humorous cartoons about da Vinci’s life, which is one of the things that makes this series of books fun.

Leonardo began showing an interest and talent for drawing while he was still a child. Throughout his life, he also developed and practiced many other skills, including architecture and mathematics, music, and sculpture. He was a scientist and inventor, experimenting in many different areas, from the mixing of different types of paints to weapons design. Along the way, he found creative ways to combine his various interests. He used his drawing skills to develop his scientific ideas, and he used his knowledge of science to make his art appear more realistic.

You might wonder how one person could find so much time to do so much, but part of the answer is that he didn’t finish everything he did. He is known to have left some of his work unfinished, possibly because he got distracted by other, more interesting projects and pursuits or because he just couldn’t finish them to his satisfaction. Not all of his designs for inventions really came to anything, and not all of his experiments worked out, either. Some of his paintings are now deteriorating because the experimental paints that he mixed didn’t quite work out.

However, Leonardo da Vinci was a perfectionist, and the paintings that he did complete show excellent techniques and a high degree of realism that have been an inspiration to later artists for centuries.

One final thing I’d like to add is that this book is part of the reason I thought The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was a dumb book. As I said, I grew up with art lessons. I read and loved this book about Leonardo da Vinci when I was a kid, and it has some very basic information about the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci that anybody who was seriously interested in him really should know. One of the cringiest parts of The Da Vinci Code for me was the part where our heroes are stupidly trying to figure out a message that is simply written backward. As this picture book about Leonard da Vinci points out, it’s common knowledge these days that da Vinci wrote notes using mirror writing. Some people, like the book suggests, think that he did that to make his notes harder for other people to read, although there’s also a theory that he did it because he was left-handed and that he decided that it was easier for a left-handed person to write that way. Left-handed people often complain about getting ink on their hands when they write left-to-right, but they don’t have that problem if they write right-to-left, so this might have been his attempt to get around the problem of ink-stained hands. Either way, if the people in The Da Vinci Code were such experts, they should have know this about da Vinci, and it should have been one of the first things they should have checked for. That’s not the only problem in The Da Vinci Code, but it’s one of the ones that rankled me the most because of how long I’ve known about this. (Also, The Da Vinci Code totally ripped off the albino assassin from Foul Play with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, but that’s another issue.)

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Famous French Painters

Famous French Painters by Roland J. McKinney, 1960.

This book is part of a series of Famous Biographies for Young People. Reading older non-fiction books can be problematic because non-fiction books are often updated with new information. In this particular book, there are people who are described as being still alive because they were at the time of the book’s publication, but they are not alive anymore. However, older non-fiction books sometimes interest me both because they are an indication of what people knew and studied at the time of publication and they sometimes cover odd topics that don’t commonly appear in new books. So far, this is the only book I own from this particular series, but the other biographies in the series

It begins with a section of black-and-white prints of famous French paintings and an introduction to the history of French painting in general. The introduction begins with a discussion of illuminated manuscripts in the 15th century and the artistic and architectural endeavors promoted by King Francis I in the 16th century. Francis I was particularly fascinated by Italian art, and he hired artists of the Italian Renaissance, including Leonardo da Vinci, to work at his court. Francis I helped to fuel an increasing interest in the arts in France called the French Renaissance. Although the French Renaissance was initially heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance, French artists continued to develop their own styles. Popular subjects in French art were portraits, realistic landscapes, scenes from Classical mythology, and religious themes. The introduction ends with artists who painted during the late 18th century and early 19th century, explaining how their departure from neoclassical styles led to the development of new art styles.

After the introduction, there is a series of short biographies of famous French artists, beginning in the early 19th century and leading into the early 20th century. One of the first things that struck me about the list of artists included in the book is that, when their birth and death dates are included, none of the artists were born later than the 1880s, and the last two in the book have no death dates listed. Since the book was published in 1960, those last two artists were still alive at the time of publication, although they have died since then.

The artists included in the book are:

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) – He was a leader in the Romantic style of painting and one of the first French artists to use watercolor paints, which the French learned from English artists.

J. B. (Jean Baptiste) Camille Corot (1796-1875) – Originally, he trained in business, but he didn’t think he was suited to business and decided that his future was in art. He was particularly known for his landscapes, which were his specialty. He was also known as a charitable benefactor.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883) – Manet’s parents originally wanted him to become a lawyer, but it soon became apparent that he did not have the interest or temperament for a law career. When he first began his art studies, he quarreled with his teacher over the teacher’s strict insistence on realism in art because Manet preferred a more creative form of expression. He eventually developed a more simplified realistic style that did not focus on small details, a style that contributed to the development of impressionism.

Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas (1834-1917) – His specialty was portraits, and following the lessons that his teacher impressed on him, he emphasizes the importance of lines and drawing in his work. Much of his work was in oil paint, but he switched to pastels because he found that it was easier to work with and less of a strain on his eyes. Some of his best known works were of ballet dancers.

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) – He initially doubted his own artistic talents, but a fellow painter, Pissarro, advised him to stop trying to imitate others and put his focus on studying nature. Cezanne’s association with Pissarro helped him to develop his own style.

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) – Early in his life, Renoir was known for his singing ability, but his parents insisted that he learn a trade. He started learning how to decorate china, but this was the era when factories began using machines to decorate china. For a time, Renoir decorated fans and window shades, but his focus on improving his drawing abilities led him to a career in art. He became a friend of Monet, and the two would discuss art techniques with each other, although they had different styles.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) – He was originally from the Netherlands but lived in France. He was a contemporary of Gauguin, and the two were even friends. Unfortunately, van Gogh was plagued by mental illness, leading to the fit where he cut off part of his ear after an argument sparked by ridicule from Gauguin. Eventually, he committed suicide. He was not a famous artist during his lifetime, partly due to his mental illness and early death, but his work became famous after his death.

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) – Although he was originally from France, Gauguin is known for his travels to islands in the South Pacific, where he eventually died. Much of his work was inspired by his travels in the South Pacific.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) – He was a leading figure in a group of artists known as the fauves, which mean “wild beasts.” They painted in an unorthodox way that included few details and ignored perspective.

Pablo Picasso (1881- ) – Picasso was originally from Spain, but he lived in France for most of his adult life. He began studying art at a young age and is known for his work in surrealism and cubism. He was alive at the time this book was written, but he died in 1973.

(Odd fact not included in the book – Picasso was actually born one day before the shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, AZ. It doesn’t mean anything and isn’t important, but I noticed the date and just thought I’d tell you.)

Georges Braque (1882- ) – Braque was a contemporary of Picasso, and the two artists were instrumental in the development of cubism, although they each did their own work. The collaboration between the two artists was interrupted by the outbreak of WWI. Braque was alive at the time this book was written, but he passed away in 1963. On the subject of limitations in art, he once said, “Progress in art does not lie in extending its limits, but in knowing them better.”

Something that struck me was how much artists who were contemporaries of each other worked together, met to discuss and analyze each other’s art, and were actual friends. I prefer collaboration to competition, and I like that many of these artists seemed to appreciate and learn from each other’s skills and techniques.

I was also surprised at the number of artists whose parents initially wanted them to become lawyers, like Manet, Degas, Cezanne, and Matisse.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

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Bells

Bells by Elizabeth Starr Hill, illustrated by Shelly Sacks, 1970.

I love books about oddball topics, so a children’s picture book about the history of bells was irresistibly intriguing.

The book begins with the origins of bells in the Bronze Age. People had made rattles of various kinds before the Bronze Age, but after they learned to make bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, they discovered that they could make metal rattles with a much prettier sound. These metal rattles/early bells were made in the “crotal” design, which is the same shape as today’s jingle bells or sleigh bells. Other shapes of bells, like gongs and the classic bell shape may have been inspired when people realized that pleasant sounds could be made by banging bronze utensils against bronze dishes and bowls.

