The Fourth Musketeer Visits Africa

No book review today--just an announcement that the Fourth Musketeer will soon be leaving on safari for three weeks in Africa--my first ever trip to that fascinating continent!  I will be "off the grid" during that time--no e-mail or blogging.

On Saturday, I am flying from Los Angeles to Johannesberg, and after a night's rest in a hotel, my college friend J. and I will be flying to Botswana, where we will be spending 10 nights in three different safari camps in the Okavango Delta, one of the world's most sought-after tourist destinations (at least according to the Botswana tourism office!).

Why Botswana?  OK, I admit it, I've been a serious fan of Alexander McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe and the #1 Ladies Detective Agency since the series' inception in 1998, and have been dreaming of visiting that country ever since.  We won't be visiting Mma Ramotswe's hometown, Gabarone, but instead we will be visiting Sandibe, Okuti, and Shinde, all very small safari camps that have no more than a handful of guests at a time.  From there we'll be flying to Victoria Falls, known as a sight of "awe-inspiring beauty."  Unfortunately we will miss the moon rainbow (I had never heard of such a thing) by just a day or two but while we're there we're going on a elephant back safari and also on a microlight plane trip over the falls, among other activities.

We'll be staying nearby on the banks of the Zambezi River at the Waterberry Lodge, where we'll be able to go on cruises down the river to see hippos, elephants, crocodiles, and the like.  From there we'll be flying back to South Africa to spend four nights in Cape Town, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Weather permitting, we're hoping to go on a white shark cage diving excursion (I may be staying on the boat!), see the sights of Cape Town, including taking the cable car up Table Mountain, and perhaps even do some shopping!  

microlight flight over Victoria Falls

cable car over Table Mountain, Cape Town

We have already booked a township tour with the Uthando nonprofit, which takes visitors on philanthropic cultural tours, visiting the projects that receive funding and other forms of assistance from Uthando and its benefactors, and a city tour with Footsteps to Freedom tour which concentrates on the cultural and historical hot spots in Cape Town.  We will be staying at the lovely looking Cape Heritage Hotel.

white shark cage diving in Gansbaii, South Africa

I will be travelling to Africa with two suitcases, a small carry-on which will go with me to Botswana, but, since I didn't want to waste my free check-in bag up to 50 pounds, I'll be lugging a large suitcase full of children's books to donate in Cape Town which will wait for me in storage at the South Africa airport. Through Books for Africa, I found Help2Read, a Cape Town volunteer literacy organization in which volunteers help primary school students one-to-one with their reading; they recruit, train, and support the adult volunteers and also provide boxes of fun books for the kids to read, and they are happy to take any books I bring with me.  My 8-year old nephew has donated some soccer balls which will go to the Uthando charity for the township kids.  And for Botswana, I will be packing some new children's underwear, pencils and erasers, which have been specifically requested by Bana Ba Letsatsi (Sunshine Children), an orphanage in nearby Maun, through the charity Pack with a Purpose.  They ask travelers to developing countries to designate 5 pounds of their luggage allowance to bring items needed by community-based children's projects around the world.  What a great idea!

I've been lucky to do a lot of travelling in my younger single days but this is my first major trip abroad in many years--so many in fact that my new passport replaced one from 1979.  Thanks to the wonderful travel agents from Expert Africa for helping to put together this trip--I look forward to blogging about it and sharing some photos when I get back!


Sala sentle! (that's goodbye, or literally stay well, in Setswana, the native language of Botswana)

giraffes in the Okavango Delta

Nonfiction Monday Book Review: Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind a Friendship, by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books, 2012)

Release date:  June 19, 2012

Are your tweens and teens clamoring to see the soon-to-be-released Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter movie, opening on June 22?  If you're hoping they'll be interested in learning something about this great American, beyond what's offered in the hilariously satirical novel on which the movie is based, you could do worse than to steer them to a new book on Lincoln and the great African-American hero Frederick Douglass by Russell Freedman.  

Russell Freedman is one of our best nonfiction writers for young people; an earlier biography he published on Abraham Lincoln won the Newbery award many years ago. Anyone with an interest in American history will be sure to enjoy his newest book, which comes out on June 19.  It's a joint biography of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The book opens with Douglass waiting to see Lincoln in the White House in 1863, the only black man in a waiting area crowded with people waiting to see the president. Freedman then presents the life of stories of these two great men in alternating chapters. Toward the end of the book, their stories merge as the Civil War breaks out. They only met on a few occasions, but they had much in common, and shared a common purpose--ridding the United States of slavery. The book is abundantly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and paintings, and includes a selected bibliography, notes, and picture credits. At just over 100 pages, it's a relatively quick read, and an excellent introduction to the lives of both of these important icons in American history. 

