"Ancient Rome: an interactive history" -Rachael Hanel

"interactive" ... Did you see that?! You choose what historical route you take! It's a choose your own adventure.

Well I chose mine: living in Ancient Rome whether as a Roman senator under Julius Caesar, a woman under Nero, or merchant at the close of the Roman empire, there are many different choices you make to determine how you will end up. Most end in death seeing as how it's, I don't know, history! But there are a few ways to retire into obscurity.

Read Also:

There's a fun series "You Wouldn't Want to Be..." which tells it like it is, and from a contemporary viewpoint. Soon to be read: You Wouldn't Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon

Jean Fritz's series about the founding of America includes titles such as And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? which puts a personal, first person spin on history. I've read her Shh! We're Writing the Constitution.

"Black Radishes" -Susan Lynn Meyer

Gustave leaves home and friends behind when his parents move him out of Paris to a tiny village just before the Nazi occupation of Northern France begins. As the situation gets worse, Gustave learns how to deal with life's changes (being Jewish, smuggling across the demarcation line, trusting strangers) in order to help others.

This was a pretty good book. The solution to the problem is really simple (it's in the title) but it didn't undermine the writing of those tense scenes when going through the Nazi checkpoints. Although not often, I appreciate a hopeful ending with these kinds of stories.

Read Also:

Hero On a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes is a similar scene set in Italy.

The Auslander by Paul Dowswell is about a German boy who sees what is happening in Poland and forms his own opinions about it. Young Adult

The Traitor by Gudrun Pausewant is about a German girl who decides to help a Russian soldier rather than turn him in. Young Adult

"Journey" - Aaron Becker

Ack! I went a whole month without posting!! It's not that I haven't been reading, I just haven't been reviewing them. I will try to post once a week this month.


Journey was a gorgeous, stunning book! Magnificent pieces of art that make you want to search every bit of the page to not miss a thing. There is no text, the story is in the illustrations. A little girl builds her own dreams and fantasies from a single red boat. Ah! It was beautiful...

Read Also:

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson is a simpler version of a child's imagination.

Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are, which is not one of my favorites but does show how imagination uses things to grow.

It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll as each thing leads to a completely different and equally fantastic place, but still connected somehow.