Rachel's Hope by Shelly Sanders

Rachel's Hope is the final installment in the Rachel trilogy that traces the journey of Rachel Paskar and her family who have fled the 1903 pogrom in Russian to Shanghai, China and are now in San Francisco. 

It is the winter of 1905 and sixteen-year-old Rachel, her sister Nucia and Nucia's husband Jacob, and the orphan Menahem arrived eight days ago in San Francisco. They have just been released from quarantine. Rachel and Nucia's mother and father are dead: her father murdered during the Kishinev pogrom in Russia while her mother died from from consumption in China. The four of them are searching for the lodging house the woman at the Eureka Benevolent Society had marked on the paper map.

A month later both Rachel and Nucia are working as maids at the Haas home on Franklin Street in the upscale neighbourhood of Pacific Heights.The Haas family were Bavarian Jewish immigrants who own a prosperous dry goods store. Although the Haas are Jewish they practice some American customs like Christmas and Easter. Nucia works as the upstairs-maid wearing a white uniform and meeting with the mistress of the house every day. Rachel however, works downstairs wearing a black uniform like the other maids. The Haas also have a Chinese servant, Wah who does their laundry.

After work Rachel and Nucia walk home to their boarding house on Sixth Street where they live in a second floor flat at the back of the house. They are met outside by Jacob and Menahem. Jacob announces that he has taken out a loan from the Hebrew Free Loan Association to start his own business as a vendor selling food from wholesalers to restaurants and shops. This upsets Nucia who believes his steady job at the Standard Shirt Factory is safer and she worries if his business fails. Rachel, however supports Jacob's plan believing that they should take risks to improve their lives.

Menahem attends Spring Valley School and struggles to be accepted. Rachel finally buys him some new clothes but they are much different that what he is used to wearing. Boys in America wear short pants with high socks, not the long pants Menahem is used to wearing in Russia. In a letter to Sergei, Rachel tells him that Gentiles live peacefully with Jews and that Jews can become prosperous in America. 

Rachel, Nucia, Jacob and Menahem begin to settle into life in San Francisco. They attend synagogue at Temple Sherith Israel along with Mr. Bloom and his wife Esther. The service is a Reform Sabbath and Rachel notes that it is very different from the services in Russia and China. They form a strong friendship with the Blooms who invite them over for Saturday dinner, and who often give Nucia leftover meat and fish from their kosher store. Rachel and Nucia also attend free English classes for new immigrants at the First Chinese Baptist Church. Rachel finds that she is beginning to understand English. Jacob with his job as a vendor also becomes proficient in English. In order to better fit in with his new classmates, Menahem decides to change his name to Marty. Rachel also begins taking high-school English and mathematics classes two nights a week. She hopes to obtain her high school diploma in three years. She hasn't given up on her dream of becoming a journalist.

In a remarkable twist, Rachel meets Anna Strunsky in the large bathhouse at the Sutro Baths located at Lands End. Anna is a Russian Jewish immigrant who came to America when she was nine-years-old and is now a journalist. She is planning to return to Russia later this year to cover women's stories for San Francisco Bulletin and California Women's Magazine. She wants to cover the worker's strikes. Rachel states that Russia is not safe for Jews as there have been riots and over five hundred Jews have been killed. And people in St. Petersburg are being shot by the Cossacks and police when they demonstrated for better working conditions. Anna believes she will be safe because she is an American reporter. Anna offers to help Rachel with her English, if she will help her relearn Russian. 

Rachel meets up with Anna at a cafe called Coppa. There, Anna shows Rachel some articles about the movement to free the Russian people. She tells Rachel that she has read about the terrible lives of the Russian peasants, about the factory workers' strikes and the massacres of Jews. Rachel explains how her father lost his life in the massacre that happened in her town of Kishinev and how it was instigated by the lies published by the newspaper editor in the village. She tells Anna, "I dream of being a writer, like you, to tell the truth and make sure people don't forget what happened to us." Rachel also tells Anna about Sergei Khazhenkov, who is fighting for the workers in Petersburg. Anna asks Rachel to write down details about him so that when she returns to Russia she can try to locate him. Rachel reveals that she cares for him but because he is Gentile they cannot be together.  Anna tells her that things are changing and that she is seeing someone who is not Jewish.

To help Rachel in her quest to become a journalist, Anna advises that she must read more. At the public library at City Hall she loads Rachel down with copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Wuthering Heights, Ten Days in A Madhouse, and Around The World In Eighty Days. Rachel has her letter about arriving in San Francisco published by the Jewish newspaper, Emanu-El complete with her full name. Rachel becomes interested in the women's suffrage movement after attending a meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women at Temple Emanu-El. With four hundred women in attendance, Rachel learns that men in California voted against suffrage because many women involved in the suffrage movement were also involved in the temperance movement and the men did not want to lose their right to drink alcohol. This leads Rachel to send an article to the Israel's Messenger in Shanghai for publication. While the Editor-in-Chief publishes her article which she wrote in Yiddish, he encourages her to focus on writing in English for American newspapers.

On April 18, Rachel, Marty, Jacob and Nuncia flee their flat in the early morning hours. As the buildings around them topple. they escape unscathed. They watch as the Wells Fargo Bank crumbles to the ground. The falling bricks from the dry goods store injure some and kill others. As they flee down the street, sunken in some places by several feet, they see twisted streetcars and watch as the broken gas lines, catch fire. Buildings along Market Street catch fire, one after another.  The smoke makes Marty cough and he beings to struggle to breathe.

In the morning Jacob learns that everything south of Market Street is gone including synagogues, the Haas Brothers store. Four days later, Rachel and her family visit their runined boarding house and decide to walk to Golden Gate Park where people are being assigned tents to live in. Rachel takes Marty to a hospital where he is diagnosed with asthma and is treated by the doctor. Rachel and Marty spend several weeks at Mr. Levison's home, to allow him to recuperate. There, Rachel helps Nathan Pearce care for his baby daughter, Ruthie, after his wife was killed in the earthquake. Although Rachel feels a growing attachment to Nathan, she decides to refuse his offer to work for him as a nurse for Ruthie and opts to return to Jacob and Nuncia who are still living in a tent. Back in Golden Gate Park, Rachel wonders if she will ever achieve her dream of becoming a journalist. The earthquake seems like such a setback for all her plans to finish her schooling and attend university.

During this time from 1905 into early 1906, Rachel's friend, Sergei has fled St. Petersburg after the deadly march on the Tsar's Winter Palace and has slipped onto a train to Moscow. He is a fugitive, a member of the secret revolutionary group, the Combat Organization, wanted in the murder the Interior Minister of Russia, Viacheslav von Plehve. He had supported the anti-Jew pogroms including the one that killed Rachel's father. When he's caught on the train after falling asleep, a stranger, Dimitri Kalyayev bribes the police officer, telling him Sergei is his son. Dimitri explains that he helped Sergei because he recognized him from the newspaper and he provides Sergei with directions to a safe house. 

The two storey wood house on Volgogradsku Prospekt belongs to the writer, Maxim Gorky. Shortly after he arrives, Boris Savinkov, the leader of the Combat Organization in Petersburg, and the architect of the von Plehve assassination, arrives. Gorky doesn't believe the tsar will give the Russian people more power or freedom. Sergei agrees to help distribute the newspaper Iskra to every factory in Moscow to encourge the workers to fight for better wages and working conditions.

Two weeks later, many Moscow factories are on strike: thirty thousand workers on strike demanding a democratic government and better working conditions. Food is scarce. Gorky wants to form a soviet council like that in Petersburg that is intent on "obtaining democracy for all Russian people." While Savinkov believes that the bombings and assassinations have helped their work towards democracry Sergei does not and neither does Gorky who believes "The pen is the mightiest weapon, much more powerful than any bomb." He believe words give people the courage to fight and so Gorky proposes they distribute leaflets.

On October thirtieth, the tsar signs an Imperial Manifesto supposedly "guaranteeing civil liberties for all Russian people  and legal power for the Duma."  but as Gorky suspects, the tsar has the power to veto legislation passed by the Duma and citizens can still be arrested for speaking out against the government.

Sergei is involved in getting dynamite for the Moscow revolution on December 5th. Savinkov organizes the securing of weapons while Gorky orders the distribution of signs to get more people involved. They build barricades across Tverskoi Boulevard. The intent is to block off all of Moscow's main streets from the Russian troops. Barricades are also being constructed on the circular street around the Kremlin. 

The revolution begins but Sergei is ordered back to Gorky's house. Despite controlling some areas, they have lost men so Savinkov tells Sergei they want to bomb the headquarters of the secret police (Okhrana). However, Sergei doesn't want to be involved in another bombing but he finally agrees to instruct the bombers, fifteen yea old Victor and sixteen year old Arkady. However, the bombing doesn't go as planned with one of the bombers, Viktor shot and killed. 

