D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History, by Deborah Hopkinson

Hopkinson is a Portland author, someone I've met a few times and who I enjoy talking to about her latest work. At least one of her books has been in OBOB (maybe more), and I was excited to read this newest non-fiction offering from her. The book goes very in-depth of the invasion of Normandy, France in 1944 as part of the United States's efforts to stop Hitler and spread of Nazi Germany as well as the other Axis Powers (Italy and Japan).

D-Day offers a lot of personal stories and voices, which is the strength of the book. For me, to hear a a story of a specific event or time in history told from the people who experienced it is the most powerful way to understand and appreciate what it was like at that moment in time. That is why I like a good historical fiction book - when an author can create characters and events that tell of a true period in history so that I can feel what it was like to be there and why certain things did or didn't happen, that creates a connection for me that is hard to beat! Hopkinson uses a lot of personal stories to describe this historical event and I liked "getting to know" a few of the people she relies on often to tell the story of this WWII invasion.

The book is divided into sections, which I found a little disruptive and broke the flow a bit. I would have also liked more maps so that I could really place the events that her sources were describing more clearly in my mind. She does include a lot of actual photos from the invasion period, which helps deepen my understanding and picture what things looked like then.

My last criticism of this book is that several times Hopkinson slips into a  promotion of the people who served in the war, and in this invasion in particular, which is warranted on the one hand, but she occasionally sounds like an advertisement for the armed forces rather than an author telling a story by laying out the facts and details. I think that World War II may have been the only large-scale war worth fighting in the modern age, due to the terror that Hitler and the Nazis were creating and delivering to the world. But that cause does not make war less terrible, nor does it make those on the right side of the fight all good. She mentions that Blacks were not treated as equals in the armed forces, and that women's roles were limited as well, but that both made important contributions. More of both of these aspects of the story would have helped the story feel more balanced, perhaps. In her warranted appreciation for the sacrifices thousands of people made for this cause, there was an occasional promotion of war in general, I thought, and that bothered me a little bit. I was hoping she offered something more thorough and thoughtful, perhaps, and a little less "hawkish".

In all, I enjoyed this book, and learned a lot about D-Day and this chapter of WWII history. If you are a fan of war history, particularly World War II, you may also find this book really interesting. If your interest is more casual, you may find this book bogs down a bit along the way, as it did for me at times. I don't think this is Hopkinson's best work so far, but it's decent. I'll always look forward to her next offering! 4 paws!

Queen of the Sea, by Dylan Meconis

A graphic novel book by a Portland, Oregon author and cartoonist, Queen of the Sea is a book that I really enjoyed! Spending a few days at the Oregon coast with my humans, what better title than this to read while listening to the surf pound against the beach all day? Meconis tells and draws a tale very loosely based on the Tudor family of 1500s England, with King Henry VIII, "Bloody" Mary and Elizabeth I - "loosely" to the point where I probably wouldn't call this historical fiction, but it IS a very good read!

Margaret is the main character and narrator, and after arriving as an orphaned baby on an island run by nuns, her life and story unfold as she becomes a teenager and other people and events shape her world. Friendship, romance, mystery, history, deceit all work together to create a graphic novel that is more dense than most, but, in my pug opinion, really really good! In fact I finished this book in three days, in between watching out the window for passing whales and fishing boats, eating, and sleeping - that ranks this one right up there with some of the better books I've read!

Well written, especially if you want something more like a chapter book or novel in content, and well drawn, this is a different graphic novel than most I've seen, and I like it! 5 paws!




Side note...look into author Carolyn Meyer if you want good teen chapter books about this era, and others, in history...she writes great historical fiction, among other genres, including the era covered in this graphic novel!  :)

Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Park

Prairie Lotus is the latest offering by Park, author of A Single Shard - Newbery winner and one of my all-time favorite books! Her writing is not action-oriented, so at times it may seem slow or plodding if you aren't used to her style. But I enjoy her work a lot! Her characters are always very well developed, and the stories she tells are deep, thorough, and interesting. I was excited when I saw this new release, and it's a pretty quick read!

Prairie is the story of Hannah, a half Chinese/half White girl living with her father in 1880s North America. They arrive in a town in South Dakota, one of many places they have lived, and through Hannah, Park tells of many of her own experiences growing up Asian in the United States. Set in the 1880s the bigotry Hannah faces takes many forms and comes from many people - not unlike the modern day, according to Park, and perhaps not very surprising to many of you. Hannah shows a lot of courage and growth as well as anger and sadness at what she experiences, as any of us would. Prairie is a wonderful story of late 1800s American expansion, our collision with native Americans then, and the ongoing trouble we, as a country, have reaching the "liberty and justice for all" that our nation aspires to. Park writes in her Author Notes of the influence the Little House on the Prairie books had on her as a young person, and how she has always wanted to tell a different version of that idealized prairie life, from the point of view of someone beside a White girl in a White family.  Prairie Lotus is a good, steady story that I recommend! 4 paws!

https://lindasuepark.com/