Bells have been used for thousands of years and have served many purposes. The oldest bell that has been found (at the time the book was written) was over 3000 years old and came from the area near Babylon. King Solomon of Israel used to have bells to frighten away birds from the roof of his temple. The Spartans were able to infiltrate a walled town in Macedonia because the sentry wore a bell on his uniform that helped them to keep track of where he was, but in other instances, nets with bells attached to them were used to warn of the presence of enemies. Bells have also been frequently used in religious services.

Sometimes, people wear bells to call attention to themselves. The classic jester’s cap with crotal bells (jingle bells) attached to it is meant to be attention-getting.

Bells can be made of many different materials, from different types of metal bells to glass bells to clay bells. There are even wooden ones, although they make more of a clunking sound than a ringing. People used to make bells by hammering pieces of metal into shape, but then they developed ways to cast bells in molds, which is how bells are made today.

There are many superstitions that have been attached both to the making of bells and their use. The book describes the Bilbie family, who famously made bells in Medieval England. The Bilbies were superstitious and consulted astrologers to determine the best times to make their bells. They also always rang bells for the first time on full moons. Various people have believed that ringing bells frightens away demons and witches.

The parts about superstitions and legends are my favorites. In particular, there is a legend in England about a town that was completely buried during an earthquake. The people in the town always rang their church bells at Christmas, and the legend is that if you go to a particular spot and put your ear against the ground, you’ll still hear them ringing the bells. However, the book says that there’s actually a scientific explanation behind the phenomenon. People who have put their ears to the ground at that spot have heard bells ringing, but they’re actually the bells from a nearby town, not one underground. The ground actually conducts sound very well, even better than sound waves moving through the air, so a person standing upright might not hear the bells ringing from another town, but someone who put their ear to the ground could hear the conducted sound vibrations. It’s not unlike the phenomena experienced by people who put their ears to the rails on railroad tracks to listen for the train. There are also stories of people having heard the approach of herds of animals, like buffalo, coming toward them in this way. The book doesn’t mention it, but “keep an ear to the ground” is actually an expression for watching and listening for signs of things that are going to happen because people noticed that vibrations in the ground could be indications of something coming toward them.

The book also describes some famous bells, like the Liberty Bell, Big Ben (Big Ben is actually the name of the bell in the clock tower, not the clock tower itself, although people informally think of the clock tower as Big Ben) and Tsar Kolokol, the largest bell in the world.

There are also a few nursery rhymes that mention bells (although the book doesn’t give any background information about the rhymes) and some information about change-ringing and carillons.

The book annoyed me a little in the way it kind of jumps around, telling some history, then some legends, then some more history, and then more legends. It’s a very easy read, and the information is interesting, but it’s a big disjointed. It sometimes feels more like a list of facts and short stories than one cohesive story. It might help if there were headings or chapter divisions in the book to organize the information, but there aren’t.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle with paintings by Susan Jeffers, 1991.

This is a picture book, but not one for very young children because of the serious subject matter. It’s a profound book with beautiful pictures, but before presenting it to children, adults should be sure that the children are old enough to understand the background of the book.

The book begins with some information about its background. It describes the variety of “Indian” (Native American) tribes that have lived in the Americas for thousands of years and how, after white settlers arrived from Europe, they were killed and pushed off their ancestral lands by the new arrivals. It’s historically true, but also dark subject matter, which is why it’s important for the children reading the book to be old enough to understand it. Most of the book is the text of a speech made by Chief Seattle (who lived c. 1786 to 1866) to the Commission of Indian Affairs for the Territory and other government employees when the US government wanted to buy land from his tribe. The historical details concerning this speech from the mid-1850s are complicated, and accounts of it might not be completely accurate, and there is a note in the back of the book that addresses that. I consider the spirit of this speech something worth preserving, so I won’t get too hung up on that right now. I just mention it for the sake of people interested in going deeper into the history.

Susan Jeffers particularly wants readers to consider the environmental message of the speech and how relevant the message is today for a society that has endangered itself by placing a higher priority on the acquisition of land, resources, and wealth than on preserving the land and environment that makes life itself possible. This book was written in the early 1990s, and having been a child at that time myself, I know that these themes were increasingly becoming topics in schools and in children’s entertainment during that time. I’d like to point out that I, and others who are younger than me, have heard similar messages about environmental concerns from an early age. This has given us different priorities from earlier generations who did not, although it’s also worth pointing out that many of us came to care more about the environment as children because of the influence of adults who already did.

Chief Seattle questioned the concept of buying land because of the absurdity of buying aspects of nature, like the sky or rain. Land and nature had sacred spiritual meaning for Chief Seattle’s people.

Chief Seattle’s speech was full of poetic imagery, as he explained how his people felt like they were part of the land and it was part of them. He said that they looked on animals like they were brothers.

The land also connected them to their ancestors and the memories of their people.

Chief Seattle questioned what would happen in the future, when the land was filled with people and all of the animals either killed or tamed, painting a bleak picture of a land deprived of life.

The speech ended with the thought that people didn’t “weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it.” Chief Seattle called on the people wanting to buy the land to love it, care for it, and preserve it because “Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

The environmental themes of the message are poignant for modern times because people have become increasingly aware of the consequences of environment pollution and careless use of natural resources.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies, including English and Hindi).

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The Key to the Indian

The Key to the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks, 1998.

This is the final book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. At the end of the previous book, Omri’s father learned the secret of Omri’s special cupboard and key, that it brings small plastic figures to life.

At the beginning of this book, Omri’s father suddenly announces to his family that he wants to take them on a camping trip. It seems like an impulsive decision because this isn’t something that the family usually does, and Omri figures that it must have something to do with the secret that the father and son now share concerning their small friends from the past.

After Omri’s father discovered his secret, the two of them had a serious talk, and Omri explained to him all about his past adventures and the very real consequences that they’ve had, both in the present and in the past. They need to consider carefully what they’re going to do because Little Bear has asked them for help with some trouble that his tribe in the past is having with the British. Knowing the history of the interactions between Europeans and Native Americans, both Omri and his father know that something serious is about to happen to Little Bear and his people, but how can they help? Omri explains to his father that they have the ability to go back into the past themselves, but in order to do that, they need to find something big enough to hold both of them, and someone else would have to turn the key for them to send them and bring them back.

Omri’s father later admits to him privately that he thought up the camping trip as a way for the two of them to disappear for a couple of days without anyone asking questions. Although he proposed the camping trip, he plans to arrange for him and Omri to have a private trip by themselves, discouraging the others from going along. Omri’s father also thinks that he’s figured out what they can use to send themselves back in time – the family car. It’s big enough to hold both of them, it locks with a key, and there’s even an LB in the license plate number, which they take as a hopeful sign. But then, Omri realizes that there’s a problem with that scheme. Even though the car locks with a key, it’s not the kind of lock that an old-fashioned skeleton key could open. They need a key with a different shape, something flatter. They decide that they need the help of Jessica Charlotte, who made the last key. Fortunately, Omri has a way to talk to her because he has the plastic figure of Jessica Charlotte.

When Omri brings Jessica Charlotte back, he finds that she has attempted to drown herself in a river (an event hinted at in the last book) because of her guilt at accidentally causing her sister’s husband’s death. Omri brings back a WWII Matron who has helped them before to treat Jessica Charlotte. When Jessica Charlotte recovers, she thinks at first that she must have died and that Omri is part of her afterlife. Omri assures her that it’s not the case, that she’s still alive. She is still lamenting over having caused Matt’s death and ruined her sister and niece’s lives, but Omri explains to her that he’s Lottie’s grandson. Jessica Charlotte feels better, hearing that Lottie grew up, married, and had children, so her life wasn’t completely ruined. Omri can’t bring himself to explain how Lottie was killed in a bombing during WWII, but he asks for her help to create a new key. Aunt Jessie, as she asks to be called, agrees to help Omri, and he and his father give her their car key to duplicate.

However, when Aunt Jessie returns with the key, they realize that they’ve miscalculated. When a person comes from the past with anything they make or bring with them, it’s always small, like the miniature people themselves. Aunt Jessie’s key is a duplicate of the key they gave her, but it’s small, too small to use in the car. Omri and his father aren’t sure how to get around this problem, so they decide to go on the camping trip with Omri’s brother Gillon, just camping like normal, while they think it over.

