Let's BookTalk: Sweep by Jonathan Auxier

from Goodreads.com

“She and her Sweep had both gone to bed as they always had, nestled against a chimney stack beneath the starry sky. But when the girl woke the next morning, her Sweep was gone” (p. 13).

Nan is an 11 year-old girl in the late 1800s. She is in contracted servitude to work as a chimney sweep, along with four other children ages 7 to 12. Food is scarce, work is dangerous, and there is very little for her to be hopeful for, except that someday her Sweep, original master, may one-day return. All she has left of him is his hat and a piece of char that still feels warm somehow.

The “Devil’s Nudge,” a dangerous method used by master chimney sweeps to get their chimney climbers (child laborers) unstuck from a chimney stack. They light a fire under the stuck child and they either scramble their way to freedom or burn.

One day while cleaning chimneys, Nan got stuck…

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A Note from Ms. Stimpson: I don’t often give my opinion on a book, as I prefer the reader to discover their own preferences in reading. However, there are not many stories often written as this one. Nor do all stories touch your soul. Sweep is one of those stories, because even in the darkness and despair, hope can make the darkness more grey than it had been before.

Let's BookTalk: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

from Goodreads.com

There is power in a name, his momma taught him that much before she died. His name is Bud, not Buddy. If she had wanted him to be called Buddy, she would have named him Buddy.

Bud learned many things from his momma, except who his father was, she only left a flyer for a band as a clue. Now Bud is a runaway orphan in Flint, MI on a mission to get out of town before he is the most wanted boy in town. Life isn’t easy for Bud and with a depression going on across the country things can easily go from bad to worse.

Yet, Bud has these rules that help him stay alive and out of trouble, almost. With only an old card board suitcase to carry his few prized possessions in the world, Bud goes on a journey to find his father and maybe the allusive dream of a home.

Historical Fiction, a review of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Courtesy of Goodreads
Find out more about the author 
Markus Zusak on Facebook, HERE.

Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, follows the portrayal of the childhood years of Liesel Meminger as observed by Death. We first encounter Liesel, as Death is aboard a train that her mother, little brother, and she are traveling on through Germany during the Holocaust era. Death is there to collect the soul of her brother, and decides rather uncharacteristically journey with Liesel and her mom as they bury him. It is from the events of the cemetery that Death sees Liesel steal her first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook. It is at this moment, where we see how Liesel is described by Death simply as the “book thief.” As the story progresses, Death observes Liesel encounter times of sorrow, joy, fear, love, and facing a time where existing outside of the government’s idea of perfection was dangerous.

The author selects a unique textual format for presenting the thoughts of Death, creating a shifting reality for the reader. It is in this reality that the reader can find some safety in knowing they are outside the events, while experiencing all the emotion of them. This book is recommended to be a part of any literary collection, more specifically would be well suited for providing context and gaining the attention of the YA reader. However, it is also recommended that emotional awareness of the reader should be present, as the novel does explore a time and events where not only adults but people their age and younger are facing hatred, danger, and death on a frequent basis. It is recommended also that the reader be of an age where some knowledge about the Holocaust has been taught such as by the age of 13 or older. This novel is fantastic in the sense it captivates the audience in a surreal spectrum of seeing events through the eyes of an objective observer.