On December 17th, Sergei and more revolutionaries are at Krasnopresnenskaya Street with loaded rifles, facing a large number of government troops included the Semenovsky Regiment. Gorky gives a speech and then the fighting begins. For hours Sergei and the other revolutionaries fire at the soldiers. However, when the government begins shelling them Sergei and the others are forced to flee through the streets. Sergei is quickly captured and taken to Taganka Prison in Moscow. An elderly man in the prison who has been exiled before tells Sergei he will languish in prison on March and without a trial will be exiled. That is what happens: Sergei is exiled for five years to Chita in Siberia, thirty-eight hundred miles from Moscow. Will Sergei ever survive to leave Russia and find Rachel?

The question remains, will Rachel's hope to be reunited with Sergei come to pass and if so, do they have a chance at a future together?

Discussion

Rachel's Hope is a engaging and well-written conclusion to the Rachel Trilogy. In this third novel, Rachel and Sergei's stories are told beginning in the Winter of 1905 through to Winter of 1908. The author makes use of two alternating narratives, that of Rachel Paskar and Sergei Khazhenkov to describe the event of this period. In San Francisco in America it is a time of recovery from the devastating earthquake of 1906, while for those in Russia, it is a period of social and political upheaval that sees the seeds of revolution sown.

Life in San Francisco is described through the eyes of Rachel Paskar, a new immigrant and refugee from the Jewish pogroms in Russia. When she goes shopping at a store for Menahem and herself, she is treated with respect as a customer. However, she remembers what it was like in Russia, "The colorful fabrics reminded her of the thread store her mother had loved in Kishinev. Rachel recalled the last time she'd gone to that store for her mother, when the owner had called her "a stupid yid."

Rachel finds that that the Jewish community are less strict about their practice of Judaism than in Russia and China. In the Sherith Temple, Rachel is amazed at the opulence of the temple, a sign that in America one can show pride in being Jewish, something not possible in Russia. "In San Francisco, Jews could build grand buildings like Sherith Israel with its plush red-velvet seats, impressive organ, and bright stained-glass windows. Here, one could show pride in being Jewish."  She observers that men and women sit together instead of being segregated, and the rabbi tells them that married women do not have to cover their hair with a headscarf, both of which trouble Nuncia. Mrs. Bloom counters that she likes "...being able to choose how I want to be Jewish.". Mr. Bloom who is Jewish is selling both kosher and non-kosher food as even Jews are eating non-kosher foods. While Mr. and Mrs. Bloom support the loosening of restrictions, Nunia expresses concern. "These traditions are the only link we have to Russia...By holding onto them, we are keeping our memories alive." However, Rachel points out to Nucia just how different everyone looks and the different languages they hear on the street. "Don't you see how different people look from one another here?...You can dress however you like, speak in any language, practice any religion, be who you want to be here in America."

Rachel, Jacob and Nuncia struggle to understand why some immigrants want to change their names. Menahem announces that he wants to change his name and in fact is already going by "Marty". He tells his family that the teacher struggles with the name. Nuncia reminds Menahem that his parents gave him his name and it is the name of his grandfather but he isn't convinced. Mr. Bloom explains that many immigrants have long names that are difficult to pronounce and so it's not unusual for them to use a simpler name. 

She also finds that women have more opportunities in America than women in Russia, but still not as many as men. When Anna tells her about women in America working to get the right to vote, Rachel remarks, "Back in Russia I would have been happy with permission to go to university, or to travel without a note from my father."  Rachel finds school different in America where students can voice their own opinions. "In Russia, teachers spoke and students listened. Personal views didn't matter unless you were a grown man. To speak your mind as a student had not been acceptable."

When Rachel attends a meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women at Temple Emanu-El regarding women's rights, she notes that a meeting attended exclusively by women would never be allowed in Russia. And unlike Russia, Rachel can read whatever she wants, choosing books from the library that Anna Strunsky takes her to. It's important to note however, as Sanders writes in her Historical Note, that Jewish immigrants to San Francisco faced a much easier time than Jews in other American cities. "The broader integration of Jews into the host society is what set San Francisco apart from other major cities at the time, where Jews continued to exist in more ghetto-like conditions"

Rachel's Hope is a study in contrast between America and Russia in the early 1900's. While America is seen as a land where most immigrants had the opportunity to better their lives, Russia is being torn apart by rebellion and revolution as its people, most of them destitute, fight for basic rights. Workers in Russia are the lowest paid in Europe. There are demonstrations for better living conditions, better wages, safer working conditions in factories, and more say in the governance of the country. As the people struggle to obtain change, their peaceful demonstrations are met with force and violence. Sergei remembers the demonstration at the Winter Palace. "Just a few days earlier, he and thousands of other factory workers, women, and children had marched to the Winter Palace, the tsar's home in Petersburg, to protest for better working conditions, increased wages, and an end to the catastrophic Japanese-Russian war. It had been planned as a peaceful demonstration, but when they arrived, the Russian military opened fire, killing and injuring thousands of protestors."  As the government and the tsar resist any change, the people of Russia resort to bombings and assassinations. 

Sergei's description of life in Moscow is in marked contrast to the shops and restaurants in San Francisco. While Rachel experiences her first meal in a restaurant where she can choose what she wants to eat, life is very different in Moscow. Sergei notes: "...he moved past the closed-down shops with empty shelves...Food had been scarce since the railway workers' strike. Supplies couldn't get  into the city. Shops had been drained of food, clothing, and necessities. The lack of medicine forced the hospital to close." People are starving, among them Sergei notes, are many hungry children. Four days into the rebellion, Sergei observes the children in Moscow who are helping build barricades, how they do not have warm clothing. "Not one wore clothing suitable for the frigid winter air. The girls had threadbare, stained shawls around their shoulders. The boys had coats that were either too small with sleeves halfway up their forearms, or too large leaving space for the icy air to seep through."

His experiences in Russia change Sergei forever and in ways that eventually lead him to realize he can never be with Rachel.  His conscience is troubled because he was involved in the assassination of a government official. He witnesses the death of many people during the unsuccessful revolution. At Gorky's  house, Sergei is still haunted by the murder of von Plehve. "I will never be free from guilt, he thought as he wiped his brow. Even though I am not behind bars, guilt is suffocating me, destroying me from the inside." When he finally does escape Russia and makes his way to San Francisco, his reunion with Rachel is not what either of them were expecting.

In Russia Rachel and Sergei could not be together because he is Russian and Rachel is a Jew. But in America they still cannot be together but this time it is different. Sergei tells Rachel, "Much more divides us now...Too much has happened to me. Too much time has passed." He explains that he doesn't want to bring back memories of the past with his presence and that he does not fit into her world. Athough Rachel still believes he is the good person she knew in Kishinev, Sergei tells her, "You don't know that. You don't know anything about me. You don't know what I had to do to get here. You don't know the nightmares that keep me up at night, what I wish I could change about my past." Rachel and Sergei are a study in contrasts, Rachel a survivor who is thriving, Sergei a survivor but deeply scarred.

Despite the tragedy of Rachel and Sergei, the novel ends on a hopeful note. Rachel is moving forward with her dream of becoming a journalist by attending university and has met a man, Alexander who is in love with her.

A mark of good historical fiction is the ability of the author to develop the setting. Author Shelly Sanders' portrayal of life in both revolutionary Russia and early 20th century San Francisco feels authentic. The chcaracters are well crafted and included a few real-life characters of Maxim Gorky and Anna Strunsky. The author realistically portrays several historic events that occur in the novel: the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the 1905 Russian Revolution. Readers are directed to Sanders' Historical Note at the back.

Although this trilogy was written over ten years ago, it is an important and timely work, considering the rise of anti-semitism in America, Canada and Europe. Highly recommended.

Book Details:

Rachel's Hope by Shelly Sanders

Second Story Press      2014

ebook

482 pp.

The True Story of Vanilla by Ann Richards

Edmond was born in August, 1829 on the Bellier-Beaumont sugar plantation on Reunion, a small island in the Indian Ocean. His mother, Melise and his father Pamphile were both slaves owned by Elvire Bellier-Beaumont. In 1834, when Edmond was around five years old he was sent to live with Elvire's brother, Ferreol Bellier-Beaumont who was a widower without any children. 

Ferreol's plantation was typical of most plantations with a large main house and small huts for the slaves. The houses of the slaves had no beds so they slept on the dirt floor. On the plantation the slaves planted sugarcane, and then cut and bundled the canes during harvesting. The work was hard in the hot sun and many slaves, wishing to be free and return to their home countries where they were taken from, escaped, rowing across the sea to Madagascar, Africa or Comoros. But for Edmond, life was different: he lived in the main house with Ferreol.

Ferreol Bellier-Beaumont was known on Reunion as a botanist who enjoyed studying rare plants. As  Ferrreol walked about the plantation and his garden, Edmond watched him and learned from Ferreol about the various plants. Edmond was an intelligent child and became very interested in botany like his master, Ferreol. 

