In Their Footsteps #2

On April 7, 2022 the nomination by President Joe Biden of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court was confirmed in the United States Senate.  There is cause for jubilation as she is the first Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.  Out of 115 justices serving on the Supreme Court in history, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the sixth woman (and 116th justice).  Upon her swearing into office, another marker in history will be met.  For the first time in the 233-year history of the Supreme Court, four women will serve together.  

Women's History Month 2022 may have concluded one week ago, but April 7, 2022 and other accomplishments by women are to be celebrated as often as possible.  Nellie Vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists' Breakneck Race around the World (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books For Young Readers, February 15, 2022) written by Kate Hannigan with illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon is an account of an incredible journey when you consider the historical period in which it took place and at that time women in the United States did not even have the right to vote!

"Here is a race around the globe

between two young women

who make no pretense to athletics,

but who have been blessed with

indomitable pluck and

high intellectual endowments."

-----Atchison Daily Globe (Atchison, Kansas) Saturday, November 23, 1889

When we are introduced to Nellie and Elizabeth in the first few sentences, we immediately see them as opposites.  Nellie is a reporter known for doing almost anything to get a story.  As a magazine writer, Elizabeth is much quieter, more solemn.

One night, Nellie gets an idea.  Jules Verne's Around The World in Eighty Days is a huge hit with readers.  Nellie will do the same thing in seventy-five days!  At first those making decisions at the newspaper think the idea is ludicrous, but then they realize this story may bring in a lot of money.  Nellie leaves on November 14, 1889 on a steamship and discovers she gets seasick.

Later that evening, Elizabeth's editor calls her with a proposal.  He wants her to do the same thing in the opposite direction.  She is flabbergasted!  She has guests coming!  Elizabeth boards a train for California that day.

We are told where each of the women are on days five and six and seven and eight.  Now Elizabeth is seasick crossing the Pacific Ocean and Nellie takes a side trip to meet Jules Verne in France.  We are updated on their status on days 32, 36, 39, and 55.  Guess who buys a new dress and who buys a monkey?

By day 63, Nellie is crossing the Pacific Ocean amid storms.  You will not believe who the sailors blame for this misfortune.  Elizabeth is about to take a steamship from France to head to the United States.  Both believe they will arrive in New York on January 26, 1890.  One arrives earlier and the other is a week later.  One is cheered by thousands and the other is not.  Readers will realize the truth of these two voyages, this race, when the final sentence is read.  Women are remarkable, especially when they face adversity.

From the beginning, author Kate Hannigan starts to build contrast which grows day by day into tension and heightened anticipation.  Once both women have set about their travels, her technique of telling us where they are at intervals with numbered days is captivating.  Her inclusion of specific details adds to the realism.  Quotations from newspaper articles, Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland add to the fascinating narrative of these two brave women.  Here is a passage.

Day 39

Nellie's newspaper started a contest to guess her finishing time, and

thousands of entries flooded the newsroom.  The whole world seemed

to be following the breakneck race between the two journalists!

                                            Except one person . . .

(The next few sentences might shock you as they did me.)

Look at the determination, courage, and speed at which both women address this race against time and each other as evidenced by their facial expressions and body postures on the right side of the open and matching dust jacket and book case. Placing them on the planet with a blue sky and wispy clouds as a background is an excellent design choice.  The color for the spine and left side of the jacket and case is a golden yellow.

On that jacket and case is a spiral of squares looking somewhat like a board game. (There is a reason for this revealed later.)  In the upper, right-hand corner stand Nellie and Elizabeth.  The squares alternate between turquoise, pink, and red.  Sometimes, there is simply a yellow space.  In the squares are representations of modes of travel and places of interest the two visited.  In the center it shows one arriving by train and the other arriving by steamship to New York City.

The opening endpapers are a bright blue.  The closing endpapers are a magenta hue of pink.  The title page shows the duo, one each running off the left and the right sides, respectively.  All we can see is a portion of their body, skirts flying and their shoes lifted to race.

These illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon were 

done with acrylic inks & colored pencil on acid-free cartridge paper.

Full-color images replete with fine lines and exquisite elements will have readers pausing at each page turn.  Rebecca Gibbon makes sure we understand the personalities of each woman.  Her pictures are single pages with an abundance of white space, single pages, edge to edge, and groups of smaller illustrations to indicate the passage of time.  These make the two double-page pictures more dramatic.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when Nellie is in Japan.  It is day 55 in her travels.  The entire scene is in blue and white.  It mirrors the Willow Pattern and the associated legend.  It enhances the quote from Nellie Bly perfectly.

Readers will be actively engaged from beginning to end of Nellie Vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists' Breakneck Race around the World written by Kate Hannigan with illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon.  When you think about the types of transportation they used, what they did is amazing. At the close of the book are a two pages author's note with photographs, a two-page Timeline Of Women Investigative Journalists, followed by an illustrator's note, bibliography of books, newspapers and magazines, and acknowledgements.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Kate Hannigan and Rebecca Gibbon and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites. Kate Hannigan has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Rebecca Gibbon has an account on Instagram.  Kate Hannigan speaks about this book in a post at the Nerdy Book Club.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.

In 2015 during Black History Month, President Barack Obama in a speech at the White House talked about a painting titled Resurrection placed in the Old Family Dining Room.  It was painted by Alma Thomas.  It is the first painting by an African American woman to be placed in the White House Collection.  This book, Ablaze with Color: A Story Of Painter Alma Thomas (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, February 22, 2022) written by Jeanne Walker Harvey with illustrations by Loveis Wise, chronicles her life and her approach to life through art.  This narrative and its resplendent artwork shine like the woman they showcase.

Through color, I have sought to concentrate

on beauty and happiness, rather than man's

inhumanity to man.---Alma Thomas (1970)

Alma loved being outside.  She inhaled all the colors in her world like everyone else breathes air.  She never liked to sit still, but preferred being a creator.  Other women in her family made things, too, filling her home with happy hues.  

Alma and her sisters' sadness came from being unable to attend the white school or visit the public library and museums.  Her parents brought books and educators into their home to fill in those gaps.  When Alma was fifteen her family left the south with its 

injustices

 and moved to Washington, DC to a home where Alma lived for many years. 

After completion of studies in art, Alma wanted to bring what she had learned to the children of Washington DC.  Schools there were still segregated, so she taught the children in her home.  Also, most of her time was spent educating these children in her community through field trips, art clubs, and even installing an art gallery, the first of its kind, in a school.

After all her years in art education serving children, nearing seventy years old, Alma Thomas began to focus on her own art.  Her new style of painting embraced bold, bright, beautiful color displayed through brushstrokes making lines, circles, and shapes mesmerizing in their intricate arrangements.   What was in her mind and heart found its way into her artwork.  Her artwork was featured as the 

first solo show by a Black woman

at the Whitney in New York City.  This was just the beginning for the work of this extraordinary woman, Alma Thomas.

Meticulously-researched word by meticulously-researched word, Jeanne Walker Harvey builds the life of Alma Thomas for readers.  We understand the foundation upon which her life was built through discussions of her parents.  Our admiration grows for her page by page as we are told of her dedication to the children in her community.  Everything she does is framed by the historical period in which she lived and worked.  We are told how barriers did not define her.  (To think that only a little more than sixteen years of her life were for her art is astounding.)  Here is a passage.

She fell back on the grass

beneath popular trees

and gazed at quivering yellow leaves

that whistled in the wind.

Alma waded in the blue hues of a brook

and basked in the warm glow of sunsets.

I don't know about you, but when I look at the front, right, and back, left, of the open dust jacket, I want to dance and laugh.  How wonderful that Alma Thomas's style of painting frames her as she paints the title text.  To the left of the spine, we are brought close to a portion of one of her paintings with lines on the right side.  Both of these visuals vibrate with shades of expressed joy.  Portions of both the front and the back are varnished.