It turns out that something magic happened to the car key while it was in the past with Aunt Jessie. When Omri’s father turns the key in the car, Omri suddenly finds himself in the past, but not the past he was hoping to visit. Because they brought some things that belonged to his Great-Grandfather Matt with them on the camping trip, Omri suddenly finds himself in India, during the time that Matt was living there. Omri is inside a puppet in a marketplace, and his great-grandfather buys him. Also, to Omri’s shock, Gillon is also inside a puppet that his grandfather has.

Their mother eventually rescues them by opening the car and turning the key. She was alarmed because it seemed like her husband and sons all passed out in the car. Omri and his father don’t have a real explanation for her, not wanting to explain that the car key is now magic. (She decides that there must have been an exhaust leak, and they were all overcome by fumes.) Gillon was knocked unconscious when his puppet was dropped on its head, and his mother takes him to the hospital, using her spare car key. (When Gillon recovers, he thinks it was just a weird dream he had because of the car fumes.) Meanwhile, Omri and his father talk about the situation, and Omri’s father reveals that, while the boys were taken to India, he ended up in Little Bear’s time because he was carrying some wampum belonging to Little Bear.

So, know they know that it’s possible for them to use their car key to go back in time, but if they try it a second time, who will turn the key for them to bring them back at the appropriate time? The only other person who can come with them on their “camping trip” who knows their secret and can be trusted to help them is Omri’s friend, Patrick. However, Patrick isn’t happy that he’s only there to help Omri and his father go back in time and that he won’t be going himself. He does agree to help them, but unfortunately, he has plans of his own while Omri and his father are occupied elsewhere.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

My Reaction:

Although Omri’s father wonders at first whether it’s a good idea to try to help Little Bear because of the risk of changing the past and affecting the future, Omri has learned that it’s not quite as simple as that. During his previous adventures, he has felt an irresistible pull to use the cupboard and the key, even when he wasn’t always sure it was a good idea, and there are indications that Omri’s interactions with people in other time periods seem fated to happen. He did save Jessica Charlotte’s life when she tried to drown herself, and other things Omri has done seem to fit with wider events.

When Omri and his father are figuring out how to help Little Bear with his problems with the British in his time, they do some research about Little Bear’s time and talk about the ways that 18th century British people treated Native Americans. Knowing what Little Bear is likely to face, they feel like they have a responsibility to help him as best they can. When Little Bear explains in more detail what his people have been suffering at the hands of the British and other settlers, Omri feels guilty, knowing that he’s also British, while at the same time knowing that he was not responsible for things that happened before he was born. This is something that people still struggle with today, hearing about difficult periods of history and knowing that their ancestors (or at least other members of their society, if not literally their direct ancestors) played a role in making life difficult for others, setting up situations where real people suffered or were killed. The best Omri can do is to help Little Bear make the best possible decisions to ensure the survival of his people. Of course, being able to help with that much is part of the time traveling fantasy of this story. Real people can’t actually go back in time and intervene to influence others and change the course of history.

The books in this series aren’t for young children, and as the series progresses, they get more serious in subject matter. There is discussion of suicide, not just with Jessica Charlotte’s attempt to drown herself but when Little Bear explains that his first wife killed herself after being raped by white men. There is violence in the story when the Native American village is attacked and people are shot. Overall, the story is pretty straight-forward in the way in confronts the dark sides of history. Omri and his father advise Little Bear to take his clan to a place where they know that they will be relatively safe and among other Iroquois, but they know and admit to Little Bear that even that won’t solve all of their problems and that there will be other hardships in the future. It’s an imperfect solution to a massive problem, but Omri senses that it is best choice that they could make and that Little Bear and his family will live the safest possible life because of the decision they made, and their descendants will survive.

Omri and his father struggle with knowing that things are going to be hard for Little Bear’s people no matter what choices they make. There is no magical solution to everyone’s problems in the story, and the book doesn’t offer a firm moral or solution to Omri’s guilty feelings when he sees firsthand how badly Native Americans were treated (a form of “white guilt“, although the book doesn’t use that term). Overall, I would say that the book confronts the dark parts of history and human guilt on a very individual level. Omri and his father can’t solve the large issues completely because they can’t control them. They can’t control the past, and they can’t control other people, not even the people who come through the cupboard as miniature ones, like living toys. Everyone is an individual with their own choices to make, and every choice, even the wrong ones, changes the course of history.

After Omri saves Jessica Charlotte’s life, she realizes that what she thought was a dream before she stole her sister’s earrings was real, that she saw and spoke to Omri, and that he could have warned her about what would happen if she went through with her theft, how Matt would have died and how everyone’s lives would be changed for the worse. However, Omri did choose not to warn her because not everything was changed for the worse. After Lottie’s father died and her family lost their money, Lottie still grew up, fell in love, got married, and had a daughter. It’s true that she did die young in World War II, while her daughter was still an infant, and changing the theft of the earrings might have changed that in some way, but not without changing other things. Omri has discovered that changing things about the past, even seemingly small things, can change larger parts of history, and his psychic gift seems to guide him toward making only choices that help the flow of history instead of working against it. If he had prevented the theft of the earrings, his great-grandfather might have lived longer and so might Lottie, but if that happened, would Lottie have ever met the man she eventually married and had Omri’s mother? Omri’s father wouldn’t be happy without his wife and sons, and if Omri never existed, would some of the other things he did that impacted history have happened? Also, if Lottie hadn’t died in the bombing during WWII, would someone else have been where she happened to be and died in her place? The bomb that killed her would have fallen anyway because that was part of someone else’s choices, a person who never enters this story and whose decisions can’t be controlled. Time and history and the ripple effects caused by individual choices are complex. Omri has his psychic gift to guide him, and even his father, who admits that he never used to believe anything he couldn’t see for himself, comes to trust it.

People without this sort of magical gift have only themselves to rely on to make the best choices they can to make the world as good as possible, even in the face of others’ bad decisions. I think that a large part of the choices that Omri makes in the story and dealing with “white guilt” in real life come down to the combination of frustration and the acceptance of choices made by other people who can’t be controlled. Modern people might hate what happened in the past and feel badly if people related to them were part of it, but we don’t have the option to change things that have already happened. There comes a point where you have to accept the knowledge that you can’t control others, no matter how much you might want to make better choices on their behalf. The only person you can control is yourself.

I’m a white person, descended from colonial settlers in America, and I don’t actually see “white guilt” as a negative thing. I see it as a human thing. If you can feel real emotion at someone else’s plight, a wish that bad things didn’t really happen, or a feeling that what happened shouldn’t have happened and an honest desire to change even the unchangeable past for the better, it means that you’re a real, thinking, feeling human being with a sense of right and wrong, and there’s nothing bad about that at all. Feelings are just tools, to give us hints of what we need to do or how we need to behave in our lives. Feelings aren’t always completely accurate, but sometimes, they give us hints of things that need to be fixed or clues that whatever we did before didn’t really work, that we made the wrong choice or did the wrong thing. I think what upsets and confuses other white people about “white guilt” is the conflict between loving ancestors and wanting to be proud of them and admitting that some of them had a real dark side and did some pretty awful things. Some people have trouble dealing with that, thinking that it’s impossible to feel two things at once, loving someone and being angry with them for things that they’ve done, but it really is possible. Two things can be true at once, and you can have mixed feelings about many things.

