The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker

Wendy loved hunting through hills and gullies for unusual things like rocks, birds, burrs and bird feathers. She also loved to take pictures of her finds with her camera.

During a class field trip to the badlands near her home in Alberta, twelve-year-old Wendy discovered a piece of fossilized coral.  Her teacher explained that "Millions of years ago, this land was the Western Interior Seaway - an underwater world teeming with marine life." 

Wendy was intrigued by the information a fossil could provide about the past and so she began hunting for fossils in earnst. Her favourite place to hunt for fossils was Devil's Coulee, part of the badlands. Soon she was finding many fossils. 

When she was seventeen, Wendy made an rare find - a fossilized dinosaur eggshell. This discovery brought paleontologists to Devil's Coulee to explore for more fossils and they found them: more fossilized dinosaur eggs from Hypacrosaurus. Even more  important was the discovery of dinosaur embryos in the fossilized eggs!

These discoveries led to Wendy working at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology and traveling the world to find fossils in other countries, including Greenland and Mongolia.

Wendy continued to hunt for fossils in Alberta, uncovering the fossil of a unique horned dinosaur. Because the rest of the fossilized remains of the dinosaur were buried deep, it took four years to excavate and extract the bones. Paleontologists were able to determine that this was the remains of a new horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The dinosaur was named after Wendy, Wendiceratops pinhorensis. Meanwhile, Wendy continues to find fossils.

Discussion

Wendy Sloboda is a Canadian fossil hunter who has made many significant fossil discoveries over the past few decades that have led to a great understanding of dinosaurs. Born in Warner, Alberta, Sloboda found her first significant fossil in 1987 as a teenager. This discovery was of fossil eggshells, as described in Becker's picture book that led scientists to discover several nests of duck-billed dinosaurs called hadrosaurs. Other notable finds include a fossilized turtle containing eggs, the footprint of a new ichnospecies of dinosaur, as well as her discovery of a new species of horned dinosaur which was named in her honour.

Becker's detailed account of Slobada's contributions to paleontology includes some information on the types of animals that populated the Western Interior Seaway, and explanations as to why the discovery of the  Hypacrosaurus embryos was so significant. Becker's research for the book included interviewing Wendy Sloboda.

Telling Wendy Sloboda's story in picture book format does make her contributions accessible to younger readers but photographs of locations and of Wendy would have been nice additions to the book. A map showing Wendy's hometown, the location of the Alberta badlands (including some photographs of this unusual landform) her discoveries would also be helpful. Sandra Dumais' colourful digital illustrations round out the story.

Included in the back matter are several pages with information about the real Wendy, How to Be a Fossil Hunter, Alberta's Amazing Bone Beds (a picture of the Alberta badlands would have done nicely here), How Are Fossils Formed?, About Wendiceratops, a Glossary and where to find more information.

The Fossil Whisperer will help inspire a new generation of girls to consider geology and paleontology as potential career options. Wendy Sloboda's life demonstrates that a childhood interest can develop into a life-long career.

Book Details:

The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker
Toronto: Kids Can Press      2022

Alone: the journeys of three young refugees by Paul Tom

In Alone, readers will explore the real-life stories of three young refugees as they journey alone to the safety of another country. 

Ashfin is thirteen-years-old and lives in Iran. In the summer he and his family often slept on the roof of their house because it was so hot. While his country has been at war, it is only now that it has come to his city. Now instead of spending nights on the roof, they hide in basement with the lights off. Afshin can't wait to become a soldier as he feels he is a superhero. War seems exciting to him. But his parents have other ideas: they decide to send him away to Canada. 

Thirteen-year-old Alain lives in Bujumbura, Burundi with his two older brothers, Igor and Camille and his mother who is a businesswoman. His father is often away as he is in the army.  One day Alain learns that his father has been arrested and is being questioned by the authorities. His brothers and his mother are deeply frightened. They begin to get threatening phone calls and letters, and their house is watched at night by men on motorcycles. So Alain's family decides to flee.

Sixteen-year-old Patricia lived with her mother in a shipping container after her father abandoned them. Patricia wasn't able to attend school because she had to work with her mother so they could make enough money to be able to eat. Eventually, she was sent to live with her father's sister but when her parents reconciled she returned to live with them.

When she turned sixteen Patricia signed up to play softball and found herself attracted to another girl on the team. Eventually her secret comes out, horrifying her parents. If other people find out, Patricia could go to jail and her family will be persecuted. So as the news spreads, her parents make arrangements for Patricia to travel to New York to stay with her uncle for a supposed "softball tournament". However, this is a one-way trip.

For all three young people, their journeys will be complicated and dangerous. They will suffer loneliness, separation and poverty but like many refugees, they will also work hard, and persevere. 

Discussion

Alone is poignant account of three young refugees who flee their homelands because of war or persecution. Their stories are told in five short chapters, Chapter 1 Leaving Everything Behind, Chapter 2 Saying Goodbye, Chapter 3 It Isn't Over Yet, Chapter 4 Mama, Where Are You, and Chapter 5 Hope For Tomorrow. Author Paul Tom was born to Cambodian refugees in camp in Thailand. Now a Montreal-based director, author, video editor and curator of museum video exhibitions, Alone is Paul Tom's first book. 