Ferreol was interested in starting a new industry on Reunion - the producing of vanilla. Competition from Cuba and Europe meant that it was no longer profitable to grow sugarcane on Reunion. Ferreol did produce a small amount of cane for local needs but he also grew other produce including pumpkins, bananas and pineapples. 

At this time, vanilla was grown only in Mexico, making it a rare and expensive spice. Botanists from France and Belgium had discovered that the Melipona bee pollinated the vanilla flower. However, they too were not able to get their vanilla plants to produce the vanilla pods. Ferreol had explained to Edmond how he pollinated his pumpkin plants by hand. Since the flowers open early, this had to be done before 10 AM in the morning. He would find the male and female flowers and touch the female stigma to the male anther in what was known as "the marriage". In a few days, small buds would appear beneath the female flowers. Edmond repeated this process himself in Ferreol's pumpkin field to see if he could replicate Ferreol's work. He was successful. 

However, Ferreol like other botanists were frustrated by their lack of success in being able to able to pollinate the vanilla plant. His experiment using wasps from the fig tree didn't work either. So Edmond set out to help his master by intensively studying the different species of plants in Ferreol's garden. For each type of plant in Ferreol's garden, Edmond looked at the blossoms of each, located the male and female part of each flower and pollinated them by pressing these two parts together. When this was successful, Edmond knew that he understood how to find the male and female parts and how to hand pollinate them. The result was that Ferreol's garden produced pumpkins, squash, peppers and other produce. Edmond just had to look inside the vanilla orchid flower to find those parts. Carefully examining the orchid using a bamboo twig, Edmond located the sticky anther and "With the tip of the bamboo twig, he guided the anther to the female part of the plant, called th estigma, and pressed the two parts together. He had successfully hand pollinated the vanilla orchid! Edmond was twelve-years-old.

When Edmond saw that the plant had begun to bud the next day, he repeated the process on the remaining vanilla flower. A few days later when Ferreol was walking through the garden with Edmond and he saw the green vanilla pods forming underneath the wilted flowers he was stunned. Edmond explained what he had done. As new flowers opened, Edmond showed Ferreol the process for hand pollinating the vanilla orchid flowers.

Soon Ferreol's friends and the villagers and plantation owners came to see the vanilla buds but they were in disbelief that a slave could do this.Ferreol wrote letters documenting what Edmond had done because he wanted him to receive the recognition for his disocvery. These letters were sent to the French Chambers of Agriculture, scientific journals and even to Reunion's newspaper. He named what Edmond had done, "Edmond's gesture" or le gest d'Edmond. Edmond demonstrated his technique to the various plantation owners. Despite Ferreol's efforts to get Edmond the recognition he deserved it would take many years and much effort.

Discussion

The True Story of Vanilla is a fascinating account of how one young boy, a slave on a plantation on a small island in the Indian Ocean made an important discovery that had an impact both on his own country and the world. That person was Edmond Albius.

Richards presents Edmond's story while offering readers  background information on many topics relevant to his discovery. The history of Reunion, the pollination of flowers, the discovery of xocolatl, an early form of chocolate by the Aztecs and of tlilxochitl by Montezuma when he conquered the Aztecs, the history of slavery in Reunion and elsewhere, and vanilla production in Mexico. There is a short discussion about growing a vanilla plant but no information on where to buy one! 

Richards has included a section, "In The Pod" within each chapter, that offers readers interesting facts about the vanilla plant. For example, "Each vanilla bean is different, with a unique flavor, aroma and color," is one of many facts presented in these sections which can be found through the book. In The Pod provides information about the vanilla flower, pod and bean, the vanilla scent, vanilla's use in food, health benefits of vanilla, its use in cosmetics and how vanilla is produced today. 

Edmond eventually gained his freedom as a result of the abolishing of slavery in the French colonies in 1848. He was now allowed to have a last name and he chose Albius, "...from the Latin albus/albin, meaning 'white' -- like the vanilla flower." After leaving the Bellier-Beaumont plantation, Edmond wanted to find work as a ship's cook but this was not to happen. Instead he worked as a laborer and eventually was convicted of theft and sentenced to five years  of hard labor. He was freed after three years, due to the persistent efforts of Ferreol who continued also to advocate for Edmond to receive recognition for his pollination of the vanilla plant. This too was proving to be difficult because another botanist, a colleague of Ferreol's, Michel Claude Richard claimed to have discovered the method of how to hand=pollinate the vanilla orchid. Eventually Edmond was recognized as the discoverer of how to hand pollinate the vanilla orchid.

The True Story of Vanilla is filled with so many interesting facts about this spice which is used now throughout the world in so many products and foods. But it is also a story about slavery and the prejudice that existed at this time. Edmond Albius was only twelve-years-old when he made his astonishing discovery. He was intelligent and resourceful, a quick learner who applied the techniques that Ferreol taught him. But because he was a black slave boy, he was not considered intelligent enough to have discovered this process, by the white plantation owners. And it would take twenty years before he finally received the recognition he deserved for his hand-pollination technique - one that is still used today.

The art for the book is digitally created and colourful and while the cover is quite attractive, the artwork inside is somewhat uninspiring. Although there is map of Reunion, there is no map showing Reunion's location relative to Africa and Madagascar which would allow young readers to place the island's location on a globe. And although there is a surviving daguerreotype of young Edmond Albius, it was not included in this biography about him!

Ann Richards who is a Jamaican Canadian from Brampton, Ontario, has included a Timeline, a Glossary and a list of Resources as well as an Index. 

The True Story of Vanilla is highly recommended for readers and cooks of all ages!

Book Details:

The True Story of Vanilla by Ann Richards

Toronto: Orca Book Publishers      2025

99pp.

Dinosaurs by Rachel Ignotofsky

Dinosaurs aims to present the evolution of life on Earth in an engaging way to young readers. Before embarking on this incredible journey through time, Ignotofsky provides readers with some background information. There are pages that provide explanations of the Geological Time Scale, What Is A Dinosaur?, Understanding Plate Tectonics, Ever Changing Geography, What Is a Fossil?, Reading The Rocks, Mass Extinction Events, and Understanding Evolution. This all sets the stage for exploring life on Earth.

The story begins with the PreCambrian SuperEon, the first four billion years of Earth's history, when the planet formed in the solar system. This period includes the Hadean Ion, the Archean Eon, and the Proterozoic Eon. There are many interesting facts about this time such as during the Hadean Ion the moon was close to fifteen times closer to Earth, during the Archean Ion the oceans were much saltier than they are today, and during the Proterozoic Eon the first mega continent formed. It was during the Proterozoic that the Great Oxygenation Event occured.

Life before the dinosaurs in the Paleozoic Era began to colonize land. The Paleozoic Era has been divided into six geological periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian. The Cambrian saw many new life forms develop. This has been termed the Cambrian Explosion in which creatures with the first backbone, the first lungs and the first legs appeared. The Ordovician saw a huge increase in biodiversification, now termed the Ordovician Biodiversification Event  that saw the development of jawless fishes, tentacled cephalopods and starfishes. The Late Ordovician experienced a mass extinction event, the first of five such events to occur in geological history. The Silurian Period was a relatively quiet time during which fish continued to evolve.

In the Devonian Period much of the Earth's continents covered by warm, shallow seas." It was the age of fishes and coral reefs. A second mass extinction event, the Late Devonian mass extinction occurred but its cause is unknown.  The Carboniferous Period saw swamps and rainforests proliferate. The oxygen content of Earth's atmosphere was also very high at this time as carbon was trapped in the plants and trees. The largest terrestrial invertebrate to ever live, Arthropleura millipede which was eight feet long, inhabited the swamps of the Carboniferous Period.

The Permian Period saw the formation of the giant supercontinent Pangea, surrounded by the global ocean called Panthalassa. Reptiles thrived in the arid, warm interior of the continent. The Permian-Triassic mass extinction event closed out this period.

The Mesozoic Era was the age of the dinosaurs. Three periods have been designated in the Mesozoic: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.  The Mesozoic Era began with the worst mass extinction and would end with the devastation of an asteroid impact. Earth had no polar ice caps as the planet was very warm. A day in the Mesozoic Era was twenty-three hours.

The Triassic Period saw the development of a new branch of reptiles - the archosaurs that included the dinosaurs. They were not the large creatures expected but were small. The Jurassic Period saw Pangea begin to break apart due to tectonic activitiy. During this time, it became two separate continents, Laurasia and Gondwana. Rainforests replaced the arid deserts of Pangea, providing a significant source of food for dinosaurs. The Cretacious Period was the climax of the dinosaur's reign. Tyrannosaurus rex the apex predator on land, azhdarchid pterosaurs in the air and Mosasaurus in the oceans. An asteroid impacting the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico would end their reign.

The beginning of the Cenozoic era, the three main mammal groups were already established. These were the monotremes  (egg-laying mammals), marsupials (mammals that birth live young and carry them with a pouch), and placentals (mammals who give birth to live young from the womb).  During the Cenozoic Era, Earth developed large polar ice caps. There were three periods in the Cenozoic Era: the Paleogene Period, Neogene Period and Quaternary Period.