You will be hard pressed not to gasp at the sight of the book case.  Spanning both the left and right sides is a series of circles, centered at the spine, in hues of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  Each is made with Alma Thomas's signature brushstrokes.  

The opening and closing endpapers are a dark bright pink.  On the title page, the same text as shown on the dust jacket is framed by a series of circles on a crisp white background.  Prior to the narrative beginning, Alma is shown painting a large canvas.  This has a wide border around it in colorful shapes.  She stands below the first above-noted quote.

For this book by Loveis Wise 

used Adobe Photoshop to create the digital illustrations.

Each double-page picture, full-page image and full-page image framed in white reaches out and wraps around the reader.  We become a part of the pictorial interpretation of the narrative.  Every visual feels alive.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  The background is dark, nearly black, but textured with other colors.  Spanning nearly both pages, right crossing the gutter to the left, is one of Alma Thomas's paintings.  It is bright yellow with circles and lines in reds, greens, blues, and white.  On the far left, in the lower corner, stands Alma painting.  She is wearing a brightly colored dress, glasses, and white shoes.  She is smiling.

Her life choices as shown to us in Ablaze with Color: A Story Of Painter Alma Thomas written by Jeanne Walker Harvey with artwork by Loveis Wise was to teach joy and spread joy through art education and art.  It was never her goal to be the first of anything, but she was, which is beautiful and most well-deserved.  At the close of the book are an author's note, illustrator's note, a timeline comparing Alma's life with historical moments in the United States, and lists of sources, notes, and references.  You most definitely will want a copy of this book in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Jeanne Walker Harvey has accounts on Pinterest and Twitter.  Loveis Wise has accounts on Behance, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is an educators' guide.  The cover reveal is hosted by librarian and writer John Schu at his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  This title is highlighted at The Children's Book Review and School Library Journal, The Classroom Bookshelf.

Up In Flames

Having grown up in the Midwest, most people are familiar with one particular tragic historical event.  In fact, it's probably covered in numerous classrooms throughout the United States for its significance as a life-changing disaster and for how people responded to it.  It lasted for more than thirty agonizing hours.

It happened in Chicago, Illinois in the month of October 1871.  History Comics: The Great Chicago Fire: Rising From The Ashes (First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, June 30, 2020) written by Kate Hannigan with art by Alex Graudins is one of the first volumes in a new graphic novel series of narrative nonfiction.  You'll have to remind yourself to breathe as you race from one horrific moment to the next with siblings separated from their parents.  Facts are deftly woven into the thoughtful narrative and stellar artwork.

It's about eight o'clock p.m. on October 8, 1871 in Chicago, Illinois.  J.P. (John Patrick) and Franny are gathering rambunctious puppies who need to return with their visiting aunt and uncle,  Both the children's family and their neighbor Kate O'Leary are to receive a puppy when they are old enough to be separated from their mother.  As their relatives leave and the children do evening chores, there is the smell of smoke in the air.  To the children's dismay, they also discover one of the puppies has been left behind by their Aunt Maggie and Uncle Daniel.  They race after the retreating wagon trying to catch it.

There is currently a drought in the Midwest.  Prior to this Sunday, fire crews battled twenty-four fires in less than a week and they just completed an eighteen-hour shift.  To this day there are still discrepancies in whether the fire alarm call box was used in a timely manner.  By the time the alert is sounded, it is too late.  The fire is out of control.  The children cannot return home.

Crowds of people along with the children and the pup they've named Lucky are fleeing toward the business district.  They believe they will be safe on the other side of the river.  Rumors are already spreading about the cause of the fire.  Sentiments against the Irish, Catholics, and immigrants run high.  The most prevalent theory is the fire originated in Kate O'Leary's barn as she was milking her cow.  To everyone's horror the fire jumps the river.