Although their circumstances are different, all three refugees, Afshin, Alain and Patricia face uncertainty over their future as they travel to a strange country. All three endure the loneliness of separation from their parents, in particular their mothers. This is highlighted in "Chapter 4 Mama, Where Are You?"  Afshin must watch his Iranian classmates at lunch eat the food their mothers make for them.  Alain whose mother has died in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, the loss is especially keen. He wakes up crying one morning. "But I'm tired of being strong all the time. I'm broken. Mama is gone forever. And I miss her so much." In Canada, talking on the phone to her mother reminds Patricia of the long distance between them and how much she misses her mother. "I was prepared for many things when I came here. But not for a life without her." Patricia states that "I don't realize that this is the last time I will feel the enveloping weight of her love." 

All three experience setbacks once they arrive in the United States or Canada. They feel the loneliness and separation from those they left behind keenly: When Afshin is invited to a classmate's home for dinner, the smell of ghormeh sabzi is overwhelming. "The smell brings back happy memories. I see familiar faces and I hear laughter, the sounds of children playing and adults talking loudly, carefree. I take a bite. The world stops. I'm caught under a wave of emotions. My throat tightens. I start to tremble. It's so intense that I burst into tears. At that moment, I can feel every kilometer separating me from my childhood and the people I love."  For Alain, the accomplishment of graduating high school is painful. "At the high school graduation ceremony, the other students are surrounded by their parents and loved ones. I pretend to look for my parents in the room. I know they're not here." The cover of Alone effectively portrays this sense of loss and of separation.

Alone highlights the experiences of three real-life young refugees who fled their countries, leaving behind family, friends and their culture, in the hopes of being able to live in peace, safety and dignity. Tom concludes Alone by letting his readers know what has become of all three refugees after being accepted into Canada. The short text and digitally created illustrations help those of us who live in countries receiving refugees, to empathize and understand, to be more accepting and to put ourselves in their situations. Few want to be a refugee, and most refugees would love to return home to their families and their countries. Alone helps us to understand and to empathize. This biography is an adaptation of the documentary film, Seuls.

Book Details:

Alone by Paul Tom
Toronto: Groundwood Books  2022
143 pp.

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying

Hungry Ghost is a touching graphic novel about one girl's journey out of an eating disorder, towards self-acceptance, self-love and healing. 

For as long as Valerie Chu can remember, her mother has watched what she eats. She remembers the birthday party where she first met Jordan, her best friend and where she was told to taste and not eat. Valerie has always wanted to be "gwai" or good or obedient.

But at school, although Val gets  good marks, she forces herself to throw up in the school washroom. To Val, it's something she has to do to be pretty. Val's mother reaffirms this belief when she remarks how fat her friend is when she sees Val walking home with Jordan. Val finds it comforting to "get rid" of the food she eats at family dinners. She also spends a lot of time online looking at other people's bodies and comparing them to hers.

When Val, Jordan and their friend Allan hang out together, Val tells them that her father is planning a trip to Base Camp 1 at Mount Everest. During this time with her friends, Val finds herself wishing that she and Allan were together. When they order burgers at the Fender Bender, Val is glad she purged earlier in the night, after dinner at home. But the time with her friends is stressful for Val who believes that in order to be liked by boys she has to be thin

Lunar New Year celebrations turn out to be very challenging for Val, with extended family visiting to celebrate. Val gets mixed messages: Auntie Shelby warns her not to get fat, while Auntie Nikki tells her she's beautiful. Val struggles with her need to purge after eating. When her mother serves pig trotters and dumplings, Val is conflicted over whether she should eat.

At a family meeting prior to his trip to Everest, Val's father briefs them on what to do if he doesn't survive. This is something he does frequently, as he loves to embark on challenging adventures.

As her father embarks on his trip, Val along with Jordan and their classmates travel to Paris, France. It's her first trip away from home, with friends and with a boy - Allan whom she is crushing on. For Val, Paris is the most romantic city in the world, and who knows what will happen between her and Allan? At dinner, Mrs. Owens encourages the students to order in French but Val notices the menu has lots of carbs and wonders how the French women stay so thin. Jordan doesn't care and Allan never noticed.

Dinner creates more stress as Val can't use a bathroom right away to purge. Eventually she becomes so distraught over eating dinner that even a moment alone with Allan in the art museum can't stop her from rushing to the bathroom to purge. Sensing Val is distressed about something, Jordan takes her on a impromptu exploration of the city, looking at fashion and eating delicious crepes. But when Val posts a picture of herself eating the crepe on Instagram, her mother responds critically.

Val's Paris trip is cut short when she is awoken during the night to learn that her father's plane on the way to Everest has crashed. She returns home to San Jose to find her mother unable to cope and mostly sleeping. However, after the funeral Val's mother continues to monitor her eating and calories. 

But coping with her father's death and her mother's control are not all Val must contend with. When she learns that her friend Allan has chosen Jordan over her, Val is forced to confront her own feelings about her body and how she views others. She must also decide whether she is going to live life on her own terms or those her of her mother.

Discussion

Hungry Ghost was written by Victoria Ying, a young writer who herself has struggled with an eating disorder and now considers herself fully recovered. In her Afterword, Ying writes, 

"When you have an eating disorder, all you can think about is food. First in the eating of it, and then in the guilt around having eaten it. It's an exhausting state of being.
I freed myself by letting go of any expectation for my body to fit the cultural ideal. I chose to be free, and I've never been happier."