The Paleogene Period saw large fluctuations in climate. This period was one of mountain building with the creation of the Rocky Mountains and the Himilayan Mountains.

During the Neogene Period the abundance of grasslands saw mammals adapt to running from predators. Early hominids began to evolve to walk upright. The Panama Land Bridge connecting North and South America developed during this time. This land bridge allowed animals and plants to inhabit new areas in what has been called the Great American Biotic Interchange. It also separated the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, changing ocean currents and weather patterns.

The Quaternanry Period was dominated by multiple ice ages. Animals adapted by becoming large and furry and were known as megafauna. They included mammoths, woolly rhinos and saber-tooth tigers. Modern humans evolved during this period and migrated to all areas of the planet. Humans transformed Earth's ecosystems. 

Finally, the Holocene Epoch which represents the last eleven thousand years of Earth history, is the time in which humans formed civilizations.

Discussion

Dinosaurs is a colourfully illustrated and engaging large picture book that offers a detailed summary of the evolution of life on Earth.  The title is somewhat misleading as the book's focus is more on geological history rather than exclusively on dinosaurs.

After providing some information on important concepts that will be encountered in the book, Ignotofsky launches into descriptions of life during each of the geological eras and their periods. After introducing each period of geologic time life is described in more detail through several features. The Land and Sea provides an overview of each period and there is also a Fun Facts section. For example, in the Devonian Period Fun Facts, the Australian lungfish which has gills and lungs is featured. Each section also has a fascinating "Stories of Discovery" section which highlights various important discoveries relevant to that geologic time period. Some of the features include the Canadian Burgess Shale, and discoveries in the Silurian rocks near the village of Chuanhegai in China, and on Ellesmere island in the high Arctic of Canada. Once the story moves into the Mesozoic Era, life on Earth is divided into two sections, Life on Land, and Air and Sea.

Each geologic period has a Creature Feature which describes some of the life in that period, hopefully based on fossil evidence, although Ignotofsky doesn't specify what is the basis for the descriptions and illustrations. Nevertheless, this makes for a very interesting part of the book.

Overall, Dinosaurs is a very well done, well-written with many interesting facts, colourful illustrations with a well thought-out layout. But there is just so much information, much of it very detailed, that it is questionable as to what age this will appeal to. For younger readers, the visuals will be most appealing, especially the Creature Feature secction, but the large amount of text, most of it in very small font to accomodate the amount of information may feel daunting. Nevertheless, this adult with a background as a geologist found it very appealing!

Book Details:

Dinosaurs by Rachel Ignotofsky

New York: Ten Speed Press    2025

127 pp.

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

Eleven-year-old Parvana is sitting with her father on a blanket in the Kabul marketplace. Her head and shoulders are completely covered by her chador. She is there to help her father walk from home to the market. Parvana lives in Kabul with her mother Fatana and her father, her older sister Nooria, and her younger siblings, five-year-old Maryam and two-year-old Ali. 

Her parents are well educated having attended university; her father attended university in England and both her parents speak English. They came from well respected families and earned good money. This meant that "...they had a big house with a courtyard, a couple of servants, a television set, a refrigerator, a car."  Her father had taught in a  high school while her mother had been a writer for a Kabul radio station. Parvana had been in the sixth grade while Nooria attended high school. All that changed with the coming of the Taliban.

Before the Taliban, Afghanistan had been invaded by the Persians, Greeks,, Arabs, Turks, British and then Soviet Russia. War had been ongoing for more than twenty years. Parvana was born the year the Soviets left Afghanistan. The Taliban now ruled the country except for the northern regions. In Kabul they forced girls out of the schools, her mother was forced to leave her job and all girls and women in Afghanistan had to stay home. They were not even allowed out to shop.

Parvana's family had lost their beautiful home and had moved several times, each time to a smaller place. Now they lived in one small room with the possessions they managed to save from the bombings. Her father had lost his lower leg when his school was bombed but he had sold his wooden leg. So now Parvana helps her father walk to the market each day where he tries to sell some of their remaining possessions or reads letters for a fee. Most Afghans cannot read or write. Parvana can speak Dari and understand some Pashtu and because she has received an education, like her father she can read the letters.

They make their way home, her father leaning on Parvana. They now live on the third floor of a bomb-damaged building. To reach their apartment, Parvana and her father must use the damaged stairs on the outside of the building. Upon arriving home Parvana is sent out to get water, a task that means five trips to the outside tap. The single room they all share contains a tall wooden cupboard and two toshaks. The beautiful Afghan carpets and all their furniture has been destroyed in the bombings of their previous homes. What survived from the bombings Parvana's mother kept in the cupboard. This includes a parcel of Hossain's clothing. He was Parvana's older brother who was killed by a land mine when he was fourteen. Nooria has told Parvana how he loved to carry her around and play with her.

After their family meal, her father in his good white shalwar kameez begins telling a story from history. He was a history teacher at the time his school was bombed. The story is set in 1880 when the British attempted to take over Afghanistan and a young Afghan girl urged her country's soldiers on to defeat the British. Suddenly their joyful family moment is broken when four Taliban burst into their home. Two soldiers seize Parvana's father and drag him out while the other two ransack the wooden cupboard. They leave but not before beating Parvana as she tries to distract them from discovering her father's books hidden in the secret compartment at the base of the cupboard.

The next day Parvana and her mother set out to walk to the prison to free her father. Along the way her mother stops frequently to show a photograph of her father. Photographs are illegal but people just shake their heads. At the prison, Parvana's mother is initially ignored by the Taliban but when they both begin shouting for him to be released, the Taliban beat Parvana's mother and tear up the photograph. 

Parvana and her mother arrive at home, their feet bloodied and raw from the long walk. Her mother collapses on the toshak and weeps herself to sleep. For four days Parvana's mother doesn't get up. The room begins to smell from Ali's unwashed diapers and they finally run out of food. Parvana is sent out by Nooria to buy food. She is able to buy nan at the first stand but when she reaches the vegetable stand, Parvana is attacked by a Talib. After he strikes her, Parvana runs in terror, clutching the nan bread and runs straight into Mrs. Weera. In response to Mrs. Weera's question as to why she's running, she tells her she's running from the Taliban.

Mrs. Weera and Parvana's mother had been in the Afghan Women's Union and she has been meaning to visit to get her help with the women's magazine. She and her granddaughter accompany Parvana home. There Mrs. Weera manages to get Parvana's mother up, washed and dressed. The next morning, Parvana is stunned to learn that they are asking her to pretend to be a boy so that she can go to the market. The plan is that Parvana will cut her hair, change her name to Kaseem and pretend to be their cousin from Jalalabad. And if anyone asks her family where Parvana has gone, they will tell them she is visiting her aunt in Kunduz. Mrs. Weera tells Parvana, "It has to be your decision...We can force you to cut off your hair, but you're still the one who has to go outside and act the part. We know this is a big thing we're asking, but I think you can do it..."

Parvana agrees and with her hair cut short and dressed in Hossain's clothing, she ventures out to the market to buy food for her family. This time she is not harassed and she becomes the "breadwinner" for her family. Mrs. Weera decides to move in with Parvana's family so she and Parvana's mother can work on the women's magazine. But for Parvana, dressing as a boy offers her not only freedom but the unexpected friendship of another "boy".

Discussion

The Breadwinner is the first novel in the series about an Afghan girl named Parvana living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The story is narrated by Parvana who is eleven-years-old. Under Soviet and then Taliban rule, her family has suffered significant loss. Her family, once flourishing and well off, has lost their home, most of the possessions, and their son and brother, Hossain. 

Afghanistan has had a complicated and violent history but especially so in the twentieth century. The country was invaded in 1979 by the Soviets who wished to install a communist, Soviet-backed government. The Afghanis fought this takeover with help from the United States and Pakistan. In 1989, the Soviets had had enough and left the country in a chaotic state that led to another civil war. In the early 1990s, a new Sunni Islamist movement called the Taliban began to develop in the religious schools or madarasas in Pakistan and southern Afghanistan. This movement spread throughout the southern provinces and in 1996, the Taliban captured the city of Kabul, killing the president of Afghanistan and establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. 

In the Islamic state, the Taliban implemented Sharia Law under which women have almost no rights. The Taliban banned girls and women from attending school or studying, they are not allowed to work, they can only leave the house with a male chaperone and if they do so they must be fully covered with a burkha. They are not allowed to show any skin in public. Women cannot be involved in public speaking or politics. The ground floor windows of the home must be covered so that the women inside cannot be seen by passersby. Relatives who advocate for women or who help them break any of these rules are at risk of being punished by the Taliban. Women also cannot access health care provided by men. 