It is as if the fire is alive chasing down victims.  Everyone regardless of their status or station in life is in peril.  Think about this---

At places, the fire stretched 1,000 feet wide and 100 feet high.

To add to the confusion the children are facing, Lucky escapes from J. P.'s grasp. (When J.P. finally finds Lucky, this affords us the opportunity to see the entire city on fire.) Prominent public places are being destroyed including the city's waterworks.  Suddenly there is no water, along with no gas for the city lights.  In darkness, people make their way toward Lake Michigan.  Like many tragedies, the Chicago Fire brings out the best and worst in people.  Franny and J.P. walked and searched for their parents among the multitude of homeless people all day Monday until they reached Lincoln Park late that evening.  Finally, it starts to rain.

In the subsequent pages we, through Franny and J.P., see how the city and the country respond to the fire and the city's inhabitants.  We are taken twenty-two years in the future to June 21, 1893 in an enlightening final twenty-two pages.  It is in the evening at the World's Columbian Exposition.  Through the extended families of J. P. and Franny we discover how building materials, architecture, engineering, the fire department and firemen are changed by the Great Chicago Fire.  We are also privy to the wonders present at the World Columbian Exposition.

Regardless of the number of times you read this book, you are fascinated, and captivated each and every time.  Kate Hannigan, through meticulous research, presents a gripping story with conversations between the characters and other residents of the city.  During the course of these conversations and encounters, historical figures are introduced with additional information about them.  At various points during the events, in keeping with the flow of the story, more facts are presented about conditions before the fire, how fire alarms were sounded, prejudice against certain groups, different theories about the fire's origination, how Mrs. O'Leary and her cow were stigmatized, then and in the future, specific buildings and their collapse and the response from people everywhere, even Queen Victoria and the people of Britain.  The details Kate Hannigan includes in the portion about the World Columbian Exposition are impressive.  Here is a passage with conversation and historical additions.

We've got to find Lucky's mother soon.  He's gone too long without milk.

Don't worry, Franny, surely the worst is---

KA-BOOM!

. . .behind us?

Trying to contain the blaze, the mayor okayed Civil War veteran General Philip Sheridan to blow up strategic buildings in the fire's path.

Winds whipped the flames, and the fire advanced anyway.

Featuring the children above the title banner with the blazing fire beneath them is certain to grab readers' attention.  Careful readers will see Lucky tucked inside J. P.'s shirt.  The facial expressions on the children convey the urgency of their situation.  This is the first glimpse we get into the historically accurate look at the buildings, and period clothing depicted throughout the book.  To the left, on the back, is an interior image of J. P. looking down from atop a building at the expanse of the blaze.  On my paperback copy, this is where the blurb is placed.

A double-page image in sepia tones gives readers a bird's eye view of the city, fire, and Lake Michigan on the title page.  Several wordless horizontal panels on two pages begin the visual interpretation by artist Alex Graudins.  Page turn by page turn the panels vary in size to accentuate the pacing of the narrative.  Sometimes an added image will be inserted within another illustration for clarification. At times a single illustration will be shown in several panels.  Other times portions of newspapers or posters or maps are shown.

 Conversations are displayed in speech bubbles.  The extra historical facts are placed on old-looking paper along the top or bottom of an image.  Sound effects, body postures, and looks on the characters' faces add to the emotions of each minute.

One of my many, many favorite images is a half-page panel at the bottom of a page.  It shows Franny and J. P. walking among a crowd of people from various ethnic and social backgrounds.   Some are carrying the only possessions they managed to save.  In the distance you can see smoke and flames.  In the lower, right-hand corner a man with a chicken on his shoulder is saying:

We'll never stay ahead of the fire devils!

This is shown in a speech bubble which breaks a white frame drawn around his upper body and head to draw our attention to him.