Highly recommended for ages 10 and up.

Blog Tour and Book Giveaway: Spartacus the Gladiator, by Ben Kane

Recommended for ages 14 and up.

With the launch of the Starz cable series, Spartacus, in 2010, and the HBO series Rome a few years back, ancient Rome is "hot" again, and it's not surprising to see a new treatment of the celebrated story of Spartacus in novel form.  For those not familiar with the earlier Howard Fast novel or the 1960 Kirk Douglas film of the same name (based on the Fast novel), Spartacus is the true story of a former gladiator and slave who leads a slave revolt against the mighty Roman empire.

Ben Kane, an Irish author who has written extensively about ancient Rome and is particularly enamored of military history, returns to the original sources to reimagine Spartacus' life and leadership.  But as Kane admits in an afterword, there's little written by the Roman historians about Spartacus and his revolt, which held off Roman troops for an astonishing two years, perhaps because Roman historians did not take kindly to eulogizing their enemies, particularly a lowly slave who bested them in battle after battle.  Of course this lack of concrete facts gives the novelist plenty of room to imagine Spartacus and the other characters in the book.

The book opens with Spartacus returning to his native Thracian village after serving in the Roman army for many years.  But it's not the happy homecoming he'd hoped for; after trying to overthrow the tribal king, he is betrayed and sent in captivity to be trained as a gladiator, to fight to the death for the amusement of the Roman crowds in the Colosseum.  Accompanying him is Ariadne, a priestess of Dionysus, who will later become Spartacus' wife.  But Spartacus won't accept his fate, and soon is planning an escape from the gladiator school, turning into a charismatic leader who soon is leading a revolt of a rag-tag group of slaves against the might of the Roman army, the greatest in the world.  Will he be able to succeed in keeping the Romans at bay or will they eventually quash his revolt against their tyranny?  We won't find out in this volume, since a sequel is in the works.  Readers will have to wait to see how Kane completes this compelling tale.

While published for an adult audience, this David vs. Goliath story is an engrossing read for teens as well, although parents should know that there is substantial violence, cursing, and sexual situations depicted.  With the action-filled scenes at the gladiator school, and the battles against the Romans, it's likely to particularly appeal to teenage boys who enjoy war stories.  I particularly appreciated how the author explores Spartacus' leadership ability; for example, in order to escape from the gladiator school, he must unite gladiators from different countries with different allegiances, not an easy task in the best of conditions.  While there is plenty of violence, it's not gratuitous, since the violence is integral to the storyline.

To sample this book, you can check out the first chapter of this novel is available at the author's website.

If you are interested in winning a copy of this book for yourself or your library, please leave a comment below and include an e-mail.  I will be selecting a winner at random on June 13.  


To read more about Spartacus the Gladiator, check out the following blog tour stops that are coming up throughout the month of June:

Joy Story                                   June 7                           

A Novel Affair               June 8                           

Alternate Readality              June 10                          

My Devotional Thoughts      June 11                        

Book Spark                          June 12                         

Reflections of a Book Addict  June 12                          

OKBoLover                   June 13                          

To Read or Not to Read June 14                     

Celtic Lady Reviews       June 15                         

Bookworm                                    June 16                         

WV Stitcher                      June 17                          

Book Nook Club             June 18                          

Luxury Reading                   June 20                        

The Wormhole                     June 20                          

Broken Teepee                    June 21                        

Ink Spots and Roses             None                            

Feeling a Little Bookish June 22                          

Fresh-scraped Vellum         June 23                         

Layers of Thought   June 24                       

Words and Peace               June 25                       

J.A. Beard's Unnecessary Musings June 26                          

Book Drunkard                June 28                          

Book Faery                       June 29                        

Starting Fresh                     June 30                      

Note:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Surviving the Hindenburg, by Larry Verstraete (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012)

Recommended for ages 8-12.

With the seemingly infinite number of books about the Titanic being released this year, it was refreshing to read an account of another famous disaster of technology, the crash of the mighty luxury airship the Hindenburg in 1937. Told from the point of view of Werner Franz, a 14-year old cabin boy serving on the vessel, this handsomely illustrated picture book shows Werner's life on board the luxurious vessel as the ship prepares to land in the United States on its three day journey. But while Werner puts dishes away in the kitchen and the Hindenburg crew prepared for the landing, something goes terribly wrong, and suddenly Werner finds himself alone in the bow of the ship, with a giant fireball behind him. Can Werner escape the inferno? 