It is in this world that Parvana lives. Author Deborah Ellis effectively portrays to her young readers the devastating effect the civil war and the rise of the Taliban has had on Parvana's family. Although the term "Sharia Law" is not mentioned in the novel, this is what Parvana and her family have lived under for the last year and half.  Her mother, once a writer for a radio station in Kabul, cannot work and must stay home. Nooria and Parvana can no longer attend school. The family, once prosperous, has lost their home and most of their belongings. Their oldest son, Hossain died after stepping on a land mine, and Parvana's father has lost his lower leg during the bombing of the school where he taught. Civil war and the Taliban have impoverished them to the point that they must resort to selling their possessions in the Kabul market.

The Taliban also have a brutal punishment system for crimes based on a strict interpretation of Sharia law. These punishments can include flogging, amputations and executions that are often carried out in public spaces such as stadiums. Ellis portrays this in The Breadwinner when Parvana and her friend Shauzia slip into the stadium believing they are attending a soccer game. Instead they witness the gruesome amputation of  the hands of men accused being theives. The experience is traumatizing for the two girls.

Although no dates are given in the novel Parvana notes that they have lived under Taliban rule for the last year and a half and that her mother and Nooria have not been outside their home during that time. This likely places the novel in the early in the year of 1998. Near the end of the novel, Parvana and her father learn that Mazar-i-Sharif has been overtaken by the Taliban. This event happened in August of 1998.

Parvana and her friend Shauzia realistically portray the reality of life for girls during war and under Taliban rule. The two girls must worry about things that no child should have to worry about. But because they are girls living under Sharia Law, they have no voice and few choices. Parvana is in a better situation because her parents are well educated and they support girls being educated. Nevertheless, Parvana finds her situation stressful and she longs to just be a child. "Parvana was tired. She wanted to sit in a classroom and be bored by a geography lesson. She wanted to be with her friends and talk about homework and games and what to do on school holidays. She didn't want to know any more about death or blood or pain." Parvana sees the starving women in burquas begging and the hungry and sick. "And there was no end to it. This wasn't a summer vacation that would end and the life would get back to normal. This was normal, and Parvana was tired of it."

Shauzia's situaton is difficult too. Her father has died, her brother left for Iran and her mother is sick all the time. Shauzia, her mother and her two little sisters live with her father's parents who do not believe in girls being educated. She tells Parvana that everyone fights in the house. The situation is so difficult that Shauzia is planning to leave Afghanistan and hopes to travel to France. She hopes to leave by the spring when she will have saved enough money. However, Shauzia worries that she may have left it too late as her body is now beginning to change. Leaving her family means leaving them to starve as she is their only means of support. She tells Parvana, "I just have to get out of here. I know that makes me a bad person, but what else can I do? I'll die if I have to stay here!"  Later on Shauzia reveals to Parvana that her grandfather is looking for a husband for her because as a young girl she will "fetch a good bride price and they will have lots of money to live on." Such a view is extremely common in strict Islamic cultures. When Parvana asks how Shauzia's mother will eat, Shauzia's dilemma to save her mother or herself is revealed. Shauzia responds, "What can I do?" Shauzia asked, the question coming out as a wail. "If I stay here and get married, my life will be over. If I leave, maybe I'll have a chance. There must be some place in this world where I can live. Am I wrong to think like this?"

Parvana suggests that Shauzia should accompany Mrs. Weera and her granddaughter when they travel to Pakistan. However, Mrs. Weera suggests that Shauzia is deserting her family just because things are tough but does she really understand the situation Shauzia is in. Mrs. Weera was able to have an education and become a teacher. That future or most any other is no longer open to Shauzia if she stays in Afghanistan. Mrs. Weera seems to have forgotten that Shauzia is a child who has the right to be safe, to make some choices about her future and that includes the right to be educated. It is a dilemma that Parvana, at this time, cannot resolve.

The novel ends with Parvana and her father ready to begin a journey to Mazar which is now under the control of the Taliban, to find her mother, Nooria and Ali. This leads nicely into the second novel in the series, Parvana's Journey.

Book Details:

The Breadwiinner by Deborah Ellis

Toronto: Groundwood Books/House of Ansai Press     2021

176 pp.

Seabird by Michelle Kadarusman

It is 1892. Kartini is the second oldest daughter and one of eight children of her father Sosroningrat, Regent of Jepara, Java, in the Dutch West Indies. Her mother (Ma) is her father's first wife. Kartini sisters include her eldest sister, Lastri who is married and lives on Sumatra Island as well as two younger sisters, Rukmini who is eleven and Kardinah who is ten years old. Her older brothers are Sosroningrat, Boesono and Kartono while her mother has a baby boy named Wito. Kartini's father also has a second wife whom Kartini addresses as Mother. She is from a royal line and outranks Kartini's mother. She has 3 children. While "...Mother is powerful and sophisticated" Kartini's Ma is "uncomplaining and soft-hearted." 

Because Kartini will soon be thirteen-years-old, she has been taken out of school. She is now forbidden to leave the walls of their family compound to attend school, to go to the beach, the market or anywhere. She must remain hiddent at home until she is chosen for marriage. "Javanese girls of high birth are secluded before age thirteen until their wedding day." This allows them to take the title of Raden Ayu when married.

Kartini is summoned by the Lady who admonishes her to "...behave like a proper Javanese girl of your high birth." Nur, the Lady's maid has told that Kartini was chasing her little brothers in the garden. The Lady tells Kartini she must learn to speak softly, take small steps when she walks and that she must learn how to be Raden Ayu. However, Kartini doesn't want to learn this. She was learning many things in school: languages, art, music, and literature. While her mothers continue to uphold their Javanese customs, Kartini believes her father would rather be more modern.

Kartini had a good friend in Lesty whose father, Eduard Claasen was the Colonial Resident until last year when he was recalled to the Netherlands. Kartini has been waiting anxiously for a letter from Lesty. Although she has written many letters to her friend in Amsterdam, she hasn't received a single letter in return. However, this day she spies Ma holding a letter and they meet in Kartini's bedroom. There her mother reveals that she has a letter from Lesty but that she must first give it to the Lady and Kartini's father. It is at this time that Kartini realizes that her letters to Lesty were never mailed.

Kartini decides that she will not wait for her mother to bring up the issue of the letters but will advocate for herself. In the presence of her parents, Kartini tells her father that she can settle her "galloping legs" by working to improve her Dutch language skills through correspondence with her Dutch friend, Lesty. The Lady agrees to this and Kartini's father suggests she can also read his Dutch newspapers and magazines. However, her father reminds Kartini that her reading and writing will be "empty pastimes" and lead her no where. However, Kartini believes that this will not be the case for her.

Kartini reads Lesty's letter and the two begin regular correspondence. In her response, Kartini explains what it is like to be secluded, telling Lesty that although their home is beautiful, it is still a beautiful cage.

It is 1893 and Kartini is in the garden pagoda writing the afternoon play for her siblings to perform. Her brother Kartono comes in and tells Kartini that he has been accepted to the Hogere Burgerschool grammar school in Semarang. After that he will go to the Netherlands to study there. Kartono tries to encourage his sister but Kartini tells him she will never be free, that the only way she will leave their house is when she is married.  Meanwhile a letter from Lesty reveals that she is struggling at school because she has been labelled "Slaver". She doesn't understand why she is tainted with this as slavery is long over and she had no part in it.

Kartini's two maids, Uka and Yanti bring to her a "gift" that has been given to their mother by a pedicab driver. The package was given to him at the harbour to give to two girls at the Regent's home. Uka gives Kartini a card with a symbol printed on it in dark purple ink. Because they do not know who gave the gift nor the intention, Uka and Yanti cannot keep the gift of two combs wrapped in batik cloth. This gift makes Kartini realize that just like her, these village girls are also not free. They cannot accept this gift on the chance it might bring dishonour to their families or even danger. Kartini promises to try to find out about the symbol and what it means and that she will keep it secret.  In another letter to Lesty, Kartini tries to explain to her friend the perspective of the Javanese who were once enslaved by the Dutch and how they still control their land and the governance of the country. She also explains that her family as part of the elite of Javanese society have worked alongside the colonial government.

Kartini meets the wife of the new Colonial Resident, Marie Ovink-Soer. Marie is a writer who has admired the paper that Kartini wroteShe is a writer and Marie is introduced to Kartini as the writer of a paper on local woodcarvers she admired. Marie is entranced by the Javanese percussion music called gamelan and she asks Kartini to explain it further.  Marie read her article in a copy of the De Echo, a Dutch-language magazine for women and asks Kartini what studies she has planned. However, this question is deflected by Kartini's older brother, Boesono who is jealous of her ambitions. She gives Kartini a small book of her short stories for young children as well as a book written by Helen Mercier called Verbonden Schakels. Tante Marie, as she asks Kartini to call her, asks Kartini to consider writing an essay to De Echo but again Boesono tells her that won't be possible. However, Kartini knows in her heart that she wants to be a writer.

