Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

 Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini-453 pages

General Pershing wants a group of American women to come to France to be switchboard operators.  This is an elite group who must have extensive training and experience and also be fluent in French and English.  These women are culled from ATT and without their expertise WWI may not have had the outcome it did.  Based on a true story these women were known as US Signal Corps in WWI.  Yet when the war was over they did not receive any recognition or benefits.  I appreciate Ms. Chiaverini's research and her writing.  Since my grandfather worked for ATT, I enjoyed getting to know a little more history about the switchboard girls.  I liked this book very much.

Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart

 Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart, 301 pages

6th in the Kopp Sisters series.  I found myself struggling through this one.  As the title implies the entire book is written through letters.  Between the sisters, and then other ones between them and their superiors.  

Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race by Thomas Chatterton Williams

 192 pages

"A meditation on race and identity from one of our most provocative cultural critics.

"A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family’s multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white. Thomas Chatterton Williams, the son of a “black” father from the segregated South and a “white” mother from the West, spent his whole life believing the dictum that a single drop of “black blood” makes a person black. This was so fundamental to his self-conception that he’d never rigorously reflected on its foundations—but the shock of his experience as the black father of two extremely white-looking children led him to question these long-held convictions.

'“It is not that I have come to believe that I am no longer black or that my daughter is white,”' Williams writes. '“It is that these categories cannot adequately capture either of us.”' Beautifully written and bound to upset received opinions on race, Self-Portrait in Black and White is an urgent work for our time."  --from the publisher

This is an outstanding, thought-provoking book that I would recommend to everyone interested in healing the racial division in our country. I give it four out of five stars.

Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn-433 pages

Based on a true story of a female Russian sniper in WW II.  She married and had a son at fifteen.  Her husband and her separated soon afterword and her parents helped to raise their grandson while she fiinshed school with the end goal of graduate school.  But her plans got sidetracked when Germany declared war on her homeland.  She had taken sharp shooting lessons way before this event.  Her strong desire to fight for her homeland and her son compelled her to sign up for the Russian army the very next day.  At first they didn't allow her to shoot anything, but then circumstances changed and she had more than 300 kills by the time she left for the United States with a Russian delegation to try to influence president Franklin Roosevelt to back their war effort. The soldiers rode on many different trains in order to reach the front.  It was on these long rides that she forged many friendships that aided her throughout the war.  I enjoyed this very much.  I had never heard of a female Russian sniper so it was very interesting to read about her and all she had to overcome. She carried her masters disortation through many battles where it even got blood stained.  She was determined to complete her goal of graduate school which she did after she left the army.  Very inspiring.  I liked it very much.

Legend Series by Marie Lu

Legend Series by Marie Lu:

1) Legend - 320 pages

2) Prodigy - 384 pages

3) Champion - 416 pages

The western United States has become "The Republic" and it is involved in a longstanding war with the its neighbors.  High society teen prodigy June is destined for a pampered life as one of the elite serving in the Republic's military.  In contrast, teen outlaw Day is a on the run from the authorities and trying to keep both himself and his family alive in the poorest district filled with plague fears.  There is good world building here of a society post climate change catastrophes that have reshaped the world into new city states trying to survive with the United States no longer any kind of super power.  The characters are well rounded and have you rooting for them from the start even though they fall a little bit into some young adult literature cliches along the way.  Definite recommend.   

The Founding Fathers! by Jonah Winter

The Founding Fathers! Those Horse-Ridin', Fiddle-Playin', Book-Readin', Gun-Totin' Gentlemen Who Started America by Jonah Winter - 40 pages

I read this book as preparation for my homeschool class this month on the Founding Fathers and Mothers of America.  This book was trove of informational tidbits about the various founding fathers.  (Alas, no founding mothers included.)  It was a great help in prepping for the class.

BTW - My favorite tidbit of information --
Thomas Jefferson owned 1,234 pounds of cheese.

Navy Husband by Debbie Macomber

Navy Husband by Debbie Macomber - 248 pages

Navy Husband is one of the books in Macomber's Navy Series.  In this novel, Shana Berrie is charged with her niece, Jazmine's, care when her sister is given a tour of sea duty.  Between this, a bad break-up, and the new ice cream and pizza parlor she purchases and is running, Shana believes she has little time for romance.  Upon meeting Jazmine's godfather, Lt. Commander Adam Kennedy, their is instant attraction between both adults, which is helped along through Jazmine's meddling.  Meanwhile, on the U.S.S. Woodrow Wilson, Shana's sister Ali is finally beginning to get over her husband's death in a F-18 crash two years earlier.  While the process began before she boarded the aircraft carrier, meeting the ship's navigator, Commander Frank Dillon, has helped the process along despite both knowing the consequences of a shipboard romance.

In all, Navy Husband was a cute story.  I definitely want to read the other five books sometime soon.

The Wind is Not a River by Brain Payton

The Wind is Not a River by Brain Payton - 309 pages

The Wind is Not a River is an epic novel of war, love, and survival all in one emotionally-charged story.  John Easely is a journalist who managed to sneak into the Aleutian Islands during World War II, a time when reporters are banned and the Japanese are on U.S. soil, and hitch a ride with a bomber crew only to be shot down and stranded on the island of Attu, then fully occupied by the Japanese.  Readers then see his struggle to survive amidst the cold and the enemy.  In alternating chapters, we see the story of his wife Helen.  John left after an argument both regret.  When John goes missing, Helen does everything in her power to find him, including traveling to entertain troops in the Aleutians as part of the USO.  John's side of the story is very reminiscent of Jake London's works, while Helen's is a poignant love story from an older era.

And yes, the Japanese did succeed in invading and holding two of the largest islands in the Aleutians for approximately a year (May, 1942-May, 1943).  That is not fiction; just a little known fact because of how long the information was classified.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Neal Shusterman- 335 pgs

I read Unwholly last week and that made me want to go back and re-read Unwind.  There has been a second world war fought between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice camps.  An agreement was reached where the sanctity of life is protected from conception to the age of 13.  From 13-18 years old, children can be "unwound" so there parts can be used in other ways.  Lose an arm, get a new from an unwound.  Suffer a brain injury, that can be replaced, too.  For many parents, unwinding has become a way to to do away with trouble children.  For orphanages, they are a form of budget cuts.  For some families, unwinding is tithing a child to God.  Conner, Risa and Lev all fit into one of these categories and their lives intertwine in ways they never expected.

This book was just as good the second time around.  I would highly recommend this and Unwholly and I can't wait to get my hands on Unsouled.

Powerful Days: Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore, by Charles Moore

Powerful Days: Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore, by Charles Moore, 208 pages

Charles Moore can be remembered for some of the most stirring photographs of the civil rights movement (I'll leave the google image-searching to you).  Each section in this book explains what was going on in the time period that each group of photos represents.  From police dogs attacking protestors, to the funeral procession at Medgar Evers' funeral, the photographs largely speak for themselves.  I thought this was a good reminder of how close such a massive injustice sits in our country's past.