Newbery 1965

Shadow of a Bull
Author: Maia Wojciechowska
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Manolo lives in the shadow of his bullfighting father, Juan Olivar.  Will he follow in his father's footsteps?
Verdict: Interesting
My rating: 3 stars


Across Five Aprils
Author: Irene Hunt
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Jethro's family is divided during the Civil War when one of his brothers chooses to fight for the South.
Verdict: Not my thing
My rating: 2 stars

Both books for this year are historical fiction but set in completely different genres.  I was a little wary of Shadow of a Bull because I don't always enjoy realistic fiction involving animals.  I know a little bit about bullfighting from Spanish class in high school but not a huge amount.  Fortunately, Wojciechowska does a great job of simplifying and explaining the bullfighting process to make it accessible to children and the general public.  Manolo is a very well developed character as he struggles with the destiny that everyone else has chosen for him. 

Across Five Aprils was a book I was forced to read in eighth grade.  My teacher absolutely loved it and made us all buy a copy.  I thought it was lackluster then, but, seeing as my opinion has changed on other books I previously read in school, I figured I would re-read it.  Nope, still lackluster in my opinion.  I am not a big fan of Civil War literature and have yet to find something I really enjoy except for the classic Gone With the Wind and Killing Lincoln (which only chronicles the very end of the war).  It would be an interesting read for a Civil War unit, but you might want to do it in literature circles because much of the dialogue is in slang (to make it more authentic I'm sure - I'll admit, I'm not always a fan when the author uses that literary tactic) which can make parts of the text harder to understand for the weaker reader.