Another letter from Lesty reveals her excitement to attend the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in which twenty-eight countries will present their colonial trade.  There will be a Javanese pavillion. In her response, Kartini describes her home, which Lesty has never visited, in more detail. She also mentions the gift to her maids, sister Uka and Yanti and her discovery that the symbol on the card is Chinese and that it is the name of a woman, South Sea Starling, who commands her own merchant ship. South Sea Starling is the granddaughter of the infamous Pirate Queen. She asks Lesty to see if she can find any information about the Pirate Queen.

By 1894, Kartini's restlessness grows as she is determined to gain her freedom and make her own choices about her life. When she attempts to visit her father to press her case, her older brother Boesono tells her that soon she will be married. The possibility of a marriage proposal leads Kartini to confront Ma who tells her that her father has gone to speak to her uncle about it and that she will know soon enough. Kartini's mother is not well but she finds Kartini's determination to do other things before marrying to be foolish. Kartini herself falls sick with bone fever for weeks. When she awakens her sisters tell her that Ma is still sick with the coughing illness. However, Kartini now has no desire to get well. What is the point when she doesn't have the freedom to choose her own life.

It is in 1895 when Kartini's essay is published in the De Echo that her father's pride in this accomplishment motivates him to finally begin to see things from Kartini's perspective.  

Discussion

Seabird is a fictional account of the life and work of Rayden Ajeng Kartini. Born in Jepara, Central Java, Kartini on April 21, 1879, Kartini was able to attend the Europeesche Lagere School because she was part of the Javenese nobility. However before her thirteenth birthday, Kartini was forced into seclusion. As described in the novel, Kartini was determined to continue her education by correspondence with Dutch friends and by reading her father's Dutch magazines. She was determined to effect change for Javanese women, allowing them the opportunity to be educated just like their Javanese brothers, and to choose how they wanted to live their lives.

Canadian author Michelle Kadarusman grew up with an Indonesian father who was fiercely proud that his country had finally achieved independence from their colonizers, the Dutch in 1949.  In this respect, Kadarusman has a connection to the people and culture of Indonesia that makes Seabird a very special novel.

The novel is divided into four parts, labelled by the years 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895. The chapters within these parts include Kartini's narrative as well as the fictional letters between her and her real life  Dutch friend, Lesty Claasen. The novel opens with Kartini beginning pingit, the custom of Javanese seclusion until marriage. Kartini is only twelve-years-old and doesn't want to be considering marriage at this time but wishes to continue her schooling. However, in seclusion she can no longer leave her family's compound for any reason, even to attend school. The loss of furthering her education deeply affeccts Kartini. But also the fact that she cannot go anywhere leads her to wonder what it must be like to be a boy. "What must it feel like, to be a boy? To walk confidently toward the compound gates, knowing they will be opened, at any time, at any age, like magic?"

Kartini struggles to accept the limitations that her culture places on women. These limitations are very evident when Kartini's maids, Uka and Yanti are given a gift of combs by someone. Kartini realizes that village girls like her two maids are no freer than she is. "Never mind that they are servants and I am the edaughter of a regent, we young women, all of us, must tread so carefully, because one foot wrong might set us on fire." The two girls cannot accept the gift openly because they do not know who the sender is and why it was sent.

By 1894, Kartini is growing increasingly restless. While she acknowledges that she has her sisters and her books and is helping her maids solve a mystery, Kartini wants her freedom. She wants her freedom in a way that she knows is not possible: to be able to run to seashore to see the ocean, to visit the capital of Batavia and see the grand buildings, take a steamship to Europe and study with her brother Kartono, to skate on the frozen canals in Holland and to walk to a library and learn about anything that interests her. "I want to be my own person. I do not want to be someone's wife." 

After being very ill for weeks, Kartini gives in to despair. "What is the point of getting up if I can't leave this house? To wander paths that always end in a stone wall? Reading books about places I will never go? Writing essays that will never be published? Keeping correspondence with a friend I will never see again? 

What is the point of a life where your voice is silenced at every turn? A life where you must whisper. Where you are not even allowed to show emotion? A paper doll." 

Eventually though, Kartini recovers her spirit and determination and with the information from Lesty about the Pirate Queen, she is able to help Uka and Yanti in a way that offers them another choice than remaining as maids. 

And Kartini finally confronts her father because she questions "...who has the right to give or take away dreams? Surely no one has the power to do this, even your own parents."  When she approaches her father who is sitting with Ma in her pavillion, Kartini tells him that perhaps Ma had dreams beyond her room, that she dreams of being a writer, and Rukmini dreams of being an artist. Kartini asks her father if he wants his daughters to be on their knees for their entire lives, or to be a second or third wife. She explains that by allowing them an education he has given them glimpse of lives they can never have. Instead they are placed in a cage and expected to forgo any dreams they might have for their lives.

In 1895 Kartini has her essay published on gamelan music and her father, proud of her accomplishment and recognizing her determination, understands things are changing and that they must change too. He tells Kartini and her sisters, "I believe intelligent men...must honor what is past, but also prepare for what lies ahead. And when necessary, make changes to keep in step with the times."  He agrees to allow his daughters to make their own choice to uphold the tradition of Raden Ayu. And he also grants her permission to attend the Governor General's reception as the first step to her freedom.

The novel's title Seabird is a reference to the white seabird which represents freedom. Kartini's family compound contains hanging cages holding birds.  One evening, Kartini sees a blue and yellow colored bird in its bamboo cage and she wants to open it and set it free. "I want to open the cage and set it free. Why should it be a prisoner here, its only purpose to provide us with its morning song. It's a cruel practic and I feel the creature's fate deeply in my gut...I know that if I were to let it out, it would not survive. It knows nothing of living in the wild. It is a fragile thing that is fed and pampered and only kept so we might look at it and think it pretty and delight in its song."  In the bird, Kartini sees a reflection of herself, also caged, her only purpose to be the wife of a man. And like the bird, if she stays in the cage long enough, she too will not be able to live outside her cage, because she will know nothing of the outside world. 

Kartini's struggle for independence mirrors her own country's struggle for independence from their Dutch colonizers. Her friend Lesty reflects the change that is beginning to happen in Europe regarding the colonies. At first Lesty is upset when she is called a "slaver" for being part of the Dutch who lived in Java. In her letter to Kartini, Lesty states that slavery has been abolished and that their maid, Larni was not a slave but a paid servant. However, Kartini responds that while "...slavery was abolished years ago, but that doesn't mean my people are not still enslaved to the Dutch. It is the Dutch who still control our land. And all the rules are governed by them. But it is the javanese locals who must build the roads, bridges, and railroads for which they receive nothing.The local farmers are left with very little for their hard work and must pay high taxes to the Dutch for their crops.The wealth of our land is stripped from us." Although Lesty has written that the two girls are equals, Kartini asks her to consider if this is really true. It is when Lesty attends the International Colonial and Export Exhibit to display colonial trade, that she begins to understand the situation from the Javanese perspective. The Javanese exhibit leads Lesty to explain to her father, "The Javanese are not curiosities to be stared at, like these things behind glass...This show of riches taken from their soil -- it makes me sick to see us claim it as our own when the truth is that it is all stolen." For Lesty, the people taken without their parents or family's permission to the exhibition and displayed is like placing them in a zoo to be viewed. It is a sign that the peoples of Europe are beginning to see the countries they have "colonized" in a different way, not as objects to be used but as human beings with a right to self-determination. This would take many more decades to become the reality.

Seabird is a short novel about an important women's rights advocate that most readers will not be familiar with. Kartini is proof that young girls can and do have a voice and the power to effect change. Kadarusman has included a portrait of Kartini and a short biographical note, About Kartini. There is also a note, About the Dutch Colonial rule in Indonesia, and one on Human Zoos. A map showing the location of the Dutch West Indies as it existed in the late 1890s would have been helpful. Well-written, engaging, with an attractive cover, and a must-read for readers of all ages.

Book Details:

Seabird by Michelle Kadarusman

Toronto: Pajama Press Inc.     2025

199 pp.

A Storm Unleashed by Carol Matas

Twelve-year-old Marianne (Mia) Kaufmann lives in Berlin with her father, Dr. Adam Kaufman who is a Jewish veterinarian who owns his own clinic.  Mia's mother Johanna died from an infection she contracted shortly after Mia was born. Mia's parents met when her father was attending to the animals on her mother's family's farm. This farm is where Mia's mother's parents -- that is Mia's Oma and Opa still live. Ever since her mother's death, Mia's Auntie Lil, who is her mother's sister, has been coming into the city from Monday to Friday to keep house and make lunch and dinners. She returns to the family farm on the weekends to help Opa with the chores.

The novel opens on May 3, 1935.  Mia is sitting on a park bench in the afternoon observing birds. Beside her is her beloved Max, her German shepherd. Mia has just noted a common redstart when a girl in the unifrom of the League of German Girls approaches her and demands that she give Max to her. Quickly Mia puts her notebook into her backpack and bolts down the street with the girl in pursuit. After slipping through the lobby of a nearby apartment building, Mia makes for the train station and boards the train that will take her to Oma and Opa's farm. She needs to get away from Berlin as fast as possible to save Max. Mia remembers that her father gave her Max because of what happened two years earlier in 1933.

