From Tony to Anne Hillerman

By Jeff Burns

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog about my love of Tony Hillerman’s series of novels featuring two Navaho policemen, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Unfortunately, Hillerman passed away recently.

Never fear, though, Leaphorn mysteries are not over. Anne Hillerman, Tony’s daughter, is continuing the series.  The books are still very entertaining mysteries set in and around the Navaho Reservation, and they are full of Navaho and Southwest culture.  The main difference is that Joe Leaphorn is kind of a minor character now; the stories really focus on Jim Chee and his wife Bernadette Manuelito. 

If you are a Tony Hillerman fan, I strongly suggest you continue reading Anne Hillerman’s books.

Book Festivals

By Jeff Burns

My wife and I discovered Book Festivals.  Neither of us like crowds very much, but of course we love books. Since 2008, the Savannah Book Festival has taken place in venues on three historic downtown squares in mid-February.  Each year, the festival hosts about 40 authors from all genres in a one-day event. Even though we never need an excuse to visit Savannah, one of our favorite cities, this seemed like a great way to dip into the book festival pool.

We decided to check out the schedule and read some of the selections.  Come to find out, that’s not the usual way for Book Festival goers, at least in Savannah.  In talking to other people, we discovered that it seemed that most of the audience members for each talk hadn’t read the book, or at least a great number hadn’t.  There’s also a disadvantage to reading in advance; authors only sign books purchased at the festival.

Long story short, we thoroughly enjoyed the talks, the conversations with strangers while waiting in line or waiting for the talks to start, and even meeting the authors.  Savannah Book Festival will now be an annual destination for us, and we’re looking forward to the even bigger, 3-day, Decatur Book Festival Labor Day Weekend.

Some of the books and authors featured  at the Savannah Book Festival 2018:

Book Recommendations from NCHE 2017

By Jeff Burns

I recently had the opportunity to attend the National Council for History Education’s annual conference held in Atlanta. Whenever a group of historians and/or history teachers meet, books, old and new, are bound to be discussed.  Here’s a list of books that were featured in sessions or by exhibitors, in no particular order.

The Snipesville Chronicles is a series of time travel books aimed at young readers (but also enjoyed by adults) written by Annette Laing, a purveyor of non-boring history. http://www.annettelaing.com/

Drum Taps, a collection of poem about the Civil War by Walt Whitman

Edward Larson was one of the keynote speakers.  He’s written several books about science and technology in history and American history including the Pulitzer-winning Summer for the Gods, about the Scopes Monkey Trial.  Other books include An Empire of Ice, A Magnificent Catastrophe, Evolution’s Workshop, and his latest, The Return of George Washington.

March is the autobiography of civil rights movement figure John Lewis, in a graphic novel trilogy.

All Quiet on the Western Front is the classic World War I novel by Erich Maria Remarque.

Another keynoter was Bruce Lesh, the author of “Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer?”: Teaching Historical Thinking in Grades 7-12.

Fire in a Canebrake: the Last Mass Lynching in America by Laura Wexler tells the story of the murders of two black couples in 1946. Considered the last lynching in Georgia, no one has ever been prosecuted for the crime.

The final keynoter was Micki McElya, the author of The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery and Clinging to Mammy: The Faithful Slave in Twentieth Century America.

Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and Television by Matthew Bernstein

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

As a teacher, I have attempted to engage students in learning about the Oregon Trail in a variety of ways, including playing the Oregon Trail video game.  So, I was genuinely excited to read about Rinker Buck’s journey to travel the epic trail.  I found the book to be a quick and easy read that tells the story of Buck and his brother Nick, and Nick’s Jack Russell terrier, Olive Oyl making a modern day crossing of the Oregon Trail.

As a reader, I was in awe of Buck’s attempt to travel the length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way—in a covered wagon with a team of mules.  Such a journey had not been attempted in more than a century.  The fact that so much of the trail is still accessible was quite the revelation.  As an East Coaster, many of our original trails and pioneer roads are long gone, replaced by modern roads, cities and suburban sprawl.

Buck gives an overview of the Oregon Trail, which spans two thousand miles and crosses six states from Missouri to the Pacific coast. Once Buck sets up the history of the trail, he then begins the narrative of the crossing. Buck and his brother set out from St. Joseph, Missouri, to travel to Baker City, Oregon, a journey that would last four months.