Feelings are complex, as complex as people are, and I think it’s as possible for a person to both like and hate another person for the things they’ve done as it is to both like a sweater for the way it looks but not want to wear it because it’s itchy and uncomfortable. I think that’s about the best advice that I can actually offer to other white people trying to make sense of that feeling. Sure, that sweater looks pretty impressive. It has a nice color and a cheerful pattern, and you might think it would look impressive on you if you wore it, but honestly, it’s better if you just leave it on the mannequin. It’s overpriced, out of style, and won’t look at all impressive when it makes you constantly want to scratch all of the places where it itches. Let it go.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”

The Serenity Prayer

The frustrating thing about feelings about the past and about other people’s lives is that we can’t fix those particular things. In real life, we can’t go back in time, and we can’t even “fix” other people in our own time because that’s something they have to do themselves, if they’re going to do it. You can suggest things to other people, but there’s always a point where they have to make the decisions themselves. But, the good news is that, if you can’t control other people, nobody can completely control you! The way I see it, the most useful thing about this “white guilt” is remembering that this is something we don’t want. Maybe there’s something charming about the rosy, nostalgic view of the past, but honestly, you wouldn’t be happy living there, and if you actually had to live with your ancestors, you’d probably discover that you wouldn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things and maybe wouldn’t even get along at all. So, why would you want to try to carry their old baggage with you into your life and spend your life and your precious time constantly trying to explain or excuse their bad choices? You’ve got your own to life.

Give credit where credit is due for both the good and the bad things, and let our ancestors’ records speak for themselves. You won’t accomplish anything for twisting your feelings into knots for trying to protect the feelings of the dead and justify their actions. They don’t even feel anything anymore. They are dead. Let them rest. We don’t want to add to bad things that have been done in the past and to keep having things in our lives to feel guilty about, and that’s okay because there are new choices to be made every single day. Put your focus there. You have a present to live and a future to plan. Knowing about the past is interesting and informative, but the past isn’t where we really live. Admire it like a nice sweater on a mannequin, take note of the price tag, and move on. We don’t have to make the same old choices that have made people, including ourselves, unhappy just because that’s the way things have been before or because we feel like we have something to prove about our ancestors. They had their chance to make the choices in their time, for good or bad (and frequently, some of each, but you can’t help that), and now, it’s our turn to make the choices because this is our time.

Speaking of bad decisions, Patrick almost gets Boone and Ruby killed because of his recklessness when he brings them back while Omri and his father were with Little Bear, which he did just because he was bored and felt left out of their magical adventure, which wasn’t really pleasant and fun for them anyway. Boone and Ruby both make it clear how they feel about that, and Omri also makes it clear that this is the end of the magic for him and Patrick. Boone and Little Bear have their own lives to live, and Omri’s gift tells him that it’s time to let them get on with living their lives without interference. Omri still has the cupboard and the key, but he no longer feels the pull he felt before to use them because he has played his part in history and in the lives of his little friends, and there is nothing more he needs to do. He doesn’t feel the need to lock these things away as he did before because he already knows that he will never feel the urge to use them again. When something’s over and the moment has passed, you just know.

Before the end of the story, Omri’s mother admits to him that she knows all about the little figures and that the cupboard brought them to life, although she never actually saw any of them herself. She has also inherited the family gift and is aware of what the cupboard does, even though she has not used it herself. All along, she’s been pretending that she didn’t know what was going on, although she really did. She’s a little sorry that she didn’t see the little people herself, but she knew that not interfering was the right thing to do. She thinks that letting the magic go and not using the cupboard again are the right decisions, and she doesn’t want Omri or his father to tell Omri’s bothers about the magic because, if they do, it will never end, and it’s really time for it to all end. This really is the final book in the series.

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery of the Cupboard

The Mystery of the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, 1993.

This is the fourth book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. It’s also the longest book in the series and the one that reveals the most about the history of the magical key and cupboard and how their secrets tie into the secrets in Omri’s own family. It was my favorite book in the series when I was a kid!

Omri’s parents have surprised him by telling him that they’re planning on moving to a new house again. Omri wasn’t exactly happy with their last move, and his room and other parts of their new house were damaged after his last adventure with time travel, when his friend Patrick brought back a tornado with him. However, now that the house has been repaired and he’s settled in, Omri doesn’t like the idea of having to pack up and leave and get used to a new place again. His parents want to move to the country, but it’s not even the area where Patrick now lives. Instead, they’re planning to move to a house that his mother has just inherited.

The house Omri’s mother has inherited belonged to an older cousin of hers she never actually knew. He didn’t leave his house specifically to her; it’s just that he died and left no will, and Omri’s mother happens to be the nearest living relative his lawyers could find. When they finally see the house and find out how much land is attached to it, it turns out to be much better than Omri expected.

There are just two things that concern Omri. The first is the package that he asked his father to store at a bank for him – the magical cupboard and key. Although Omri asked his father to put them in a bank deposit box to keep them safe and prevent himself from being tempted to use them again because it’s too dangerous, he doesn’t like the idea of them being too far away from where he’s living. His father promises to have them transferred to a bank near their new home. The second thing that worries him is that his cat mysteriously disappears soon after they move into the new house. (The cat is okay, she just sneaked away to have kittens.) His parents say that she’s just roaming her new territory and might be a little angry for being moved from her old home and that she’ll come back to Omri once she’s settled in, he still worries about her.

One night, he think he hears his cat crying and goes looking for her. He doesn’t see her, but he stumbles on something that was hidden in some old thatch that fell of the roof of the house. It turns out to be a metal box and a notebook belonging to someone named Jessica Charlotte Driscoll, written in 1950. Omri doesn’t know who she is, but the notebook is a story of her life, in which she describes incredible things happening to her which her family doesn’t believe. Omri wonders if she could be a relative of his, and the name Charlotte reminds him of his grandmother, Lottie. He never knew his grandmother and his mother doesn’t even remember her mother because she died in a bombing during WWII, when she was very young. The woman who wrote the notebook couldn’t have actually been his grandmother because she would have been dead for several years by 1950, but perhaps it was a family name.

Omri questions his mother about the cousin who owned the house and her family’s history. Jessica Charlotte turns out to be the sister of Omri’s great-grandmother, his mother’s great-aunt. Great Aunt Jessica Charlotte was the younger sister of his mother’s grandmother. After her mother was killed in the war, Omri’s mother was raised by her grandmother. Omri’s mother had asked her about her younger sister when she was a girl, but her grandmother didn’t like to talk about her. Apparently, Jessica Charlotte had been an actress with a somewhat scandalous past. However, the cousin who used to own this house was Jessica Charlotte’s son, Frederick. Frederick never married, and although Omri’s mother thought that Jessica Charlotte had lived abroad somewhere, it’s possible that she lived at this house for a time.

Much of the story is told through entries in Jessica Charlotte’s notebook. When Omri begins to read the notebook, written toward the end of Jessica Charlotte’s life, he learns, to his shock, that Jessica Charlotte was the original owner of the magic cupboard and that she had her own Little People who visited her from other times and were her friends. After Omri reads that, he questions Gillon, the brother who gave him the cupboard, and he admits that he didn’t really find it in an alley, like he said. He actually found it in the basement of their old house with a bunch of other junk. He just didn’t have the money to buy Omri a birthday present at the time, and Omri had kind of a fascination for secret drawers and boxes, so Gillon thought that he might have some fun with the old cupboard, and he made up the story about mysteriously finding it to make it more interesting. (I suspect that the author was just retconning this part to make it agree with the idea that the cupboard was passed down through Omri’s family, but I like the way this comes out, so I’m okay with that.)

The notebook further explains that Jessica Charlotte had been envious of her older sister because she was prettier, luckier, and often seemed favored by everyone. However, in mocking the young men who came to court her older sister, Jessica Charlotte discovered that she had a talent for mimicry, which led her to become an actress, although her family thought that it was a disreputable profession and disapproved. Jessica Charlotte also discovered that she was psychic and sometimes had visions of the future. She eventually left home and became an actress. Her sister, Maria, still visited her secretly sometimes, against their parents’ wishes.

After awhile, Jessica Charlotte became pregnant with Frederick, which was when she first came to the old house where Omri’s family now lives. She didn’t have any money and couldn’t work while pregnant, and because she was unmarried, she would have been considered shameful if people knew. At that time, the house was a farmhouse belonging to a relative of Frederick’s father. By that point, Jessica Charlotte realized that her boyfriend wasn’t a good person and wasn’t going to be a good father to their son, but he did arrange for this relative of his to help her through her pregnancy. Frederick was born in the house, and because he was illegitimate and sensed his mother’s complicated feelings about him and the circumstances of his birth, he and his mother were never as close as they really should have been.