In Hungry Ghost, Valerie, believes that being thin will make her happy. This is something she has learned from her mother who often makes comments about Val's friend, Jordan who has a full figure. Val thinks, "Poor Jordan. She's my favorite person in the whole world, but a football player wouldn't look at her twice." 

For Val, looking pretty takes work...and pain and sacrifice. Keeping herself thin is equated with "being good". She does this by eating and then purging, an eating disorder known as bulimia. Val can appear to eat normally but purges afterwards, so she looks normal to her friends and family. She describes it as making her feel "warm, comforted." Her purging allows Val to hide her eating disorder and blend in. 

While Val's mother treats her as though she doesn't think about what she's eating, in fact, it becomes apparent that this is all Val is thinking about. Her brief time in Paris sees her quickly notice the bodies of the French women there,  in contrast to her classmates who are busy enjoying the sights and sounds of Paris. After eating, Val becomes consumed with the task of finding a washroom to purge the calories she just consumed. However, at the same time, Val is beginning to notice that her friend Jordan, is a very happy person despite having a different body shape -despite being what her mother labels as "fat". For the first time Val asks herself, "Why am I so afraid? Maybe it doesn't take being thin to be....happy."

Her father's death forces Val to re-evaluate her own life. Val's father lived life on his own terms without any regrets. However, Val feels like she's "lived like a prisoner to my body." She believes her father would be disappointed in her. She wonders "Will people care that much about my body when I die? Am I my body?...How can this thing, this thing that I hate -- how could anyone care about it that much?"

The crisis point comes when Jordan visits Val after returning home from the Paris trip and reveals that she and Allan kissed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Shocked, Val asks Jordan why Allan would choose her, since she is not pretty and she's fat. Jordan can't believe that her best friend sees her as "fat and ugly" and she leaves. Later on, at dinner in a hotel, Val admits to her mother that she purges but the only thing that matter sto her mother is that Val is thin. At this point though, Val has made huge strides because she has admitted to her mother that she is sick.

It is Val's Aunt Nikki who helps set her on the path to recovery. She explains that although Val's mother loves her in the best way she knows how, it might  not be enough. Aunt Nikki advises that Val will have to find her own way to be happy. To that end, Val apologizes to Jordan and courageously reveals her illness to her best friend. This is a wonderful act of courage, as those with eating disorders often experience profound guilt and shame. Val tells Jordan that she believed that a person has to be thin to be happy but now realizes that she was self-centered and understands that being happy with who you are is the best way. With counselling and the decision to attend the school she wants instead of staying home with her mother, Val begins to heal and to have some self-acceptance. It is her choice to get better.

Ying has written a truly touching and deeply emotional story that promises to encourage those who are struggling with an eating disorder - and to offer them the hope that healing is possible. Although the novel makes it sound like a few counselling sessions and some deep thinking can cure an eating disorder, Hungry Ghost does get across the important message that first steps include acknowledging their illness,  and making the decision to seek help - sometimes referred to as taking ownership of their illness.  Val did all of this and although we don't know the end of the story, the novel does end on a very positive and hopeful tone.

Congratulations to Victoria Ying for writing such a difficult story. She too reflects the courage and determination of her character Valerie Chu. 

Book Details:

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying
New York: First Second    2023

200 pp.

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin

Grand Canyon is an exquisitely illustrated picture book about the formation of this amazing landform located in the United States.

The Grand Canyon is located in the state of Arizona and forms the major feature of the Grand Canyon National Park. It is one of the largest canyons in the world, an astonishing two hundred seventy-seven miles long and more than a mile deep.  The climate in the canyon varies from top to bottom, meaning there are different plants and animals as well.

The warmest part of the canyon is the Inner Gorge which is at the very bottom. Water is brought into the Inner Gorge by creeks, giving life to many different species. These creeks run into the Colorado River which runs the entire length of the canyon. This river has eroded through the various layers of rocks for over five million years.

The Colorado River is currently eroding into the very bottom rocks of the canyon, the Vishnu Basement Formation which is at least 1.64 Billion years old.

Walking up out of the canyon, means passing younger and younger rocks. From the basement layer, a hiker will first encounter the rocks of the Grand Canyon Supergroup (1.2 billion years old), the the Bright Angel Shale containing trilobite fossils when the area was covered by a sea. 

The Redwall Limestone comes next, overlain by the Hermit formation which formed 280  million years ago when giant dragonflies filled the sky and fish, amphibians and reptiles had evolved. the sea had treated but rivers were an important part of the landscape.

Above the Hermit Formation is the Cocinino Sandstone, formed 275 million years ago when the area was filled with sand dunes. The Cocinino Sandstone is overlain by the Toroweap Formation then capped by the Kaibab Formation which was deposited when the ocean once again covered this area 270 million years ago. Bryozoans, sponges and corals were a part of this diverse ecosystem, along with trilobites, nautiloids and sharks. 

As the hiker and his daughter climb through these different rock formations, the present-day ecosystem of the canyon also changes, offering a wide range of climates and habitats to experience.

