Thought for the Day:
“If we could read the secret history
of our enemies, we should find in
each man's life sorrow and suffering
enough to disarm all hostility.”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Sometimes
I think I should just start a blog that does nothing but link to Janice Hardy’s
Fiction University. I am enriched by nearly every post I read there. HERE you
will find a terrific post on empty dialogue, something I am surely guilty of.
I
haven’t posted anything from Kristin Lamb for awhile, but I have to post two
this week on Deep Point of View. They’re terrific. HERE is part one and HERE is part two.
Last week I offered my gently-read ARC of the fun summer read, Drive Me Crazy, by Terra Elan McVoy. I received a nice email from Ms. McVoy, and she kindly offered an autographed book plate for the winner. This week's winner is Sophie Kwak. Congratulations, Sophie! I will be getting the book out to you this week and will forward your address to Terra Elan McVoy for the bookplate. Thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate it.
I have quite a special book for you this week. This is one that should be of interest to everyone, not just young people. Fatal Fever by Gail Jarrow is simply one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. This is not the first book by Gail I have reviewed here. If you missed my review of The Amazing Harry Kellar, you can find it HERE. Anyway, I loved Fatal Fever so much that when I found out it was part of a trilogy of medical mysteries, even though I have little time for pleasure reading, I went right out and found the first book, Red Madness, and read it right through. Absolutely fascinating. Both are well worth your time. I can't wait to find out what the third book will be. Here is the five-star review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.
Early in
the twentieth century, deadly typhoid fever marches across America, striking
down thousands of people in its wake. When the storm of fever comes to Ithaca,
New York, and pummels students at Cornell University, the Commissioner of
Health for the state calls in a sanitation engineer, George Soper, who
prevented disease in other dire circumstances. With Soper’s help, the epidemic
in Ithaca is halted. Shortly, he is called to Oyster Bay, a wealthy area where
one household is badly hit. Soper discovers a woman who had worked at that
home, Mary Mallon, has a history of working in several places hit by typhoid.
Thus begins one of the most interesting manhunts in medical history.
“Something else made the
health inspectors suspicious. After they took the cook’s blood sample, she
suddenly quit her job.”
Author Gail
Jarrow has written an account of a fascinating time in American
history that
reads like a mystery novel and will fully engage readers, young and old. Her
research is impeccable and thorough, and her writing crisp and smart. In
addition, the book is laid out beautifully with plenty of photographs and other
documents of the time to completely captivate readers and keep those pages
turning. This book is not to be missed.
 |
| Gail Jarrow |
This is a hard one for me. I really love this book and hate to part with it, but since my books seem to be breeding, little piles sprouting up spontaneously everywhere in my house, I am going to offer my gently-read, hardback copy to one of you. To win, all you need do is have a
US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment
you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click
HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like
extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet,
blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you
have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for
each that you do.
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.