At that time, Hitler had been appointed Chancellor only three months ago, and his Nazi party is now in power in Germany. Mia had not attended school that day, April 1st because of a headache and was allowed to accompany her father to his veterinarian clinic. But as they were going downstairs they met her friend, Sam Landenberg whose parents own a sweet shop. Mia decided to go with Sam to his family's sweet shop and while there they hear the breaking of glass coming from Herr Schwatz's hardware store next door. With Herr Landenberg leading the way, Mia and Sam found Herr Schwartz on the ground, bleeding after having been attacked by men in brown uniforms. The men paint Jewish stars on the sweets shop and stand outside with signs urging customers not to buy from Jewish shops. Sam was angry at Mia whom he accuses of not paying attention to what has been happening in Germany. 

As Mia's friend Sam explained, one of the first things Hitler did upon gaining power was to start a trade war with Germany's neighbours, Denmark and Sweden, placing taxes on good coming from those countries. This had affected the Germany economy but Hitler and the Nazis blamed the Jewish population for the poor economy.  While the other customers in the shop believe this will pass, Sam doesn't think so. Mia tries to go back to her books and her birds but two weeks later, something else happened.

It was her father's birthday. Mia, her Auntie Lil and her friends, Frieda Liebermann and Sam bake a lemon cake for her father but instead of her friends being allowed to stay, Auntie Lil asks them to leave. On that day her father arrives home with a German shepherd puppy whom Mia names Max. Mia began to train Max immediately and soon she and Max were inseperable.

Mia and Max arrive at Oma and Opa's farm which was built in 1790. The farm consists of a large, two-storey farmhouse, "...a large barn, a pig shed, a chicken coop surrounded by fencing to keep out the foxes and  a stable for the horses. There is also a granary and a hay shed." Mia tells Oma and Opa what happened and they immediately phone her home to let Auntie Lil know what has happened. Mia questions Oma as to whether she should have stood up to the Nazi girl, but Oma tells her that the time was during the election but the people chose differently. Opa sends Mia out to tend to the chickens and afterwards she takes Bertha out for a ride and then brushes the horse down. When Mia returns to the farmhouse, her father and Auntie Lil have arrived. Although Mia feels frightened to return to their home in Berlin, her father suggests that she simply avoid the park where she encountered the Nazi girl.

Mia returns to her public school. Things are very different with the Nazis in power: they have passed the Law Against Overcrowding which has resulted in many Jewish students leaving the public schools to attend Jewish only schools. Mia once had the highest marks in the class, was asked to help out by the teachers and had a wide circle of friends, but that isn't the case anymore. Her teacher, Frau Koch is a fanatic Nazi and begins every class by having Mia read aloud. This is followed by her humiliating Mia in front of her classmates while teaching the students Nazi propaganda and lies. She tells the class that although Mia is the classic Aryan beauty with her blond hair, blue eyes and round head, she has Jewish filth polluting her blood. Mia begs Rachel, the only other Jewish student in her class not to tell her father because she doesn't want her father to know either.

After school that day, Sam reveals that his family is fleeing to France and that Herr Schwarz and his family are also leaving as the Nazis have taken over their store. On Saturday with Sam now gone, Mia waits for her father for lunch. However when he doesn't show, Mia decides to visit his clinic. At the clinic, Mia is told by a strange man named Herr Fischer that her father is at the dog-training school and will be there all afternoon. Frau Weber, his receptionist, takes Mia to the school in her uncle's luxury car.

At the dog-training school which trains police dogs, Mia is shocked to see her father give the Nazi salute and call one of the men a name. He has her demonstrate teaching a skill in front of an SS officer. When they are at home later, Mia's father tells her that now she is expected to go to the dog-training school every Saturday to help train the dogs. While Mia is excited at this prospect, she is also upset at her father for not telling her about the school. He admits he doesn't know why the training center is so secret but he does reveal that the only reason he has been allowed to keep his clinic and train the dogs is because of his war service.

The next day Mia attends a training session and she watches as the men train the dogs to "bring down". Back at home, Mian and her father further discuss training dogs but also if people can be trained to act and think a certain way.

At school on Monday morning, Frau Koch continues indoctrinating the students about race using Mia as an example and telling a story which she insists proves that some people are "vermin". When Mia attempts to counter her propaganda, she is made to sit in the hallway the rest of the day. This upsets Mia so much that when she is climbing trees with Frieda she wants to let go and deliberately hurt herself. This shocks Frieda who comforts Mia and encourages her not to think this way. The two girls quickly leave the park with Max and go to Frieda's home to avoid the Nazi girl. There they meet Frieda's mother, Dr. Lieberman who was a gynecologist at the Berlin hospital but who now is only allowed to work privately as a midwife. Frieda's father, once a professor of literature now teaches at one of the Jewish schools. Frieda helps Mia get home safely with Max without encountering the Nazi girl.

The night Mia's father talks to her about what happened that day when she was with Frieda. It is at this point that Mia finally tells her father what is happening at the school. This leads to a family meeting at Opa and Oma's farm and Mia's father, grandparents and her Auntie Lil decide that they will tell the school that Mia has suddenly fallen ill with scarlet fever. Since it is almost the end of the school year, she will be recovering at the family farm. It is decided that after the summer, Mia will begin attending Frieda's Jewish school. Despite the sign saying Jews are not welcome in the farming community, Mia's father will come to visit the farm every Sunday. While on the farm, Mia begins training Max to "bring down". It is a skill that will save her and Frieda a few weeks later.

Mia returns to Berlin in August to start at the Jewish school. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the situation for Jews in Berlin is escalating. Mia's family barely escapes being attacked after Hitler's Storm Troopers target a restaurant and Frieda's father is viciously assaulted. It is Frieda and Mia who come up with a brilliant plan that will save both their families and offer them a chance at a new life. But it will require both sacrifice and separation.

Discussion

A Storm Unleashed is a another well-crafted historical fiction novel written by Canadian author Carol Matas. This thoughtful novel explores the events in prewar Germany as it gradually comes under complete control by the Nazis and their dictator Adolf Hitler. 

Carol Matas explains in her Author's Note how she came to write about Hitler's dog army. "...it was an accidental discovery -- while researching another book about the Holocaust I came across an article on Hitler's army of 200,000 dogs. The largest dog-training school was at Grunheide, just outside of Berlin. They trained 2000 dogs at a time. The school pretended to be a training facility for police dogs so that they would not overtly break the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which had imposed a limit of 100,000 dogs on Germany for military purposes. K-9 army units were trained at Grunheide and scattered throughout police units so as not to arouse suspicion." As Matas points out in her note, these dogs are present in almost all books and movies about the Holocaust. In those movies, the Nazi dogs are always shown as very vicious and invoking deep fear. Matas writes that "...without these dogs, the roundups of Jewish people, the train evacuations, even keeping order in the concentrations camps, would not have been possible..." 

The novel is set in prewar Berlin, in the mid 1930's as Hitler begins to establish his grip on Germany. 1935 was a critical year for Hitler as this was the year Hitler began to rearm Germany. He established the Luftwaffe and reintroduced conscription to bring the German army up to half a million men - both breaking the Treaty of Versailles.  Although she states in her Author's Note that she leaves the discussion of how Hitler was able to come to power in Germany, Matas does use several characters to discuss how Hitler has come to power and why people believe what he is telling them. 

At the beginning of the novel, Mia is focused on her books, training Max and her bird watching. Her friend Sam tells Mia, who he considers as not having kept up on the situation in Germany, that Hitler began targeting allies with tariffs on their goods, and when the economy began to slow, he began blaming the Jewish population. Mia believes that because she hasn't been paying attention, she didn't know what to do when she was confronted by the Nazi girl who wanted to take her dog. This event changes Mia, because it forces her to begin thinking about what is happening in Germany.

Mia questions why people elected Hitler and what they were thinking. Her Oma explains, "They weren't really thinking at all...They were feeling something. They were feeling mad and wanted someone to fix everything."  At school, her fanatical teacher Frau Koch teaches the lie that "the Treaty of Versailles was used against Germany, and that Germany was not responsible for the war." which Mia discovers through her own research is simply not true.

As Hitler's control over Germany deepens and his agenda against the Jewish people becomes more organized, Mia believes they should stay and fight but Sam explains why many Jewish people are leaving. "There is no court to turn to because all the judges who stood for the law rather than for Hitler are gone -- fired or resigned or working for the Nazis now. There's no lawyer to hire because all the lawyers who believed in the real laws, not Hitler's laws, are gone -- fired or resigned or working for the Nazis. There's no newspaper that will uncover this story and tell it to its readers because the only papers that are allowed to publish are those that print Nazi propaganda.  So we stay and do what?"