Meanwhile, Maria got married and had a daughter, Lottie, who was Omri’s grandmother, the one who was killed in the war. Jessica Charlotte says that she did something that wronged Maria and Lottie, and Omri stops reading the diary for a time, but he decides that he really has to continue and know the full story.

Over the years, Jessica Charlotte lived a hard life, supporting Frederick through a mixture of acting and other odd jobs, including fortune telling because of her psychic abilities (although she never used her gift to see into the future for herself or anyone close to her because she was afraid she might see something bad happen to them and be unable to stop it). Meanwhile, Maria was living a very comfortable life with her husband and daughter. Even after their parents died, Maria still had Jessica Charlotte visit secretly because of her tainted reputation, and she never wanted to meet Frederick or talk about him because his birth was the cause of her sister’s scandal. Still, Jessica Charlotte continued to see her sister and became fond of Lottie.

However, Maria was basically a pampered snob who didn’t understand her sister’s life and hardships and also had a streak of self-centeredness. One day, when Lottie was a young child, Maria said that when Lottie was older, she didn’t want her to see so much of her aunt, implying that Jessica Charlotte would be a bad influence on her. Jessica Charlotte was deeply offended by that, but she was also fearful about losing the last family members who were still speaking to her. She had lost so many of her other relationships that she still felt the need to be close to Maria and Lottie as much as she could and visit their pampered and comfortable little world, enjoying occasional tastes of their happier and more comfortable lives.

Yet, Jessica Charlotte’s jealousy for Maria’s pampered life and anger at her callousness continued to eat at her. One day, when Maria was showing her all of her nice jewelry, Jessica Charlotte got the urge to steal a beautiful pair of earrings. First, Maria was being, at the very least, thoughtless and callous for showing off all of her nice jewelry to her much poorer sister, who could never have things like that herself. Maria not only had no concept about what her sister’s life was like outside of her occasional visits, but she purposely never asked her about how she was doing, how her son was doing, or even where they were living, how they were getting by, if they needed anything, or if she could help them in any way. She didn’t know because she didn’t want to know any of these things, and the fact that she didn’t want to know any of that indicates that she knew enough to understand that their circumstances weren’t pleasant. To show off all of her pretty things like that just seems like rubbing it in. Second, Jessica Charlotte had been in need for so long that she saw all of the pretty jewels as symbols of Maria’s comfortable life, something she hungered for herself. The pair of earrings weren’t something that Jessica Charlotte wanted just for the sake of having them but because of what they represented to her, the life that she couldn’t share in and which she knew that Maria would soon shut her out of when she declared that her visits with her young niece would have to stop soon.

Jessica Charlotte planned out the theft in advance, making a duplicate key for her sister’s jewelry box and thinking that her sister would just assume that she’d mislaid that one pair of earrings somewhere. Unfortunately, when Maria noticed that the earrings were gone, she thought Lottie had done something with them, and when she kept insisting that Lottie tell her where they were, Lottie got upset and ran out of the house into the street. Matt, Maria’s husband and Lottie’s father, chased after her and was hit by a cab and killed. Jessica Charlotte felt terrible when she heard the news because she hadn’t meant for anyone to get hurt, but there was nothing she could do to take it all back.

Omri knows how Maria and Lottie’s lives went after that point because of what his mother told him about their family history. After Matt died, Maria and Lottie didn’t have very much money to live on, just a little pension, and then their house was burgled, and many of Maria’s nice things were stolen, including the rest of her jewelry, so she couldn’t sell them for extra money. Maria had to move to smaller, cheaper lodgings and get a job for the first time in her life in order to support herself and her daughter, living a life closer to what her sister had been doing. When Lottie was grown and married, she and her husband helped to support her mother, but after they were killed in WWII, Maria took in Lottie’s daughter (Omri’s mother) and had to keep working in order to raise her. Although they were now living in more equal circumstances, the two sisters did not become close again because of Jessica Charlotte’s guilt about what she’d done. Jessica Charlotte ended up buying the old house in the country where her son had been born and told her sister that she was going to live abroad, never telling her exactly where. She had not expected to see Maria again anyway since Maria was planning to cut her out of her daughter’s life before Jessica Charlotte stole the earrings, and after Matt died, Jessica Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to face Maria. Jessica Charlotte lived in the country house until her death in 1950.

When Jessica Charlotte became too weak to write any longer, shortly before her death, she had Frederick finish the story in the notebook. Aside from the difficult feelings between Frederick and his mother because of the circumstances of his birth and the rough and poor childhood he endured, Frederick also says that the two of them don’t really get along because they are very different types of people. When he was grown, Frederick went into business as a metal smith, eventually owning his own factory that made toy soldiers and other metal toys. During WWII, the government had him convert his toy factory to manufacture munitions. He wasn’t happy about it, but it did make him fairly well-off. After the war, Frederick had hoped to go back to making metal toys, but plastic was coming into vogue as the material of choice for toys, and Frederick couldn’t stand the stuff. He thought that the newer plastic toys were cheap and shoddy compared to his detailed works of art in metal. (It was kind of true.) There were basically two choices before Frederick: convert to making the cheap plastic toys he hated or switch to making different types of metal products. He switched to making metal boxes and cabinets.

Frederick never really believed in his mother’s supposed psychic powers, but when he was upset about plastic ruining his metal toy business, he admits that he let his mother talk him into participating in a silly ritual. He was so angry and upset that his emotions were ruining his health, so his mother told him to build something to put his feelings into and shut them away. Frederick built Omri’s magical metal cupboard. When he was finished making it, his mother had him visualize cleansing himself of all of his anger and hatred of plastic and shutting that feeling away in the cupboard. To his surprise, his mother shut and locked the cupboard with a different key from the one that he’d made to put in the cupboard’s lock (her key to her sister’s jewelry box). He thought that this ritual was kind of crazy at first, but he did feel better after he did it. He felt weak for a time, but then he recovered. He still didn’t like plastic, but not to the point where it harmed his health anymore.

Jessica Charlotte had said her son had also inherited her psychic “gift”, even though he didn’t believe in it. Apparently, his strong feelings about plastic produced a kind of magic spell or curse that affected the key and the cupboard and created the effect of bringing plastic toys to life. Jessica Charlotte discovered this herself because her son had given her a set of plastic figures in order to demonstrate to her how these little figures were inferior to his metal ones. Jessica Charlotte put them in the cupboard and brought them to life, and these little friends of hers brought her some happiness in her final days. Frederick thought that her mother was imagining that she was talking to fairies or something and never found out about his mother’s little friends or the magic of the cupboard.

When Jessica Charlotte realized that she was dying, she used the cupboard to send her little friends back to their own time periods, except for one little maid named Jenny, who refused to go back because she’d had a terrible life in her own time. Instead of making her go back, Jessica Charlotte confided in one of the workmen fixing the thatch on her roof and gave Jenny to him. This man, Tom, was lonely because his wife left him for someone else, so Jenny was good company for him for many years, until one day, she simply turned back to plastic suddenly. When Omri finds Tom as an old man and introduces himself as Jessica Charlotte’s distant nephew, Tom explains all of this to him, saying that all he can think of is that Jenny’s physical body must have died in her own time after having been in an apparent coma for years. He buried her little plastic figure respectfully. Tom is also the one who sent the cupboard and key to Maria after Jessica Charlotte died along with a note dictated to him by Jessica Charlotte, hinting at the nature of the cupboard and key and tacitly admitting to the theft of the earrings, so Maria knew the truth of the theft before her own death.