The book can be broken down into three distinct parts, a journal of the trip, an all-around history of the trail, and the relationship Buck had with his father.  As a reader, I most enjoyed the journal and historical aspects of the book.  Believe me, you will have a good idea of what it takes to change a wagon wheel or how precious water can truly be.  In the beginning of the book, Buck talks about wanting to do the crossing alone.  However, as the book unfolds, it is hard to imagine this journey being possible without the aid of his brother Nick.  Indeed, the banter between the two is quite fun. 

I would highly recommend this book. It is very entertaining, as well as educational. The reader will be transported to an earlier time and a chance to “Go West!” Plus, you will learn more about what many of the Great Pioneers had to endure to make such an arduous journey. If you are like me and love the idea of taking a great road trip, I would enthusiastically recommend picking up this book.  It is definitely worth a read!

A Sampling of Wild West Classics in Comics

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

I fully admit I am an adult that still gets excited to go into a comic book shop.  I am also a parent who has used children’s books, as well as comics to introduce reading to my girls. I have also used comics in my classroom to help get students more excited about a certain time period.  Classics Illustrated was a series of comics that ran for thirty years (1941-1971) and would adapt well known novels into comic book form.  Think of it as an earlier version of CliffNotes with pictures for students.  Many of the Classics Illustrated comics hold up well, they were beautifully adapted and illustrated.  For my girls, they enjoy the comics as much, and in some cases more than the original book. So, let us take a trip down memory lane with some classic western adapted novels from Samuel Clemens, James Fenimore Cooper, Francis Parkman, and Owen Wister.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (No. 50), by Samuel L. Clemens 
This Classics Illustrated Comic is about a young boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg but was inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Clemens/Twain had lived. The story is about Tom, an orphan who lives with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid, and his adventures with his friends Becky Thatcher, Huckleberry Finn, and Joe Harper.  Also included in the comic is a biography on Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. As well as a story Bulldog Courage, a biography of George Westinghouse and an overview of the opera, Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. 

The Prairie (No. 58), by James Fenimore Cooper
Although The Last of the Mohicans is Cooper’s most famous novel, The Prairie is the third novel written by Cooper featuring Natty Bumppo. However, the fictitious frontier hero Bumppo is never called by his name, but instead referred to as "the trapper" or "the old man."  It depicts Bumppo in the final year of his life and he continues to be helpful to people in distress on the American frontier. Also included in the comic is a biography of James Fenimore Cooper, considered by many to be the first great American novelist.  There is also a biography of Hippocrates, the father of Medicine, and a dog hero story, Tunney, the Champ.

The Oregon Trail (No. 72), by Francis Parkman
The Oregon Trail is a first-person account of the two month summer tour in 1846 of the U.S. states of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas.  The book covers the three weeks Parkman spent hunting buffalo with a band of Oglala Sioux. The book is dated in its portrayal of Native Americans and the title is misleading, the book only covers the first third of the trail.  Also included in the comic is a biography of Francis Parkman, who many consider to be an authoritative source of early American Western history. There is also a biography on Edward Livingstone Trudeau, the isolator of the tuberculosis germ, a story about the famous opera, La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, and a dog hero story about Duke, the Seeing Eye Cop.

Buffalo Bill (No. 106), no author given
According to the comic tease, this is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time.  It is the story of the American West and the men who conquered it, including one of the most celebrated, William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.  Also included is the biography of William Quantrill, part of the Bad Men of the West series, a biography of Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser, and a story of Early America, Wreck Ashore!.

The Virginian (No. 150), by Owen Wister
The Virginian is a novel set in the Wild West and describes the life of a cowboy at the Sunk Creek Ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming.  The Virginian’s real name is never given.  The Virginian does have an ongoing romance with the newly appointed schoolmarm, Miss Molly Stark Wood.  Also included is a biography of Owen Wister. Also there is a story about the person Wister dedicated The Virginian to, Theodore Roosevelt, T.R. and the Thieves, and a story about the Capture of Geronimo.

One thing I really like about Classics Illustrated is that each contains a bio on the author.  It is really nice that the reader can read the novel in comic/graphic form and then learn all about the person who wrote it.  Another great thing is that each story also ends with the same challenge: “Now that you have read the Classics Illustrated edition, don’t miss the added enjoyment of reading the original, obtainable at your school or public library.”

These are just a few American West classics, what novel would you like to read as a comic book?