"Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty" by Tonya Bolden

I recently heard Dr. Bolden speak.  It was an intelligent, reflective and challenging speech.  I liked it, a lot.  It made reading this nonfiction book more interesting, as I could see her perspective in it.  For the most part, the book is very good, although there are a few "odd" things.

As a nonfiction book, it is engaging.  The text doesn't "dumb down" anything but is very accessible.  I questioned Dr. Bolden's use of the term "John Hancocked" in the first chapter (to indicate signing a big, important document) but it fell in line with the reading age for the book, which would be higher than expected, given its look.  I would place it in the upper middle school, lower high school range.

The entire first chapter is told in present tense, using "we" ("we waited for word") which does engage the reader.  The choice, however, is odd, in the sense that this is no longer a factual telling, but an emotional one.  That being said, I have no doubt that the information conveyed is factual, as it is clearly ~~very~~ well researched.  The rest of the short book reverts to standard past tense, but then bumps back, very briefly, into that "present tense" a few times near the end.  Unfortunately, at that point, it became jarring. 

The images are fabulous, although I take minor issues with the layout -- I would have preferred the text to be more connected, as the images often break the flow of the narrative.  Publishers should take a hint from DK on how to add images in a way which enhances the words rather than distracts from them.

The point of this book makes for an interesting debate.  The title would lead you to believe it is yet another homage to Lincoln for signing a document which has been misconstrued by many.  The good news is that this is the first book I have read which looks at the complexity of both Lincoln and the decree he finally issued, and does so in a way which is very understandable.  It wasn't a straight path from Lincoln's election to emancipation, and much of the book is a clean, step-by-step review of the various players and how they influenced a President who was, himself, conflicted. 

In the end, Dr. Bolden asks whether Lincoln should be revered the way that he is.  A recent trip to the Lincoln Memorial left visiting relatives asking "Why him?  Why all of this?" as the DC Memorial is the largest and most prestigious (arguably) for any U.S. President.  The Memorial is listed as a "temple" on one of the inside quotes and elevates the man to the status of near god-hood.  The bottom line, as outlined by Bolden, is that this was a man who did not like the institution of slavery, but did not believe blacks were intellectual equals to whites, wanted to pay slave owners to "buy back" their slaves (and did so in the District of Columbia) and wanted to ship blacks off to another country, as he believed they would never get equal footing as a minority in a white dominated culture. 

And yet. 

Dr. Bolden makes the case, in the final pages, that Lincoln's legacy as the "Great Emancipator" is deserved, as his actions ended up making a profound and lasting change in this nation, whether he anticipated it or not.  I'm still not sure I'm convinced, but the argument is solid. 

A good, informative read which I was able to whip through in a day or so.  Worth the time.

"Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson

Can't believe it took me so long to read this award-winner, particularly because I count Jacqueline Woodson as one of my top 20 YA authors.  I met her once, a long time ago, and assumed she was much younger than me, given her vibrant energy and youthful demeanor.  She isn't.  According to this book, she is exactly three months older than me.  I've always felt a strange sort of kinship with her, however, through her work.  This autobiographical tale solidified that in many ways.  We were both born into an extraordinary time when the world, particularly in America, was changing very rapidly.  Like me, the history of her family plays an important part in her narrative, and both of us struggled with absent parents.  We listened to the same music on the radio and played the same board games on rainy days.  Our families were similar in make-up although roles are sometimes reversed.  I reacted to my brother's birth much like her brother reacted to her, and I was the bookish older sister who made my younger brother self-conscious with teachers who knew us both.  Ms. Woodson and I both had big gaps between our front teeth, spent time with grandparents bent on the way of faith, and had mothers determined that education would better us.  We are both "the same yet different."  There are real differences, of course.  Jacqueline Woodson is black and spent significant time in the deep south in the 1960s.  Not an easy time, or place, to be different.  She was a tomboy and hated to read and cook, although she enjoyed stories, words, and a good meal.  Her struggles with reading at an early age makes her skill as an award-winning adult writer even more impressive.  That being said, her normally fabulous prose is even more elevated here, where she uses poetry to convey the story.  The sparcity of words makes the message meaningful and striking.  Small haikus on "How to Listen" dot the various sections with strong imagery, while her struggle to find the right words, as a child, are a literary triumph in and of themselves.  The book begins before Jacqueline Woodson begins, with family history, and weaves through the early young years of this talented woman's life.  It isn't so much memory (she couldn't possibly remember some of the tales recounted here, given her age at the time), but rather a tapestry of life and family bonds.  It is a rich tale, a beautiful one, an ordinary one and a profound one.  Once again, Woodson hits the mark with a book fully deserving of the praise piled upon it.  Can't wait to see the "next chapter."  So much of her life is like mine, but I'm curious as to what happened as she grew up and had to deal with being different within her own family dynamics.  In any case, this is a writer with many years ahead.  She will undoubtably continue to enrich us.