Omri comes to realize that the metal box that Jessica Charlotte left behind, and which was sealed with wax, must contain her collection of little figures. When his friend, Patrick, comes to visit him at his new house, Omri explains the whole situation to him, and Patrick suggests that Omri’s magic key will probably open this metal box, too. Of course, he also points out that if Omri opens the box with that special key, it will bring the figures inside to life, just as it has with the cupboard and Omri’s old trunk. Omri sees Jessica Charlotte’s old figurines as a way of finishing her story and feels compelled to bring them back to life one last time, although he knows that bringing figures to life always comes with complications, and he will have no way of knowing who or what the figures are until the box is open.

When Omri gets the chance to talk to Jessica Charlotte’s little friends, he not only learns more about his great-great-aunt’s past and the history of the cupboard but also sees an opportunity to change the past of his mother and great-grandmother by preventing the robbery that made them poor. But, if he meddles in the past, what will that mean for his future?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

My Reaction:

This is my favorite book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. I suspect that the author of the series didn’t originally have an explanation for why the cupboard and key were magic, but that’s just a guess on my part. The explanation behind the magic in this book makes sense, and those parts that didn’t quite mesh with the earlier books (like Omri’s brother’s original explanation of finding the cupboard in an alley) were briefly explained. Sometimes, when book or movie series try to explain something magical or a mysterious secret they’ve left hanging, it turns into a let-down because the explanation feels rushed or implausible or fits clumsily into the earlier parts of the story, but this one was pretty smooth, intriguing, and also opened up some new story possibilities.

In previous books, Omri and Patrick both did impulsive things with the cupboard that put their small friends, themselves, and other people in danger, but in this book, both of the boys seem to have matured. Although Patrick thinks of Jessica Charlotte as a bad person and a thief for stealing her sister’s earrings, Omri tries to explain to him that she was a much more complex and conflicted person than that. Yes, Jessica Charlotte was a thief, but her motives were beyond mere greed, and it wasn’t long before she regretted what she’d done and the lasting hurt that she’d caused her family. In considering Jessica Charlotte’s theft and the theft that the burglar who was one of Jessica Charlotte’s little friends later committed against Maria, partly out of personal greed and partly as retribution against Maria on Jessica Charlotte’s behalf, Omri and his mother both come to terms with their family’s history. Patrick, who in previous books had been the more impulsive one when he and Omri interacted with the little people from the past, acts as a restraining influence in this book when Omri is tempted to change his family’s past for the better by preventing the thefts that left his great-grandmother without money. Patrick is the one who makes it clear to Omri that, just as Jessica Charlotte’s theft of a single pair of earrings radically changed the lives of her sister and niece, if Omri tries to stop those events from happening, he might change his family’s past so much that he might accidentally prevent himself or even his own mother from being born in the first place. After Omri tells the thief to give back the jewel box he stole, Omri worries that he’s gone too far, but it turns out that one request was actually fated to happen, just as it turns out that Jessica Charlotte later realized that she had met Omri briefly in what she thought was a dream when he brought her plastic figure to life. Not all of Omri’s “meddling” with the past was really meddling but was actually part of what was fated to happen and has already had an effect on the past even before he knew it.

At the end of this book, something that Omri has alternately dreaded and wanted to happen: his father discovers the secret of the cupboard and meets Omri’s small friends. In books, there is usually this assumption that if parents ever find out about their children’s magical adventures, they will end because the parents will put a stop to them or somehow, the magic will be ruined. However, in this case, the magic is not ruined, and there is one more book in this series where both Omri and his father take part in the magic.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Phoebe the Spy

Phoebe the Spy by Judith Berry Griffin, illustrated by Margot Tomes, 1977.

Phoebe Fraunces is a thirteen-year-old girl living in New York in 1776. The Fraunces family is black, but unlike most black people in the American colonies at the time, they have never been slaves. (There were some free black families who had never been slaves during this period of history, but they were uncommon.) Phoebe’s father, Samuel Fraunces owns a tavern called The Queen’s Head. It’s a popular place for people to meet, and Samuel Fraunces allows some prominent Patriots to meet there in secret and discuss their plans. Being party to such meetings could come with consequences as the colonies are on the brink of war.

One day, in April 1776, Samuel confides in his daughter that he has overheard something disturbing. He believes that George Washington’s life is in danger, that there are soldiers who are willing to kill their general for money. Samuel is worried about what he heard, but he isn’t sure what the plot against George Washington actually is and has no proof of what he heard. He’s afraid that if he tells Washington about what he heard too soon, without proof, the conspirators will just wait for a safer time to strike, so he asks Phoebe to help him uncover the truth. Samuel knows that George Washington will be coming to New York soon, and he has asked Samuel to help him find a housekeeper for the house where he will be staying. Samuel wants Phoebe to take the housekeeper position and to keep her eyes open for signs of danger.

Phoebe doesn’t know if she can do what her father wants her to do. She isn’t sure what she’s supposed to be watching for, and she doesn’t know how she could stop the plot if there is one. Her father tells her that she should look out for a man who is part of George Washington’s bodyguard and whose name starts with the letter ‘T’. This is all that Samuel was able to tell about the conspirator from the conversation that he overheard. He tells Phoebe to be careful, not to trust anyone, and to meet with him regularly in the market to tell him what she has learned. The two of them also discuss how odd it is that a man like George Washington, who owns slaves, would be at the center of a fight for freedom. Phoebe hopes that he will free his slaves after the war is over, although her father doubts that will happen. Still, the Fraunces family supports the cause of the Patriots, and Phoebe agrees to help her father find the conspirators and save George Washington’s life.

Phoebe is young to be a housekeeper, but she is accepted into Washington’s household. There, she meets Mary the cook and her son Pompey. Pompey also performs chores for the family, like carrying firewood. The work isn’t too hard for Phoebe because much of it is what she is accustomed to doing for her family’s tavern, like making beds, cleaning the silver, and making sure that meals are served on time. George Washington doesn’t say much when he’s around Phoebe, but she carefully observes the people around him. Every day, she goes to the market to buy food and see her father.

At first, Phoebe has nothing to report to her father. Everyone around George Washington seems to be nice or at least behaving normally, and nobody’s last name begins with the letter ‘T’. Mr. Green, a member of George Washington’s bodyguard, seems a bit unfriendly, but a younger man, Mr. Hickey, seems rather nice and sometimes gives Phoebe little presents.

However, there is a traitor among the household, and although it pains Phoebe when she learns who it is, she must do her duty and protect the life of the person she has promised to protect.

Some of the pictures in the book are black-and-white drawings, and some are in muted colors.

The original title of this book was Phoebe and the General. It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Historical Background

The story is based on the real Fraunces family of New York. Samuel Fraunces really did own a tavern called the Queen’s Head and allowed Patriots to meet there. A note in the back of the book explains that after the war ended, he was given a reward by Congress, and he changed the name of the Queen’s Head to Fraunces Tavern. Fraunces Tavern still exists today, and it is still a restaurant, although part of it has been converted into a museum.

The racial identity of Samuel Fraunces has been in dispute for some time. No one is completely sure what he actually looked like. There is a portrait of a white man that has been reputed to be Samuel Fraunces, but the true identity of that portrait is in dispute. Samuel Fraunces is known to have had the nickname of “Black Sam”, but different sources describe the family differently. All that is known of Samuel Fraunces’s background is that he was born around 1722 and was originally from the West Indies. It’s possible that the Fraunces family may have been mixed race because some sources refer to Samuel Fraunces as “mulatto” (an old term for someone born to a white parent and a black parent, not considered a polite term now), which might explain the other, differing accounts of the family’s race.

The story of Phoebe Fraunces saving George Washington’s life is legend, but the facts regarding that incident are also in dispute. The legend might be based on a misunderstanding, and Samuel Frances’s real daughter, Elizabeth, does not seem to have been old enough at the time to have taken part in this adventure. The story has had a tendency to appear and reappear around patriotic milestones in the United States, first around the centennial in 1876 and then around the bicentennial in 1976, when this book was written.

Posted on by TracyC

Mystery on Skull Island

Mystery on Skull Island by Elizabeth McDavid Jones, 2001.

This book is part of the American Girl History Mysteries series.