You'll want to plan on having multiple copies of History Comics: The Great Chicago Fire: Rising From The Ashes written by Kate Hannigan with art by Alex Graudins for your professional collections.  Readers will reread this and then pass it to other readers.  For history connoisseurs, this is a must-have title for your personal bookshelves.  At the close of the book is an author's note, timeline, map of the city today with marked places of interest, an article titled Great Fire Sites to Visit in Chicago Today, and another titled Fast Facts About Chicago & the Great Fire and a bibliography and resources including books, museums, newspapers, and websites.

To learn more about Kate Hannigan and Alex Graudins and their other work, please access their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Kate Hannigan has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Alex Graudins has accounts on Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior images.

Sleuth And Truth

There are any number of reasons a book ends up on your to-be-read stack.  In the case of one of my most recently read titles, a middle grade novel, it was first a reference made on social media about the illustrator creating the artwork for the dust jacket and interior images.  This particular illustrator, John Hendrix, is respected for his signature depictions of history.  His interpretations and details direct our attention to the most fascinating aspects.  

. @hendrixart Lou Grant really likes your cover illustration for The Detective's Assistant. 😺 https://t.co/LPpCFhTSJR

— John Schu (@MrSchuReads) April 4, 2015

When mystery, history, Chicago, and two spirited female characters are words used to describe the story, the intrigue heightened.


A copy, ordered in February, of The Detective's Assistant (Little, Brown And Company, April 7, 2015) written by Kate Hannigan arrived shortly after the release.  Weeks went by with the cover and promise of a marvelous tale calling to me.  I finally ordered another copy in audio format so every time I drove my car, I could follow the adventures of the characters.  (At this point I have to admit, I did, more than once, sit in my driveway and garage unable to stop listening.)



Before the first page, a single eye looks directly at the reader with the words

"WE NEVER SLEEP"

written beneath the picture.  This is, as you will soon discover, the logo for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.  With a page turn, the narrator, Cornelia, begins the story.

Chapter 1
In Which I Find Myself on the 
Doorstep of a Pickled Onion

You're expecting me to do what?" snapped a peevish voice from the other side of the heavy wooden door.  It opened just a few inches to allow a single blue eye to survey me up and down.  "Take in this gangly urchin you claim is one of my kin?" One look tells me the child hasn't made the acquaintance of a bar of lye in a good many years, not to mention been in the same two-mile vicinity of a comb."

Cornelia, Cornie to her friends, has been left at her only remaining relative's door in a Chicago boarding house; the Right Reverend Abernathy having thrown paperwork toward the woman and skedaddled down the stairs and out into the street.  Her widow aunt, Kate Warne, who she calls Aunt Kitty, wants nothing to do with Cornelia including her name.  Within minutes Cornelia has been given the title of Nell Warne.  Now in all fairness to Kate Warne, you can understand her indifferent, rigid attitude toward Nell once the past is revealed.  Nell's recently deceased father, who was shot to death, had years earlier accidentally, under mysterious circumstances, shot his brother, Matthew Warne, Kate's husband.

To Nell's utter distress the next morning her aunt announces her intention to place her in the Home for the Friendless newly located on Wabash Avenue.  Thankfully a pickpocket, Nell's quick thinking and an injured knee alter the course of events for that day.  The next morning a routine is established with Nell helping the owner of the boarding house, Mrs. Wigginbottom, with shopping to help ease the newly inflated rent due to her presence.

Nell is astonished to learn during a trip to town her aunt's occupation as a detective in the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.  One thing you should know about Nell is while her command of the English language in speaking and writing is not refined, she enjoys keeping up-to-date on the latest happenings by being an avid reader of newspapers.  You can't imagine Nell's surprise when an ad in the paper announcing the presence of the Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter, Madam L. L. Lucille, a fortune teller, turns out to be part of a plan to snare a criminal.  Aunt Kitty is masquerading as Madam L. L. Lucille and at the last minute Nell will be playing a part in the ruse.

