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MY NAME IS AMERICA

Name: MY NAME IS AMERICA
Author: William Durbin
ISBN: 0-439-09254-X

THE JOURNAL OF OTTO PELTONEN, A FINNISH IMMIGRANT

by William Durbin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2000

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The latest in this series of historical diaries recounts the story of Otto Peltonen, a Finnish boy who travels with his mother and two sisters to America in 1905 to join his father, who is already working in the iron mines of Minnesota. Unfortunately, Otto’s expectations of America have far exceeded the gritty reality. “We pulled into the train station late in the afternoon. Not only are the streets in Hibbing not paved with gold, but they are rutted with dusty wagon tracks.” Otto and his family are dismayed when they see that their new home is little more than a shack in a squatters’ camp nicknamed “Finn Town.” Even more unsettling, Otto barely recognizes his father in the unkempt, angry man who can’t stop talking about the need to organize the miners into a union. Despite his disappointment, Otto soon adapts to life in Hibbing, a town he describes as “a dull collection of telegraph poles and plain-looking buildings,” with 40 to 50 saloons catering to the miners who come from at least 35 different countries. Otto’s father works ten-hour shifts at the mine, six days a week, under extremely dangerous conditions. Mine accidents are all-too-common and are an ever-present worry for the families of miners. After a year in school, Otto joins his father in the mines, where he sees the dismal working conditions first-hand. After two years in America, Otto’s family has finally saved enough money to buy a farm, on which Otto’s father can fulfill his dream of being his own boss. While the reader learns about the harsh working conditions of the early part of the 20th century and about the difficulties workers had in ameliorating those conditions, the diary reveals much more than Otto’s worries and his sense of disappointment in America. He is playful, intrepid, appealing, and full of life. Because it is replete with gory descriptions of mining accidents, complaints about his annoying younger sister, and accounts of hijinks with his best friend Nikko, readers will vastly enjoy following Otto’s life for the two years the diary covers. A good choice for reluctant readers and an interesting counterpart to Our Only May Amelia (1999), which gives a girl’s perspective of the Finnish immigrant experience. (historical note, photos) (Fiction. 9-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-439-09254-X

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000

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CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DEAD MAN'S RAPIDS
by William Durbin & Barbara Durbin

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WINTER WAR
by William Durbin

- BOOK REVIEW
EL LECTOR
by William Durbin

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THE DEVIL AND HIS BOY

by Anthony Horowitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2000

This unique blend of fact-based characters and inspired storytelling will appeal especially to readers who enjoy an...

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Short, action-packed chapters convincingly portray the sights, smells, and sounds of lower-class Elizabethan England in 1593.

Rescued from servitude and on the run from the cutthroat Gamaliel Ratsey, young Tom finds himself adrift in the bustling and dangerous city of London. Befriended by expert pickpocket Moll Cutpurse, he lands a job as an apprentice actor with a troop of mysterious men who have been hired to perform a comedy for the queen. Increasingly suspicious of his fellow actors, Tom risks his own life to save that of the aging queen, resulting in an astonishing discovery for them both. Sinister criminals, good-hearted ne'er-do-wells, and Shakespeare himself are all described with sly touches of whimsy that adds to the story's appeal.

This unique blend of fact-based characters and inspired storytelling will appeal especially to readers who enjoy an imaginative, no-holds-barred approach to historical fiction. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-399-23432-2

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
NEVER SAY DIE
by Anthony Horowitz

- BOOK REVIEW
SCORPIA
by Anthony Horowitz & Antony Johnston ; illustrated by Emma Vieceli & Kate Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
BLOODY HOROWITZ
by Anthony Horowitz

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THE BABE AND I

by David A. Adler ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

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Adler (also with Widener, Lou Gehrig, 1997, etc.) sets his fictional story during the week of July 14, 1932, in the Bronx, when the news items that figure in this tale happened. A boy gets a dime for his birthday, instead of the bicycle he longs for, because it is the Great Depression, and everyone who lives in his neighborhood is poor. While helping his friend Jacob sell newspapers, he discovers that his own father, who leaves the house with a briefcase each day, is selling apples on Webster Avenue along with the other unemployed folk. Jacob takes the narrator to Yankee Stadium with the papers, and people don’t want to hear about the Coney Island fire or the boy who stole so he could get something to eat in jail. They want to hear about Babe Ruth and his 25th homer. As days pass, the narrator keeps selling papers, until the astonishing day when Ruth himself buys a paper from the boy with a five-dollar bill and tells him to keep the change. The acrylic paintings bask in the glow of a storied time, where even row houses and the elevated train have a warm, solid presence. The stadium and Webster Avenue are monuments of memory rather than reality in a style that echoes Thomas Hart Benton’s strong color and exaggerated figures. (Picture book. 5-9)