It’s 1724, and twelve-year-old Rachel Howell is traveling to where her father lives in Charles Town, South Carolina. Rachel has been living with her grandparents in New York since her mother died seven years earlier. Her father also used to live in New York, but after his wife’s death, he decided to move to South Carolina, hoping to start a new life. Now, her father has established himself in South Carolina and wants Rachel to come and live with him. Rachel has wanted to live with her father for some time, but she’s nervous because she doesn’t know what life in South Carolina will be like.

Rachel’s new life has a terrifying beginning when the ship that is taking her to Charles Town is attacked by pirates. The pirates force the passengers on board to hand over jewelry and other expensive items. They even take Rachel’s pendant, which belonged to her deceased mother. Fortunately, the pirates don’t hurt or kill anyone and let the ship go once they’ve taken everything of interest to them.

When Rachel arrives in Charles Town, she and her father have difficulty recognizing each other at first, but they are happy to finally be together. Rachel’s father is appalled when he hears about the pirates stealing Rachel’s mother’s necklace, but he is relieved that Rachel is all right. He explains that piracy has been a serious problem to shipping in the area. The local government has tried to combat the problem with harsh punishments, hanging many offenders. However, the pirates have money, and so local businesses still tolerate their presence.

The talk of pirates is shocking, but Rachel is soon in for another shock when her father tells her that he has become engaged and that Rachel will soon have a new mother. Rachel had been looking forward to having some time alone with her father to get to know him again, so she is not pleased at the news, but the engagement is the main reason why her father has sent for her. He wants Rachel to have a mother to care for her and for them to live as a complete family again. He tells Rachel that his fiance, Miranda LeBoyer, is from Philadelphia. She will be arriving in Charles Town soon with her aunt.

Rachel’s father is often busy with his work in the shipping industry, but he grants Rachel more freedom than she had with her grandparents, so she is able to explore her new town and make some new friends. The first friends she makes are the Pugh family, especially the daughter, Sally, who is about Rachel’s age. The Pughs own a local tavern, and Rachel often goes to visit them, sometimes helping with chores and learning to cook. She tells Sally about her worries about her new stepmother, but Sally says that she might not be so bad.

Like her life in South Carolina, Rachel’s first encounter with the woman her father plans to marry takes a disturbing turn. First, Miranda seems to disapprove of Sally and her brother, and Rachel fears that she will interfere with their friendship. Then, her father’s new business partner, Mr. Craven, stops by, and Rachel notices that Miranda seems to both recognize and dislike Mr. Craven. She overhears a conversation between the two of them in which Miranda calls Mr. Craven a “scoundrel” and refers to some kind of illegal dealings in his past. Yet, when Rachel’s father tries to ask Miranda what they’re talking about, Miranda lies and says that they’re discussing the weather and hurricanes that occur in Charles Town. Rachel worries about why Miranda would lie to her father and what kind of dishonest business Mr. Craven might be doing. What are the secrets that people in this town are hiding, and is Miranda really what she seems to be? With the help of her new friends, will Rachel find out the truth before it’s too late?

There is a section in the back of the book with historical information about piracy and life in South Carolina during the 18th century.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Murder at Midnight

Murder at Midnight by Avi, 2009.

This story is a prequel to Midnight Magic.

Fabrizio was an orphan living on the streets of the medieval city of Pergamontio before he was taken in as a servant by Mangus and his wife, Sophia. It was really Sophia’s idea that Mangus needed a personal servant. Mangus says that he is able to take care of himself, and he is impatient with Fabrizio because Fabrizio is ignorant and uneducated.

When Sophia goes to visit her sister, Fabrizio tries extra hard to please Mangus so that Mangus will continue to let him live in his house. Mangus is primarily a scholar, but he supplements his income by performing magic tricks at a local tavern. That evening, a black-robed figure appears at the magic show, warning of danger coming to Mangus. The next day, the magistrate, DeLaBina, accuses Mangus of spreading papers with treasonous messages about the king around the city. During this time, all writing is by hand, and no one can understand how these papers can all look so identical unless they were produced by magic.

At first, DeLaBina offers to let Mangus go if Mangus gets rid of the papers and reveals the identity of the traitor. When Mangus protests that he cannot do real magic and that he knows nothing about the papers, he is arrested. Shortly afterward, DeLaBina is murdered. Fabrizio’s only hope of saving his master, and himself, is to find the real traitor.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction and Spoilers

I didn’t like this book as well as I liked the original Midnight Magic.  Partly, the problem was that I feel like some of the events of this story should have changed people and events in the other book, and they don’t because this book, which is supposed to take place earlier than the other story, was actually written after the other story. It all just seems out of order, and I didn’t like the addition of Prince Cosimo to the royal family.  In this book, Prince Cosimo is the crown prince of Pergamontio, not Prince Lorenzo from the previous book.  Prince Cosimo did not appear in Midnight Magic (although his absence is explained by the end of this book) and was never even referred to in that book (which is the part that really bothers be me everyone in that book would have known all about him and what happened to him, and I feel like Fabrizio should have at least thought about him in passing, it’s just weird when characters suddenly exist in a series that you know didn’t exist before).

Basically, there is a plot (although not by the person who did the plotting in the other book) to overthrow the king, who is wildly superstitious. The printing press is a relatively new invention in this time period, and Pergamontio has never had one before, which is why no one can understand why the writing on the papers is so strangely uniform.  This is the other thing that bothers me about this book.  Pergamontio is supposed to be somewhat backward in comparison to other kingdoms, partly because the king is so superstitious, but it just seems like going a bit far for people to suspect that oddly-uniform writing would be a sign of witchcraft because people of that time would already be aware of the existence of signet rings and official seals which were used as stamps in wax to mark documents, like a kind of signature.  Like a printing press, those would also produce an identical image, time after time of use.  Basically, they’re all just complex forms of stamps.  Superstitious or not, I think that people of that time who were capable of reading probably would have been able to tell that a stamp of some kind was being used, even though they might not have seen one as complex as a printing press before.

In the story, a family has recently brought a printing press to the city, and printing the treasonous papers was the first job they were hired to do. Shortly afterward, Maria, the daughter of the family, was arrested while passing out the papers. Her parents are taken into custody by Count Scarazoni, who is a sinister character in his own right but is actually in opposition to the real traitor in this book.

Scarazoni was the figure in the black robe who tried to warn Mangus. Fabrizio is arrested when he tries to gather up more of the papers for Mangus so they can learn where they came from.  He is nearly executed for treason, but he is saved by Scarazoni because Scarazoni realizes that the real traitor wanted him dead because he feared that Fabrizio might know too much. At the prison, Fabrizio meets Maria and helps her to escape as well. Maria explains to him the true origins of the papers, and they find DeLaBina’s body.  This is the murder referenced in the title of the book, and they must solve it to uncover the identity of the real traitor!

As in the other book in this series, Fabrizio and Mangus use a magic trick at Mangus’s trial to shock the traitor into revealing himself.  Although, at the end of the story, the king still believes that Mangus is a real magician, Scarazoni points out that without Mangus’s “magic” the real traitor might not have been discovered. The king tells Mangus that he will let him go provided that he confine himself to his own home and no longer practice magic, setting events up for the beginning of the other story.

Posted on by TracyC

The Hidden Treasure of Glaston

The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanore M. Jewett, 1946.

The year is 1171.  Twelve-year-old Hugh, a somewhat frail boy with a lame leg, arrives at the abbey of Glastonbury with his father on a stormy night.  Hugh’s father is a knight, and in his conversation with Abbot Robert on their arrival, he makes it known that, although he loves his son, he is disappointed in the boy’s frail condition because he can never be a fighter, like a knight’s son should be.  The abbot rebukes him, saying that there is more to life than war and that he, himself, is also of noble blood.  The knight apologizes, and says that, although it is not really the life that he would wish for his son, he asks that the abbey take him in and educate him.  Although the knight (who refuses to give his name, only his son’s first name) says that he cannot explain his circumstances, the abbot senses that the knight is in trouble and is fleeing the area, perhaps the country of England entirely. 