This is the first in a series of cases in which Kitty and Nell work together along with the other detectives at the agency even though it's due to circumstances rather than choice by Kate.  Her determination to find another place for Nell is met in full measure with Nell's desire to stay with her at the boarding house.  The tension between them ebbs and flows as respect for each other grows.

In letters received and sent to her best friend Jemma, a free-born African American, now living in safety in Canada, we come to have a clearer picture of the night Jemma's family ran to freedom and Matthew Warne was killed.  As pieces in each case for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency are put together to create a solvable whole, Nell works to clear the name of her beloved daddy, Cornelius.  A meeting with the Maple Tree and a harrowing train ride with a disguised distinguished guest ease and elevate anxiety and fear. As the pace quickens when pages are turned, readers' hearts will race as we are lead to a conclusion blended in liberty, inevitable war and the strength of family.


When you read the words penned by Kate Hannigan you are well aware of two things:  her meticulous research and skill as a storyteller.  Like her character Nell she can tell a captivating tale.  Several techniques add to the experience of the reader.  Each chapter is captioned with a statement alluding to the nature of the events to come;

In Which I Share My Woe
with My Best Friend, Jemma

In Which I Fall Victim
to the Silent Sit

or

In Which Aunt Kitty Transforms 
into a Southern Belle, and 
I Get a Bit Choked Up.

Nell's descriptions of her surroundings, the details of the cases and disguises worn, and the conversations between all the characters are like stepping into the years of 1859 to 1861.

The letter writing between Jemma and Nell is a brilliant bridge between the present and the past.  The girls each hint at the truth of both their lives, then and now.  They devise a cipher system for conveying information.  Too much said by either of them could put family members in danger as well as themselves.

Here are some sample passages from the book.

Aunt Kitty pounced on me as if I'd uttered a profanity right there on Washington Street for all to hear.  Color rose up in her cheeks and turned them as red as radishes.
"Why would Mr. Pinkerton hire me, a woman?  Because I can go where a man cannot---I can befriend the wives and girlfriends of criminals, and I can worm out their secrets.  I can go where no one suspects me.
"And because I was not put on this earth to spend my days filing a man's papers or writing down every word he utters---nor washing trousers and darning his socks.  Because I can do most any job a man can do, and maybe even do it better.
"I can do great things, Nell Warne.  And so can you."

"School," she repeated.  "You need the firm hand of a schoolmarm, Nell.  We will enroll you today."
She sounded determined.  It was time to take drastic measures.
"Aunt Kitty," I began, trying out her same cool delivery just to see how it would go over, "these schools here in Chicago have seventy, maybe one hundred kids in each classroom.  If you make me go, I'll catch the croup and die before Christmas."
She did not look moved.
"Or I might pick up foul language and rough habits."
She merely cleared her throat and dusted at her sleeve.
I was not getting through.
"Or even worse," I whispered, watching her lean in a bit closer to hear me.  "Head lice."
Aunt Kitty gasped and shot both hands to her tidy brown hair.
Conversation over.  I would take my lessons at home.


The Detective's Assistant written by Kate Hannigan is an action-packed adventure brimming with suspense, larger-than-life characters and historical figures, humor and the importance of making and keeping family ties.   Hand this title to anyone who craves a mix of the past with excitement and fear and questions and answers.  As a read aloud this will be outstanding.  It not only gives us glimpses into important places of the day, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the first female detective in the United States but also addresses slavery, abolition and the Underground Railroad.  At the conclusion Kate Hannigan provides an extensive Author's Note, Answers to Ciphers and an If You Want to Read More section.

To discover more about Kate Hannigan please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  You can read several chapters from the beginning of this book at the publisher's website. (Trust me; you will not be able to put this book down once started.)  Take a moment to read this article and interview, Kate Hannigan on Kate Warne: New book brings 19th century detective to life, in the Chicago Tribune.  Enjoy this video interview with Kate Hannigan by Becky Anderson of Anderson's Bookshop.