Discussion

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin is a beautifully illustrated book that offers readers information about the geology, climate and wildlife of the Grand Canyon. This is done through the story of a young girl and her father as they walk the South Kaibab Trail up to the South Rim of the canyon.

To help readers become oriented, Chin offers two cross-sections at the beginning of the book: the ecological communities in Grand Canyon which highlights the boreal forest for example, and the Rock Layers in Grand Canyon which identifies the different rock formations and their ages. As the hikers make their way along the trail they also journey through geologic time from the oldest formation to younger and younger rocks. Chin explains what the Grand Canyon area was like during this time by highlighting fossils or geologic features they see in the rocks. For example  in the Grand Canyon Supergroup he writes that hikers "may find ripple marks preserved in the stone. Clues like these tell us what this place was like when the rock formed. They are like windows...." A cutout showing the ripple entices the reader to turn the page and view an illustration of what that vast sea with ripples on the tidal flat might have looked like 1.2 billion years ago! 

Following each geological period are colourful picture panels showing the ecological community the hikers experience as they climb past the rocks in the canyon. For example, as the hikers encounter the Redwall Limestone formed 340 million years ago from a vast sea, they see the California condor, an endangered vulture that nests in the caves of this rock formation. Chin also includes native species found in each of the ecological communities as well as how some geologic processes such as erosion, occur. 

Grand Canyon is rich in detail and facts, all presented in a wonderfully engaging way. There is a beautiful two-page panorama view of the Grand Canyon and at the back of the book there are numerous notes on the Grand Canyon. These include Human History of the canyon, Grand Canyon Ecology, Grand Canyon Geology which informs on sedimentary rocks and fossils, How Canyons Are Formed, The Colorado River, Grand Mystery which presents a short geologic history of the canyon area. A Note From The Author also explains his interest in geology and rocks, and how the illustrations for the book were designed based on his research. The illustrations were rendered with pen and ink, watercolour and gouache. There is a beautiful generalized cross-section of the Grand Canyon at the back of the book. Chin has also included a list of selected sources in the back matter.

Anyone who has marveled at the Grand Canyon and wishes to know more, will enjoy Jason Chin's masterpiece picture book Grand Canyon.

Book Details:

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
New York: Roaring Brook Press   2017

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

Eleven-year-old Ha lives with her mother and her brothers Quang and Khoi in Alabama. They fled their home country of Vietnam, without her father who was missing in action, something her mother won't talk about. Ha's middle brother, Vu Lee lives in San Francisco.

Ha is in grade six and has a best friend, Pam who wants to celebrate their birthdays together. She decides they will celebrate this on Ha's birth date with a special party.

At a family meeting, Ha's mother announces that she wants to move the family to Texas where Vietnamese seem to have more opportunities. Ha's mother wants this because she hopes this will take some of the responsibility away from Ha's older brother Quang who is working as a mechanic and so that Khoi can study to become an animal doctor. She also doesn't like that Pam's mother pays for Ha when the two girls do things together.

A first family vote has the three children Quang, Khoi and Ha vote to stay in Alabama. But a second vote sees Khoi side with their mother, creating a tie. Ha knows that her mother is scheming and will bring Vu Lee into the vote. He does return home and the family decides to move to Texas. They begin packing but Ha's mother delays their travel to Texas so Ha can have her day-of-birth party with Pam. After the party and roller skating, Ha, her mother and Khoi leave. 

In her new school in Texas, no one remembers Ha's name and she finds herself the only Asian student. Her mother works in a radio factory, while Vu Lee works in a bakery as well as at a second job finishing wood. They live in a pay-by-week rental. Eventually, Ha and her family move into an apartment. They have no furniture or beds. Starting over is hard, and for Ha this is just the beginning of many more changes.

Discussion

Thanhha Lai has crafted a realistic portrayal of a Vietnamese family's struggles to settle in 1977 America. The Vietnam War, which the Americans and South Vietnamese lost, has only been over for two years. Initially Ha's family, having fled Vietnam without her father, had settled in Alabama. However, Ha's mother has heard there is a larger Vietnamese community in Texas along with better job opportunities. In the beginning, life seems no better for Ha in Texas.

When the family moves into their first apartment they have very little - five boxes and four pillowcases. But her mother tells them to "...lengthen your gaze, toward where land meets cloud."  All Ha wants though, is an end to refugee living. She is in her third Grade Six class in the past month and she misses evenings with her mother who works late. Added to this, Ha has her first menstrual period at school despite some help by her teacher, she is left waiting on a bench for over two hours for her bus. 

Although she meets a few friend, Diggy, who is Puerto Rican, she knows this friendship will likely not survive their eventual move to a house. When Ha tells her mother about things that happen at school, her mother  panics, trying to protect her only daughter by having Ha presented at a Buddhist temple where she is scrutinized by Vietnamese mothers looking for prospective wives for their sons. Because her mother works long hours, Ha takes to signing school forms and her report card.

