Katherine's Book Backyard

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

"It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men."--Frederick Douglass

Thanks to Project Gutenberg, Frederick Douglass' monumental memoir--Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave--is available here.For more information about the statesman, you can start here or here. His home is a National Historic site.

Douglass is considered one of the great American orators and you can find his speech on "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" is archived here. Good Reads has a collection of his memorable quotes here.

"Without a struggle, there can be no progress."--Frederick Douglass

Signature has a list of the five best biographies of Frederick Douglass.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

An interesting take on immigration...soon to be a movie

Sweetness in the Belly is an odd title, so it stands out when you see it turn up in "also reads" and "recommended" comments online. Camilla Gibbs' novel is about a young women raised in Africa who flees to England finds herself a stranger in a strange land. The book is being adapted for a movie and will star the wonderful Saoirse Ronan as the protatonist.

Shakespeare, Time Travel, Macbeth

The Shakespeare Standard has an interview with Invisible Hand author James Hartley today, and his new "Shakespeare Moon" series sounds intriguing. The plot takes a contemporary kid back to Scotland and entangles him with the events of Macbeth. I think that's a fantastic idea. I never understood why high schools insisted on inflicting Julius Caesar on students as their first introduction to Shakespeare. Yes, yes, it's got "Friends, Romans, and Countrymen, lend me your ears" but it's really not one of the most riveting plays. But Macbeth? It's got sex. It's got intrigue. It's got WITCHES. Start out with Macbeth and you might just end up with a kid who likes Shakespeare.

Here's the sales pitch:

The Invisible Hand is about a boy, Sam, who has just started life at a boarding school and finds himself able to travel back in time to medieval Scotland. There he meets a girl, Leana, who can travel to the future, and the two of them become wrapped up in events in Macbeth, the Shakespeare play, and in the daily life of the school. The book is the first part of a series called Shakespeare´s Moon. Each book is set in the same boarding school but focuses on a different Shakespeare play.