As Mia considers the training happening at the school, she begins to ask questions about whether dogs can be trained to be bad dogs and this leads her to question if people can be trained to bad. Her father tells her that it might be possible to train someone to treat people badly but that a way to tell if something is wrong is that if you don't want to be treated a certain way do not do that to others. This leads Mia to consider the Nazi girl who wants to steal her dog, Max. "Did she choose to believe in the Nazis and their hatred of Jews? Did she choose to be a bully and take what she wanted? Or has she been trained? By her parents? By her classmates? By the newspapers and all the horrible things they print? By teachers like Frau Koch, who every day drums into our heads how noble Nazis are and how vicious Jews are?" Mia considers that if people are similar to dogs and can be trained to believe something. She notes that every day at school they "...are forced to repeat how great Hitler is, how great the Nazis are -- and how terrible the Jews are. When do people stop repeating this and start believing it?"

Once Mia is out of the public school and being taught at her grandparents by her Auntie Lil she comes to realize just  how much propaganda they are being fed at school instead of what really happened in history. "It is an odd feeling knowing a large portion of the country believes things that are simply not true. I can't help but wonder if I also believe things that aren't true. If so, how would I know?" Auntie Lil explains that "People who are curious and look at all sides of an issue are less likely to turn into lemmings who would follow anyone and do anything. People like the Nazis are swept up in a fever, a fervour, a blind obedience."  Mia sees just how far this fervour goes when she and her family and friends are attacked at a restaurant.

The novel also considers just how far one should go in terms of cooperation with evil, to simply protect oneself and those dear to them. Mia learns that two of her Jewish classmates are terrified of Max because it was a German shepherd dog who helped in the arrest of their father who was eventually murdered. This leads her to confront her father and he reveals that he has learned that Hitler is rebuilding Germany's military, likely in preparation for war. 

Matas includes two interesting scenes in her novel. The first is a series of dreams that Mia has involving her dead mother who advises her to trust her father. These two dreams are both puzzling but comforting to Mia. The other interesting scene is her discussion with a rabbi regarding race and how the Nazis have twisted their view of the human race to exclude certain people like the Jews so they can be murdered.

A Storm Unleashed, the title of which is a reference to Hitler training and unleashing trained and vicious army dogs against the German Jews, is well-written and will appeal to young readers who enjoy animal stories and historical fiction. 

When reading this novel it's hard not to think about the parallels between what happened in post-World War I Germany and what is currently happening south of the border in the United States. It's interesting to see how there is an economy to the breakdown of democratic rule. As did Germany in 1933, the United States has also legitimately elected a leader who has promised to make the country prosperous again using an agenda that has been previously described and promoted. It includes focusing the blame on a specific group (illegal immigrants) for many of the country's complex problems, targeting that group with mass roundups, incarceration and no due process, targeting political opponents, the judiciary who may rule against policies and the media who may speak out against them. It includes threatening to annex weaker countries (Panama, Greenland, and Canada), promoting falsehoods about trade, breaking existing treaty agreements and initiating a punishing tariff war with its most faithful allies.  A Storm Unleashed asks young readers to consider how a people can subscribe to ideologies and policies that in the end can have far-reaching national and global effects. It is a question well worth considering and this short novel offers readers that opportunity.

Book Details:

A Storm Unleashed by Carol Matas

Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd.      2025

236 pp.

The Voyage That Changed The World by Thekla Priebst

The Voyage That Changed The World tells  the remarkable story of the first crew to sail around the world.

The story begins with a spice called cloves or cengkih. Hundreds of years ago this spice grew only on five islands in the Moluccas, an archipelego located in the Indian Ocean. The Moluccas were known as "the Spice Islands". There, on five islands grew cloves. They were used to give food a distinctive flavour and also to preserve food and in medicines. They grow on tall trees, beginning as small buds. These buds are carefully picked by hand and dried. As they dry they turn from green to brown and the clove buds give off a very distinctive smell, "both sharp and sweet at the same time." 

Cloves along with many other spices eventually made their way to Europe via several maritime trade routes that tracked through East Asia, "through the islands of Indonesia, around India to the Middle East, where they crossed the Mediterraneean to reach the heart of Europe."  There were routes across land too, through Alexandria to Tunisia and on to Genoa, Italy.

Spices had been traded for millennia by "Greek, Roman, Arab, Persian, Indian, Javanese, Malay, and Chinese merchants along natural trade routes that span half the globe."  But in the late fifteenth century, spices became very precious and Europeans decide to find a direct route to the Spice Islands. The two countries most determined to claim the Spice Islands are Spain and Portugal and they choose different routes to explore. Portugal travels east reaching the southern tip of Africa (now called the Cape of Good Hope) in 1488. Spain travels west with Christopher Columbus claiming he had reached India, but actually landing in the Americas in 1492.  

In an attempt to resolve things, the two countries sign the Treaty of Tordesillas. All territories to the west of an imaginary line from the North Pole to the South Pole belong to Spain, while those to the east are claimed by Portugal.  The Portuguese win the race to the Spice Islands with Vasco da Gama reaching India in 1498 and Portuguese gaining control of the city of Malacca in 1511. But the question remains: Where is the dividing line between the poles on this side of the world? Who do the Spice Islands "belong" to?

In September 1519, King Carlos I (also known as Charles V Holy Roman Emperor) approves a Spanish expedition consisting of five ships to "find a passage for Spain through the new continent".  It is led by Fernao de Magalhaes (Ferdinand Magellan), a Portuguese navigator who had travelled twice to India. Among those accompanying Magellan are Juan Sebastian Elcano who is a boatswainand Enrique of Malacca, an interpreter and also Magellan's slave. Magellan as the Captain-General of the expedition is in charge of five ships: San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, Santiago, and Trinidad. It is an expedition that will ultimately reach the present day Philippines and . But it will be considered a failure by the Spanish king because Spain cannot lay claim to the Spice Islands. Magellan's calculations have determined that they have crossed the Treaty of Tordesillas line.  The Moluccas lie in territory claimed by the Portuguese! 

An attempt to form alliances and form trade agreements for Spain within the Philippine archipelago go badly when some of the indigenous peoples on the islands do like the Europeans. The ensuing conflict has devastating consequences for Magellan the remaining crew of his expedition.

Discussion

The Voyage That Changed The World is an engaging and informative account of the expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan to find a route to the Spice Islands. Magellan was generally considered to be the first to circumnavigate the globe but in fact that is not considered likely not to be true. He was murdered after attacking the Indigenous peoples on Cebu and never completed his voyage.

Author Thekla Priebst first presents the background story behind the desire to find a route to East Asia - spices! The driving force was the desire of Europeans to obtain the spices directly rather than through traders who brought the spices to Europe. At that time, knowledge of far off lands was very limited and the desire to explore was also a factor. From this point on, the focus is on the Magellan expedition and the main players in the expedition, the organization of the ships and crew are well explained. 

Besides telling the story of Magellan's expedition, Priebst also provides her readers with a wealth of information about topics related to the expedition. For example, there are separate features throughout the book on the various indigenous peoples Magellan and his crew encounterd: the Tupinabi on the eastern coast of Brazil, the Tehuelche of Patagonia, the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, Polynesian seafarers, and the CHamoru of the Marianas.

Throughout this account, the author explains how the Europeans of the late fifteenth century viewed their world and their place in it. The Doctrine of Discovery was an important part of this view - it was the belief that explorers could claim as their own, land that was already inhabited by people with their own language and culture. This belief would have far-reaching consequences for the indigenous peoples the Europeans encountered, consequences that are still felt today.

European explorers like Magellan did not respect the people they encountered. For example, Magellan wanted to bring back to Spain two Tehuelche men to prove they actually existed. However the Tehuelche were not willing to leave their land and so Magellan tricked them into boarding his ship and then imprisoned them. These men did not survive the journey to Spain. As Priebst writes, "...they saw the people they were encountering as items of interest rather than fellow human beings."

It was Magellan's attempts to create an alliance with the King of Cebu in April of 1521 that led to his murder. On a neighbouring island of Mactan, Datu Lapulapu rebelled against the Europeans and their influence. In an attempt to punish Lapulapu, Magellan attacked Mactan, believing he could easily subdue them, only to be killed during the battle on April 27, 1521.

For centuries Magellan was believed to have been the first to circumnavigate the globe however, historians now belief that honor may actually go to his slave and interpreter, Enrique. Magellan bought Enrique in 1511 and on Magellan's voyage, he travelled far enough to return to the land where his native language was spoken. 

The Voyage That Changed The World is filled with colourful and informative artwork, created digitally, and includes maps, charts and other graphics. Among the most compelling are two graphics whosing the number of men who began the expedition (240) and the number of surviving sailors who made it home to Spain (18). 

For those interested in the age of explorers, The Voyage That Changed The World is a must read! 

Image credit: Molucca map https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maluku_Islands_en.png

Book Details:

The Voyage That Changed The World by Thekla Priebst
Beverly, MA:  Wide Eye Editions     2025

79 pp.