It is true that the knight is in trouble, and he is fleeing.  Since Hugh’s health is delicate, his father cannot take him along in his flight.  Realizing that the abbey will provide him with a safer life, Hugh’s father wants to see him settled there before he leaves and gives the abbey a handsome gift of expensive, well-crafted books as payment for his son’s education.  The abbot is thrilled by the gift, although he says that they would have accepted Hugh even without it.  Then, the knight leaves, and the monks begin helping Hugh to get settled in the abbey.

Hugh is upset at his father’s leaving and the upheaval to the life he has always known, although he knows that it is for the best because of his family’s circumstances.  Although the story doesn’t explicitly say it at first, Hugh’s father is one of the knights who killed Thomas Becket, believing that by doing so, they were following the king’s wishes. Hugh’s father did not actually kill Beckett himself, but he did help to hold back the crowd that tried to save Beckett while others struck the blows, so he shares in the guilt of the group.  Although Hugh loves his father, he knows that his father is an impulsive hothead.  Now, because of the murder, Hugh’s father is a hunted man. By extension, every member of his household is also considered a criminal.  Their family home was burned by an angry mob, their supporters have fled, and there is no way that Hugh’s father can stay in England.  However, the prospect of life at the abbey, even under these bleak circumstances, has some appeal for Hugh.

Hugh has felt his father’s disappointment in him for a long time because his leg has been bad since he was small, and he was never able to participate in the rough training in the martial arts that a knight should have.  Even though part of Hugh wishes that he could be tough and strong and become the prestigious and admired knight that his father wishes he could be, deep down, Hugh knows that it isn’t really his nature and that his damaged leg would make it impossible.  Hugh really prefers the reading lessons he had with his mother’s clerk before his mother died.  His father always scorned book learning because he thought that it was unmanly, something only for weak people, and Hugh’s weakness troubles him.  Hugh’s father thinks that the real business of men is war, fighting, and being tough.  However, at the abbey, there are plenty of men who spend their lives loving books, reading, art, music, and peace, and no one looks on them scornfully.  For the first time in Hugh’s life, he has the chance to live as he really wants to, doing something that he loves where the weakness of his bad leg won’t interfere. 

The abbot is pleased that Hugh has been taught to read and arranges for him to be trained as a scribe under the supervision of Brother John.  Hugh enjoys his training, although parts are a little dull and repetitive.  Hugh confides something of his troubles in Brother John, who listens to the boy with patience and understanding.  Although he does not initially know what Hugh’s father has done, Hugh tells his about the burning of his family’s home, how they struggled to save the books that they have now gifted to the abbey, and how there were more in their library that they were unable to save.  Hugh tells Brother John how much he hates the people who burned their home and how much he hates the king, who caused the whole problem in the first place. His father would never have done what he did if the king hadn’t said what he said about Thomas Becket, leading his knights to believe that they were obeying an order from their king.  Brother John warns Hugh not to say too much about hating the king because that is too close to treason and tells him that, even though he has justification for hating those who destroyed his home, he will not find comfort in harboring hate in his heart.  He also says that not all that Hugh has lost is gone forever.  People who have left Hugh’s life, like his father, may return, and there are also many other people and things to love in the world that will fill Hugh’s life.  Brother John urges Hugh to forget the past and enjoy what he has now.  When Hugh says how he loves books but also wishes that he was able to go adventuring, Brother John says that adventures have a way of finding people, even when they do not go looking for them.

One day, when Brother John sends Hugh out to fish for eels, Hugh meets another boy who also belongs to the abbey, Dickon.  Dickon is an oblate.  He is the son of a poor man who gave him to the abbey when he was still an infant because he was spared from the plague and wanted to give thanks to God for it.  Dickon really wishes that he could go adventuring, like Hugh sometimes wishes, although he doesn’t really mind life at the abbey.  Because Dickon is not good at reading or singing, he helps with the animals on the abbey’s farm.  Although he is sometimes treated strictly and punished physically, he also has a fair amount of freedom on the farm, sometimes sneaking off to go hunting or fishing.  He also goes hunting for holy relics.  Dickon tells Hugh about the saints who have lived or stayed at the abbey and how the place is now known for miracles.  He is sure that the miracles of Glaston will help heal Hugh’s leg, and he offers to take him hunting for holy relics.  Hugh wants to be friends with Dickon, but at first, Dickon is offended that Hugh will not tell him what his last name is.  Dickon soon realizes the reason for Hugh’s secrecy when a servant from Hugh’s home, Jacques, comes to the abbey to seek sanctuary from an angry mob that knows of his association with Hugh’s father.

The abbot grants Jacques temporary sanctuary but tells him that he should leave the country soon.  When Dickon witnesses Jacques’s explanation of why the mob was after him, comes to understand his connection to Hugh.  Although the mob does not know that Hugh is actually connected to Jacques, Dickon spots the connection and tells Hugh that he forgives his earlier secrecy.  Dickon even helps Jacques to leave the abbey the next day, in secret.

Now that Dickon knows Hugh’s secret, he lets Hugh in on his secrets and the secrets of the abbey itself.  He shows Hugh a secret tunnel that he has discovered.  There is an underground chamber between the abbey and the sea where more parchments and some other precious objects are hidden.  Dickon doesn’t know the significance of all of the objects, although there appear to be holy relics among them.  Dickon’s theory was that monks in the past created this room and tunnel to store their most precious treasures and get them away to safety in case the abbey was attacked and raided.  At some point, part of the tunnel must have collapsed, blocking the part of the tunnel leading to the abbey.  The boys are frightened away when they hear the ringing of a bell and can’t tell where it’s coming from.  Could there have been someone in a part of the tunnel that is now blocked off from the part where they entered?

Since Hugh is sworn to secrecy concerning Dickon’s discovery, he can’t ask Brother John about it directly, but he gets the chance to learn a little more when Brother John asks him to help clean some old parchments so they can reuse them.  Most of them are just old accounting sheets for the abbey that they no longer need.  Brother John said that they were stored in an old room under the abbey.  Hugh asks Brother John about the room and whether there are other such storage rooms underground.  Brother John says that there are rumors about a hidden chamber somewhere between the abbey and the sea where they used to store important objects for safety, but as far as he knows, no living person knows where it is or even if it still exists.  Hugh asks Brother John about treasures, but as far as Brother John is concerned, the real treasures of the abbey are spiritual.  However, when Hugh notices some strange writing on one of the parchment pieces that doesn’t look like accounting reports and calls it to Brother John’s attention, Brother John becomes very excited and orders him to stop cleaning the parchments so that he can check for more of the same writing.  Among the other scrap parchments, they have found pieces that refer to Joseph of Arimathea, who provided the tomb for Jesus after his crucifixion.  According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea also took possession of the Holy Grail, the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper, which was supposed to have special powers, and that he left the Middle East and brought the Holy Grail to Glaston, where it still remains hidden. This story is connected to the legends of King Arthur, who also supposedly sought the Holy Grail. The parchments may contain clues to the truth of the story and where the Holy Grail may be hidden.

This story combines history and legend as Hugh and Dickon unravel the mysteries of Glastonbury and change their lives and destinies forever.  Although Hugh and Dickon both talk about how exciting it would be to travel and go on adventures, between them, Hugh is the one whose father would most want and expect his son to follow him on adventures and Dickon is the one who is promised to the abbey.  However, Hugh loves the life of the abbey and serious study, and Dickon is a healthy boy who is often restless.  Their friendship and shared adventures at the abbey help both Dickon and Hugh to realize more about who they are, the kind of men they want to be, and where they belong. Wherever their lives lead them from this point, they will always be brothers. 

There are notes in the back of the book about the historical basis for the story. In the book, the monks find the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. Although the story in the book is fictional, the real life monks of Glastonbury also claimed to find the tomb of King Arthur. The bones they claimed to find were lost when the abbey was destroyed later on the orders of Henry VIII, but this documentary (link repaired 2-27-23) explains more about the legends and history of King Arthur. The part about Glastonbury is near the end.