This exciting tale is well captured in this picture book for older readers. The author includes both a preface and an afterword, which gives information on other survivors, more on what happened to young Werner, and Hindenburg memorials. 

This book is written by Larry Verstraete, a former teacher whose enthusiasm for his subject is evident.  The larger-than life painted illustrations are by historical illustrator David Geister.  The oversized format of the book effectively captures the immense scale of the airship and the horror of the disaster.

This book would be particularly appealing to fans of steampunk, who might enjoy learning more about an actual airship.  

Recommended for upper elementary school students.

Book Review: Looking for Me, by Betsy Rosenthal

Recommended for ages 8-12.

This novel in verse is a moving and sometimes humorous coming of age story that takes place over one year; it's based on the author's own mother's childhood growing up in a very large Jewish family in 1930's Baltimore. 


Eleven-year old Edith is #4 of twelve kids in her family, and feels like one of those wooden nesting dolls she's seen at the store. No one takes much notice of her, as she helps with the younger kids, goes to school, and works at her family's diner. Times are tough, and her wishes are simple.  For example, she'd love to have new back-to-school clothes "But in my family/we wear/hand-me-down/down/down/down/downs." 


Although she complains she doesn't know who she is in her big family, over the course of the year, in which tragedy as well as joyous events occur, she's working on figuring out where she belongs. An author's note tells more about Edith, the "little mother" of the family who became the only girl in her family to go to college. Family photographs are also provided, so readers can see the "real Edith."  A glossary provides explanations of unfamiliar words, particularly Jewish and Yiddish phrases that are sprinkled throughout the text. 


This is a beautifully written novel in verse, in which Edith's voice comes through loud and clear; she might not know who she is, but the reader does, and cares about her deeply.  This novel will appeal to those who enjoy a story about real people and their joys and tribulations--no angels, vampires, or werewolves in this one.  This should definitely be on the Sydney Taylor Award consideration list; I would recommend it to anyone, but the story will especially resonate with Jewish readers as Jewish holidays and culture are integral to the story.  This is author Betsy Rosenthal's first novel, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.  

Book Review: The Queen's Lover: A Novel, by Francine Du Plessix Gray (Penguin, 2012)

For ages 14 and up


I have long been fascinated by Marie Antoinette and her family, an interest dating back to when I was around 12 years old.  I was therefore really looking forward to reading this new novel about Count Fersen, who was perhaps the secret love of Marie Antoinette's life and the architect of the failed escape plan to Varennes, after which the royal family was captured and imprisoned in Paris. However, I found this entire novel a huge disappointment.  The story is told in the first person by Fersen himself, as a sort of memoir, with other parts narrated by his sister when it was inconvenient to have Fersen himself narrate.  

The novel added little to my knowledge or understanding of these important historical figures.  Moreover, I didn't feel the author captured any real chemistry between Fersen and Marie Antoinette.  There are some very racy sex scenes with the two of them which frankly I found very distasteful--it gave me a feeling of being a voyeur at the scene which rather than being titillating seemed simply tacky. In addition, Fersen comes across as a very unpleasant person--it was hard to even empathize when he himself is beaten to death by an anti-royalist crowd in Sweden some years later. The book was clearly carefully researched, with the author using primary sources, but the way the author incorporated actual parts of letters written by Fersen and others made the book very awkward--was she trying to write a novel, a biography, or a history book? It seems like she couldn't decide, and it's a messy melange that doesn't work well. If you want to read about Marie Antoinette, check out instead Abundance, by Sena Jeter Naslund, a much better novel, or Queen of Fashion, an excellent nonfiction biography by historian Caroline Weber.

Marie Antoinette, by court painter Vigee-LeBrun

Blog Tour: Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and her Cat (Abrams, 2012)

Susanna Reich

I am delighted to welcome to The Fourth Musketeer author Susanna Reich, currently on a blog tour for her delightful new picture book, Minette's Feast:  The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat.  Susanna kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me and my blog readers.

Q:   I was fascinated about your personal connections with Julia Child; you recount in an author's note that you designed floral decorations for her 80th birthday party and were able to meet her at that time.  Please tell us a little bit about what you admire about Julia and what inspired you to write a picture book about her through the eyes of her cat.

A:  Julia was serious about cooking and held herself to the highest standards. Her devotion to her art—the art of French cooking—was inspiring. She also took great pleasure in sharing her enthusiasm and had a wonderful sense of humor. I admired her confidence, her knowledge, her spontaneity, and her commitment to teaching. When she demonstrated a dish, she made you believe that you could cook it, too.