Ha also has to endure an insensitive class discussion of the My Lai Massacre which she doesn't know about because she was three-years-old when it happened in 1968. Charlie Company, part of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade, numbering less than one hundred men, was ordered to search for Viet Cong guerillas in nearby Son My. However, when they searched the village, they found no guerillas, only women, children and elderly men. Lieutenant William Calley, after ordering the villagers rounded up, gave the order to shoot them. The soldiers also raped a number of women. The massacre was only stopped by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson who placed his helicopter between the soldiers and the fleeing villagers. They flew many wounded villagers to a medical hospital for care. Five hundred and four people were killed, including one hundred eighty-two women, seventeen of whom were pregnant. The U.S. military attempted a cover-up but the war crime was exposed when Rod Ridenhour, a soldier in the 11th Brigade gave an interview to an investigative reporter after the military refused to act.

When Ha confronts her mother about this event, she tells Ha that she has invested in her children rather than being angry. 

"Instead I chose you children,

vowing to educate

your minds and hearts

so you would know the result

of your every action.

Choices to no

pick up a gun,

glorify a leader,

hide behind commands,

claim honor, blame others.

You would then 

begin to create

a different history." 

Ha's mother advises,
"Contemplate on yourself

until you're a solid anchor,

then ensure kindness to family

then society then earth."

Beautiful words, that ring true for everyone.

The lack of understanding between Vietnamese and American culture reaches a crisis point when Ha's mother is accused of abuse, after Ha returns to school having been ill. Treated at home by her mother, Ha has a leaf imprint on her back which is mistaken for the marks of a beating. Ha's mother stands up to school officials and with the help of a Vietnamese doctor they are exonerated.

When Clouds Touch ends on a much happier note: with the help of her brothers and her own contribution, Ha's family is able to buy a home. The clouds on the horizon have dived down to touch Ha and her family. And Ha discovers that her mother is their true anchor, working to provide a home that they can return to, one that replaces what was lost from war. Even more so, her mother refuses Ha's offer to study nearby, to be with her mother. But Ha's mother tells her,
"I relinquish you

to a world

unknown to me."

In some ways all mothers do so, but even more so, the refugee mother.

When Clouds Touch Us is a fitting sequel to Inside Out & Back Again which was written over a decade ago..

Book Details:

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

New York: Harper Collins Children's Books    2023

244 pp.

Fury of the Vikings by Dominic Sandbrook

In Fury of the Vikings, Dominic Sandbrook traces the history of the Viking rampage through the known world during a three-hundred-year period beginning with the Norse mythology.

The Prologue opens with the attack on the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast on June 8, 793.  The monastery held the remains of St. Cuthbert. The attackers killed and enslaved the monks, destroyed exquisitely crafted Bibles, and plundered the treasures of the monastery. It was the beginning of three hundred years of Viking raids that saw pirates from Denmark, Norway and Sweden loot and pillage their way across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as France, Southern Spain and North Africa. In the East, they established a new kingdom at Kyiv which eventually became Russia and Ukraine. The Vikings traveled as far east as the Holy Land, Turkey and the deserts of Asia. They even attempted to destroyed Constantinople. They founded new settlements on Iceland and Greenland as well as travelling further west to North America. But the Vikings never called themselves that. Instead the label comes from the voyage to go "viking" or plundering. But the name became synonymous with the people who raided the coasts of Britain and Europe.

No story of Viking history would be complete without beginning with the Norse myths, with the kingdom of fire - Muspelheim, with Buri the forefather of the gods, his son Bor who had three sons, Odin, Vili and Ve. The Norse people believed the world consisted of nine realms spread over three levels and that Midgard or Middle Earth was one. There was  Asgard, the kingdom of Odin and the Aesir. Vanaheim was another dynasty of gods, the Vanir. Alfheim was the land of light-elves connecting Asgard to the middle level - the fourth kingdom Midgard or Middle Earth.

In Midgard, the ice covering the land finally melted and humans came to live there. "From hunters they became farmers living in wooden longhouses." As they built up their own society, they heard fantastic stories of the Romans to the south who lived lives in wealth and comfort.  During the sixth century B.C., there was a three year period without spring or summer, cold and with frequent snows. As the harvests failed, people starved. By the seventh century, the Western Roman Empire had collapsed, leaving the world to the south in disarray. Meanwhile, the men of Denmark, Norway and Sweden began to rebuild, sailing east and west, trading furs, cloth and tools, fishing and farming. 

By the eighth century, some of the North chieftains would sail along the fjords of Norway to attack settlements along the coast. The loot they obtained from these raids made them wealthy and able to build great wooden halls and earn loyal followers called housecarls. The existence of these wealthy chieftains or sea kings was unknown to the people of northern France, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (now England), western Germany or the Low countries. 

The raids first began in the East, in the Baltic where Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are located. They took furs, slaves and amber. The Norsemen explored south along the rivers that traversed the forests of Europe to Lake Ladoga, in what is now Russia.

But on a summer day in 789 B.C., the people of England had their first encounter with the people who came to be knowns as "Vikings".  The attack on Lindisfarne signalled the beginning of a new era of raids, plundering and death. Further attacks on monasteries along the coast and in Scotland and Ireland only further enticed the Norsemen who saw the Christians as weak and afraid. 

While the Franks had dominated western Europe for the past three centuries, in the 800's, civil unrest and war saw them become vulnerable, and the Norsemen took advantage. The next three hundred years would see the Norsemen ravage the Anglo-Saxons in England, taking huge hauls of silver and enslaving the women, destroying the Christian culture and eventually ruling a large part of the country. 

