Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia

This is my second read of Winter Break and it is the longest diary I have read so far. Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia is a royal diary focused on the young girl who would become one of England's most renowned rulers.

When the diary starts out young Victoria is blissfully unaware of how close she is to becoming Queen of England. She is trying desperately to understand all of the politics going on around her while trying to maintain a somewhat normal childhood.

The writing of this diary I think is done particularly well. I really feel that a young girl could have written it. The only problem I have found is that Victoria often gives nicknames to the people in her life and this makes it hard to keep track of who she is talking to or about and what their relationship is.

Also, the historical note in the back of the book and the other documents and supplemental information are great to really understanding Victoria's whole story. I had no idea that she was the longest reigning Queen in England's history!

More information on the novel for those who are interested:

• Publisher: SCHOLASTIC (2003)
• ISBN-10: 0439444624
• ISBN-13: 978-0439444620

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba

Well it has been a little bit of a struggle to start reading more of these books since I am on vacation now. The pull of being a little lazy has proved to be a bit over powering at the moment. I have managed to read Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba though.

This story takes place in Angola which is located in the southwest region of Africa in 1595. The diary is written by the young Nzingha who would rather be out hunting with the warriors instead of at the royal compound learning to be a proper African lady. She often carries around a bow and arrows and would really like to have a closer relationship with her father the Ngola or ruler of the Mbundu kingdom.

Throughout the story the Portuguese are trying to invade Mbundu land and take the people as slaves as well as establish themselves in Africa. Through this conflict Nzingha has a chance to become closer to her father and she aids him with the negotiations.

The unfortunate part of this story is that the diary seems to end before the best and most interesting parts of the story begin. By reading the historical note at the end of the novel, I learned that Nzingha became one of the first Ngolas of her people and tried her best to keep the Portuguese off her land. I think the story might have ended without the discussion of these topics because: 1) these events happened later in her life and the diaries focus on young girls 2) some of the events were quite violent. Other then the seemingly abrupt ending to her story, I found the diary of Nzingha to be very interesting because I did not know much about African history and culture and this helped me learn some about those.

For those of you who would like more information on the book:

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Scholastic (September 1, 2000)
• ASIN: B001IAU3SK

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds

With my fourth book I have yet again made another jump in the sub-series. The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds is part of the My Name is America sub-series which consists of journals written in the young male perspective throughout different times in American history. This particular novel is a journal of a young boy, Douglas, of fifteen years old who has been orphaned by the unfortunate death of his parents and decides to move west to California like countless other emigrants.

With his inheritance and his horse he decides to join what has now come to be as The Donner Party, a wagon train that consisted of over 200 wagons when it first left Missouri. Soon the young boy is taken in by the Breen family after making friends with their son Edward. The start of the journey is filled with hope and amazing adventures. Little does anyone know that the adventure as pioneers that they started out on would become even more difficult than anyone imagined. Due to the decision to take a "shortcut" and thus get to California in a shorter time The Donner party finds themselves in several perilous predictiments.

I don't want to give anything away but if you can remember back to middle or high school history class you will understand why I was slightly distressed to pick up and get through this book. Overall, though I found the novel to be a very realistic portrayal of a fifeteen year old boy trying to make a life for himself and I think this novel could go along with history lessons about the Oregon Trail very well.

One of the most interesting features of the book is the map in the back which shows the reader the route that the Donner Party took on their way to California. I wish that I had discovered it sooner because I spent a lot of time trying to track the groups progress and figure out what state they were in based on the landscape and landmarks Douglas was referring to.

P.S. for those of you who remember the Donner Party do not fret about Douglas!

Here is more information on the book for those of you who are interested

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 158 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.; 1st edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439216001
• ISBN-13: 978-0439216005

Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven

For my third book I take a little break from the original Dear America series to work on the sub-series of The Royal Diaries. This sub-series highlights royal girls from various countries and time periods.

Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven is about the Imperial Princess Kazunomiya who lived in the last 1800s. They novel starts off with diary entries from this young girl of twelve that throws the reader right into the Japanese culture of the Emperor's court. Slowly through the book the reader gains an insight of what Japan was like at this time period and how the "royal" family functioned. Since, Kazunomiya is royal she is said to have descended from the Shinto sun goddess. Unfortunately, Kazunomiya is very tied down by the ways of the court and becomes a "puppet" in political affairs. This includes the changing of her birthday as well as the controversy over whether she will marry the man she was betrothed to or the next Shogun of Japan. Thus, the author fashioned the fitting title of Prisoner of Heaven for this young girl's diary.

I found this novel to be quite intriguing because I do not know much of Japanese culture or history. I did find it a little hard to get into though because from the start you are thrown into Kazunomiya's world and though she offers some explanations you are left to figure out the inner workings of society much on your own. This does become easier at you read along though and the glossary of Japanese words as well as the Historical Note at the back of the book are invaluable for gaining the full experience from this novel.

Here is some more information on the book for those of you who are interested:

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439164850

Survival in the Storm

SUCCESS! Finally, I found time to finish the second book I had picked up at the library for this project! In between the tasks on my long to do list I decided it was good for my own sanity to take a little bit of a break and I filled these micro-breaks with a few pages here and there of Survival in the Storm.

Survival in the Storm takes place during 1935 in Dalhart, Texas. Grace Edwards is the daughter to a farmer who is struggling not only because of the Depression but because of the terrible "dusters" they are experiences in the Texas panhandle. Through out the novel Grace must face losing friends and community members to both moving away to the supposed lush and job filled California and to the terrible disease of dust pneumonia. Luckily, for Grace her family manages to keep their farm and survive through this terrible time in agricultural history.

One of the most interesting things about this book is that it was actually written by a fifteen year old girl. In 1998 there was a Dear America Student Writing Contest, and the publisherliked Katelan Janke's portrayal of the Dust Bowl that they decided to actually turn it into a Dear America novel. Katelan is from Dalhart, Texas and wrote her story based upon stories she has heard about her town during this time.

Now on the other hand, one of the most annoying things is that the mechanics and grammar are less to be desired especially in the beginning of the book. I was very tempted to take out a pen and start adding in commas where they needed to go. Not to mention there was terrible noun/verb agreement in areas that just made me cringe. Besides, this fact the novel was interesting and it kept me interesting knowing the writer was so young.

Oh another thing that was slightly annoying is the fact that since I am getting these books from the children's section of the library most of them have been defaced or are extremely dirty. You can tell that some kid ate his or her spaghetti dinner while reading this book. if I never have to come across old gross spaghetti stuck to the page obstructing my view I will be happy!

So I guess this means I have 76 more to go! Bring it on!

Here is some more information on the book for those of you who are interested:

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (September 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0439215994
• ISBN-13: 978-0439215992