But the key thing about Julia goes beyond cooking. She knew that putting people at ease and fostering convivial conversation around the table was more important that the success of any particular dish. In her memoir she wrote, "Remember, 'No one's more important than people'! In other words, friendship is the most important thing—not career or housework, or one's fatigue—and it needs to be tended and nurtured."

By focusing my picture book on Julia's years in Paris and her relationship with Minette, I was able to share with kids the things I admire most about Julia—her warmth, her humor, her work ethic, and the joy she found in cooking.

Q:   The illustrations in this book are particularly charming and greatly enhance the story.  I was especially struck by how the illustrator, Amy Bates, incorporated a small girl who does not appear in the text but appears in many of the illustrations; were you able to have any input into the style of illustration that was chosen?

A:  As you know, the publisher of a picture book usually chooses the illustrator, and that's what happened with Minette's Feast. As soon as I saw Amy's sketches, I was captivated. Her images perfectly capture Paris in the 1940's and also the humor in the text. I love her color palette and compositions, the rhythm and balance of closeups and large spreads, and especially the way her figures convey emotion without ever being overly sentimental or so abstract that little kids won't get it.

Because this is a nonfiction picture book, it was important for me to have some input into the illustration process, especially when it came to historical accuracy. I gave our editor photographs, historical information, website links, and detailed feedback on the sketches, which were then passed along to Amy.

Q:   I enjoyed the fact that you used lots of French phrases throughout the story, giving the story local color.  Could you tell us a little about your research process for this book?  Did you go to Paris or cook from Julia's cookbooks to immerse yourself in her story? 

A:  Like everyone in my family, I love to cook, and I've used Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for many years. I did find myself using her recipes more than usual while working on Minette's Feast. I'm buying more butter these days!

As for the French phrases, I studied French in high school and have been to France several times. Incorporating French was one of the ways I played with language in the text. For me, writing picture books is a form of play.

I approached the research as I would for any nonfiction project, by reading everything I could find on the subject—in this case, several biographies of Julia; her cookbooks and memoir, My Life In France; interviews and articles by and about her; and many of her letters, which are in the Schlesinger Library at Harvard. I also studied photos and videos of her.

Q:   This book includes an informative afterword that places Julia Child in the context of 20th century women's history.  Julia Child is your second work about a remarkable woman; your earlier work Clara Schumann:  Piano Virtuoso (Sandpiper, 2005) is an outstanding biography for young people.  Do you have plans for any future works dealing with women's history? 

A:  No specific plans at the moment, but I'm always looking for a good subject. I don't really think of it as women's history, but as human history. Both boys and girls should learn about the important, powerful, creative women who've come before us.

Q: Can you tell us what books are currently on your nightstand (i.e. that you are in the middle of reading)? 

In the first half of the year I especially enjoy reading some of the National Book Award-winners in the young people's literature category, as well as ALA award-winners in different categories. I especially enjoy the Batchelder Award books, because translated books appeal to the anthropologist in me. On my nightstand right now is Debby Dahl Edwardson's My Name is Not Easy.

Other books I recently enjoyed are G. Neri's Ghetto Cowboy, Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Padma Venkatraman's Island's End. On the adult side, my nightstand holds Gabrielle Hamilton's food memoir, Blood, Bones and Butter, a book of essays and short stories set in Paris, and a back issue of the magazine Gastronomica devoted to Julia Child. She's definitely influencing my reading choices at the moment.

Giveaway:  If you'd like to win a copy of this wonderful picture book--perfect for budding cooks, cat lovers, and Francophiles!--the publisher is celebrating the book's launch with a giveaway. Readers can enter to win a free, signed book by sending an email with the subject line "Minette's Feast giveaway" tosusanna@susannareich.com. Winners will be selected on May 31.

To visit other stops on the blog tour for Minette's Feast, check out the following blogs:

Monday, April 30 - Booktalking http://asuen.wordpress.com/ interview with Susanna

Tuesday, May 1 - Books Together http://www.bookstogetherblog.com/ interview with Amy

Wednesday, May 2 - Tales from the Rushmore Kid http://www.tinanicholscouryblog.com/ interview with Susanna’s cat

Thursday, May 3 - The Fourth Musketeer http://fourthmusketeer.blogspot.com/ interview with Susanna

Friday, May 4 - Original Content http://blog.gailgauthier.com/ review and discussion of creative nonfiction

Sunday, May 6 - Great Kid Books http://greatkidbooks.blogspot.com/ guest post by Susanna about reading as a child

Monday, May 7 - Shelf-Employed http://www.shelf-employed.blogspot.com/ interview with Abrams art director Chad Beckerman

Tuesday, May 8 - Readerkidz http://www.readerkidz.com/ “Dear Reader” guest post by Susanna