The Norsemen's voyages would eventually traverse a large part of the known world. They would travel to Constantinople or Miklagard as they called it, in an attempt to conquer the city. They would establish river towns in what is now eastern Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They would attack towns and cities throughout Christendom, including France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Ibiza and Majorca, returning home with huge hauls of gold and silver.  They would settle Iceland and Greenland and travel west to Vinland, now called Canada. There is evidence  their voyages extended as far east as Afghanistan and Baghdad and that they had fought for the Emperor Basil II in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Georgia and Armenia. Their influence on European culture would be significant and lasting.

Discussion

Fury of the Vikings is a fascinating, detailed and enjoyable account of the Viking Age.  Fury of the Vikings sets the stage for the Viking era with details about Norse mythology, offering young readers insight into how the Norse people viewed the world around them and their place in it. From this point on, the author chronicles the rise of the Norsemen, beginning with the rebuilding of their society after three years of devastating cold, likely brought on by volcanic eruptions. They moved from raiding their own villages and settlements to those of their richer Christian neighbours to the south. They quickly discovered the Christians were rich, weak and afraid and thus began centuries of pillaging, plundering and murder.

It's impossible to write about the Viking era without including a wide cast of characters, some courageous, but many cruel and ruthless. In England, there was King Aethelred who valiantly defended Wessex, the last holdout in the country from the Danes. His son, Alfred of Wessex saved his corner of England from the invaders, thus keeping alive the dream of a united England some day. Edward, Alfred's heir, his older sister Aethelflaed and his son Athelstan, were formidable adversaries of the Danes, reclaiming occupied English lands and uniting Angles and Saxons under one king. 

Other characters include the well known Erik the Red, a Norseman brought to Iceland by his father and whose fiery temper led him to settle Greenland. There is St. Olga, the cruel widow of Igor, Grand Prince of Kyiv, who supposedly buried alive the Derevlians, but who came to be baptized and ruled until her son could take over. Others like Eric Bloodaxe, a warrior and a killer, son of the first sea-king to rule Norway, are less well known.

Sandbrook descriptions of various battles and confrontations between rival Vikings, and between the Vikings and the leaders of lands they were bent on pillaging, demonstrate the cruelty of this era.  The Norsemen not only murdered entire villages and towns, enslaving women and children, but also plundered and desecrated many Christian monasteries and relics. 

Sandbrook, describing the plundering of the city of Canterbury by Sweyn Forkbeard's chief warlord, Thorkell the Tall, writes, "What happened next was like a scene from the last days of mankind. 'Some were slaughtered with the sword, some destroyed by the flames,' wrote one chronicler. 'Many were also thrown from the walls, while some were killed by being hung up by their private parts. The women were dragged by their hair through the streets of the city, and then, being thrown into the flames, were thus put to death; infants were torn from their mother's breasts and were either caught on the points of spears, or ground to pieces under the wheels of vehicles."  It was a brutal revenge for the English massacring of Danes in the St. Brice's Day Massacre. 

Fury of Vikings portrays how extensive the Viking presence was throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, through northern and western Europe and extending well into Asia and how this presence influenced the local culture. For example, Sandbrook points out that in the United Kingdom today,  many words, surnames and places names are derived directly from Dane influence. 

Like the other books in the Adventures in Time series, Fury of the Vikings is  filled with tidbits of interesting information. Sandbrook, in his Author's Note, writes, "To weave all these tales together, I read as many Viking books as I could, mercilessly looting their most dazzling treasures." 

Fury of the Vikings will definitely satisfy young readers who are familiar with Norse mythology and who have a strong interest in Viking history and culture. It is another strong and fascinating installment in Sandbrook's books on history for young people.

Book Details:

Fury of the Vikings by Dominic Sandbrook
Canada: Particular Books     2022
341 pp.

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman

Valentina Kaplan lives in Pripyat, Ukraine with her mother Galina Yurievna Goldman Kaplan and her father, Nicolai.

One Saturday morning in April, 1986, she awakens to find that there are no blue jays, blackbirds or sparrows in the sky or on her windowsill waiting to eat the pieces of salami. To the south, instead of the robin-egg blue sky, there is a crimson glow with blue smoke lifting into the sky. Underneath that smoke is the nuclear power station,  the V.I. Lenin Power Station, also called Chernobyl, where her father works. Valentina's father is usually home from his night shift at the power station by morning, but today he hasn't returned.

Although Valentina is beginning to panic, her mother reminds her that they were running a safety drill at the station and that he might simply be late. She also tells Valentina that they must act normal, go to school and work so they don't attract the attention of the government and the secret police. And because they are Jews and hated, it was important to be safe. 

Outside, Valentina notes that the air tastes like metal and sees policemen everywhere. At school, Valentina meets Oksana Savchenko, a Ukrainian girl with blond hair and blue eyes. Oksana lives with her father, Ilya who works at the power plant. She dislikes Valentina who is Jewish because her father has told her that all Jews are liars who work together to try to destroy everyone else. Valentina's father had been given the promotion at the nuclear station that should have gone to Oksana's father. Oksana challenges Valentina to a race in the  hopes she can win and go home to brag to her father, but she loses the race. When Oksana taunts Valentina about being Jewish, their teacher, Svetlana Dmitrievna steps and punishes the two girls by having them kneel on rice. 

While none of her classmates seem concerned, when they leave school at noon, Valentina sees military trucks with drivers wearing gas masks driving into Pripyat. As the two girls return to their apartments in the same building, Valentina meets Dyadya Sergei who is very brown from "tanning" on the roof. In Oksana's apartment just as they are getting ready to eat, Valentina and her mother, Galina Yurievna arrive and tell Oksana and her mother Eleonora that she has learned that reactor number four exploded during the safety drill, causing the explosion and a fire. The men are now at the hospital and the mothers and daughters leave carrying their family's radiation medicine: a glass bottle of milk and cucumbers. On their way out of the building they encounter Dyadya Sergei who is now suddenly desperately ill. Oksana's mother tells him he needs to get to the hospital. Oksana wonders if there is something in the air that can hurt them.

At Pripyat Hospital it is chaotic and filled with horrific smells. Valentina and her mother find her father, Nicolai, burning with fever, sweating profusely. Valentina is hauled out of the room by a doctor who tells them that the explosion has made her father's body very radioactive and that being close to him might kill her. He tells them to leave immediately and that he cannot tell the other families because the government is worried about causing widespread panic. The doctor also tells them that their husbands are being flown to a special hospital in Moscow and that they should return with clothing for them.  But when they return they learn that the men have already been taken to Moscow.

In her apartment, Oksana tries to study but instead focuses on drawing. Her father wanted her to study engineering and Oksana was good at math and science but she hated these subjects. Oksana's mother reveals that her father was buried under the rubble from the explosion and is dead. Her mother mostly ignores Oksana and is worried about being alone. In Valentina's apartment, her mother makes her take the tablets, they shower and throw away the clothing they were wearing. 

The next day they are ordered to be evacuated from Pripyat. When they are checked with dosimeters, Oksana's mother is sent to the hospital as her radiation levels are too high. A terrified, distraught Oksana is taken in by Valentina's mother who tells her they must take the bus to Kiev where she has a friend who can help them. On the bus, Oksana notes all the dead blackbirds and sparrows and the damaged trees and bushes.

In Kiev, Oksana wants to travel to Minsk where her mother has been hospitalized but Valentina's mother discourages her from doing so, telling her the trip is too far and that she will call to find out about her mother. Instead they take the subway to Dimeezskaya Street where Valentina's mother's friend, Masha Petrovna lives

At the apartment, the girls bathe and that's when Valentina sees Oksana's wounded back and scars. They are unable to learn much about Oksana's mother and unable to reach her relatives near Pripyat. When they listen to the foreign radio station they learn that "... high levels of radiation were detected at a Swedish nuclear power plant this morning..." and that "Swedish nuclear experts traced the weekend's wind currents and determined the radiation originated from the Soviet Union."  With the government denying everything, Valentina's mother realizes this is much worse than she believed. As a result Masha insists Valentina's mother and the girls leave immediately, believing them to be a health risk. 

Valentina's mother decides they will travel to Leningrad to live with her mother but when they try to get train tickets, only two are available so Valentina and Oksana are put on the train while she stays behind. In Leningrad the two girls are met by Valentina's grandmother or Babulya, Rits Grigorievna. 

Life with Babulya proves to undo the lies that Oksana has been told by her father about Jews. Not only that but for the first time in her life, she begins to feel good about herself and truly loved. Oksana learns the truth about herself and it is this belief in her own goodness that ultimate saves Oksana when she finds herself back in an abusive situation with her mother.

Interspersed with Valentina and Oksana's stories, is the story of twelve-year-old Rifka Friedman who is living in Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union with her pregnant mother and two younger brothers. In August of 1941, the Germans begin their invasion of the country. Rifka's mother, who has just given birth to her brother Avrum, insists that she flee east with her fifteen year old cousin, Nathan. 

The two leave but when the German army catches up to them, Rifka and Nathan hide in a farmer's barn. However, the farmer forces Nathan to work for him, while Rifka must continue on alone. She escapes the German bombing with the help of fleeing Ukrainian refugees who do not realize she is Jewish. Rifka realizes this when they accept her presence and uses the name Yelena. However, as fall turns to bitter winter and Rifka suffers from hunger and the cold, she is overheard mumbling in her sleep about Adonai - the Jewish word for God. She is forced out into the cold. Near death, Rifka is rescued by a young Muslim girl, Feruza Chorieva and her mother Ona.

Rifka stays the remainder of the war in Tashket, Uzbekistan, a part of the Soviet Union, living with Feruza and her seven siblings. Feruza and her mother Una accept Rifka even though she is Jewish. She attends school but works on their farm and is treated with love and care. Believing God has abandoned her, Rifka decides to ignore God.

When the war ends, Rifka returns to Kiev to find her family have all been murdered. In despair and unsure what to do she travels to Leningrad. There at the Shabbat service at the Grand Choral Synagogue, she meets a young boy, Yuri Goldman, whom she eventually marries. They have a daughter, Galina, which mean "light". Galina will go on to marry and have her own daughter, Valentina, thus completing the circle and connecting all the characters.

Discussion

The Blackbird Girls is a beautifully crafted story about friendship that spans a forty-year period and two major catastrophes, the German invasion of Ukraine in 1941 and the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

The novel opens in April, 1986 in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine on a Saturday morning as two girls, Ukrainian Oksana Savchenko and Jewish Valentina Kaplan are going about their day, attending school in the morning as usual. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor has malfunctioned during a test overnight, has exploded and is now on fire. The people of Pripyat are unaware of the deadly situation they are in. They believe whatever has happened, their government will protect them and their men who work at the reactor. As the day progresses and the situation worsens, they are evacuated. However, Oksana's mother is taken away because she has been exposed to a higher level of radiation, having worked for a short time on the rooftop garden. Oksana finds herself alone, her father having died during the explosion, with no where to go. It is Valentina's mother who kindly takes charge of Oksana, telling her they will care for her.

From this point forward, against the backdrop of the Chernobyl disaster and their evacuation, this story focuses on the relationship between Oksana Savchenko and the Jewish Kaplans.  Although the two girls are classmates, they are not friends. Oksana has been told by her parents that "All Jews are liars...They're always watching you, trying to find a way to steal your job away from you or take your place...." Oksana has been told her father didn't get the promotion he deserved because of Valentina's father. Her deeply entrenched anti-Semitic views make Oksana reluctant to be connected with the Kaplans.

In Kiev, Oksana continues to feel alone and afraid. "What should she do? Who would help her? She couldn't stay with the Kaplans. Her father hated them." When Valentina's mother insists that Oksana stay with them in Kiev, Oksana continues to feel conflicted. "Stay with Jews. In the same room. Eat the same foods. Sleep under the same ceiling." Oksana realizes she has no one to rescue her except two Jews. 

As Valentina and Oksana are sent on alone to Leningrad to Valentina's grandmother, Oksana begins to realize that what she's been told about Jews by her father doesn't seem to be true. Valentina's gratitude towards Oksana for helping her understand her father's last words trigger Oksana to remember her father saying "that gratitude from a Jew was a poisoned gift. That they were liars...."  These revelations create a deep sense of conflict within Oksana regarding her father.

Babulya's modest apartment, called a kommunalka or community apartment is where the poorest people lived. Oksana's father had said that Jews were secretly rich and hid their money. But Babulya's home and lifestyle was that of a poor person. These revelations crush Oksana. Was her father just mistaken or lying? If her father was wrong about Jews perhaps he had been wrong about other things too. Oksana feels confused and angry.

Valentina and Babulya's kindness deepen Oksana's conviction that she has been lied too. Oksana arrives at Babulya's with a badly infected wound from a cigarette burn inflicted on her by her abusive father. Her abuse is discovered when Valentina and her grandmother have to take her to the hospital. This revelation  makes Valentina realize how little she really knows about her classmate. The kindness Oksana experiences begins to change her. When Valentina is bulled at their new school, Oksana defends her.  She also begins to believe in herself, that she is good, not weak or bad as her father had repeatedly told her. Valentina changes too, deciding she no longer wants to hurt Oksana.

Oksana's deepest desire is to be reunited with her mother, believing that with her abusive father now dead, she and her mother will have the chance to forge a meaningful relationship. However, this doesn't come to pass when her mother becomes involved with yet another abusive man. Losing all hope, Oksana reaches out to the one person who has been a faithful friend, and that is Valentina. In an act of friendship and love that unites the three main characters and transcends time, Valentina and her mother reach out to Feruza, to once again rescue someone in dire need.

The Blackbird Girls is a wonderful story of the healing power of friendship. Blankman has created realistic characters who suffer deeply but also grow as a result of the kindness of others. Just as Feruza and her mother helped Rifka heal from the extreme suffering and hate she experienced during World War II, Rifka now a grandmother (Babuyla) and Valentina help Oksana heal from the abuse and lack of love within her own family. This gives Oksana the courage to leave and find safety once again with Feruza, bringing the circle of healing to a close.

The blackbirds, mentioned throughout the novel and in the title, are "...a symbol for eternity" Feruza tells Rifka. Feruza believes their friendship will last their entire lives, binding them together no matter where they are. Like Rifka and Feruza, Valentina and Oksana are also "blackbird girls".  Valentina, who wants to have Oksana return to Leningrad, fears she will never see Oksana again. Babulya tells her "Distance between true friends doesn't matter when their friendship lives in their hearts..." and that Oksana, after hearing her story about living with Feruza, believes that Valentina is her "blackbird girl". 

Blankman had wanted to write a book about the Chernobyl disaster ever since she met a new friend at the ninth-grade sleepover. That friend, Victoria Belfer Zabarko told her she had survived the disaster as a child. Victoria was one of thousands of Soviet children who were sent out of the Chernobyl region. Her parents had one plane ticket which they used to send her to relatives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Eventually, her whole family would emigrate to the United States. 

The Blackbird Girls offers a historical perspective on both the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as well as the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Surprisingly, even in 1986, widespread anti-Semitism still existed in the Soviet Union, something many readers may not realize. Overall, The Blackbird Girls is a well-written piece of historical fiction that offers many themes to explore including abuse, the meaning and role of friendship, and racism. Blankman offers resources in the back matter for those suffering from abuse and there is a section, Further Reading providing fiction and nonfiction resources on the Soviet Union. 

This is a novel that may have been overlooked since it was published in 2020 just prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic. Well worth the read!

Book Details:

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
New York: Viking    2020
340 pp.