CYBILS JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH NONFICTION NOMINEES: The Dozier School for Boys/Enemy Child/The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets
ABOUT THE BOOK
Some true crimes reveal themselves in bits and pieces over time. One such case is the Florida School for Boys, a.k.a. the Dozier School, a place where--rather than reforming the children in their care--school officials tortured, raped, and killed them. Opened in 1900, the school closed in 2011 after a Department of Justice investigation substantiated allegations of routine beatings and killings made by about 100 survivors. Thus far, forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle and her team from the University of South Florida have uncovered fifty-five sets of human remains. Follow this story of institutional abuse, the brave survivors who spoke their truth, and the scientists and others who brought it to light.
REVIEW
Beginning with the fire that destroyed a dormitory in 1914, Murray takes the reader through a brief history of what came to be known as The Dozier School for Boys. Over the hundred plus years of its existence, thousands of boys and at times girls attended the school. Built to be a reform school, it was intended to educate and create adults of reformed character. But from the beginning students were mistreated. This mistreatment took many forms. The education offered was poor and sometimes non-existent. When combined with the hard labor the students were required to perform, one wonders about the mental, emotional, and physical health of the children who attended the school.
After describing the problems inherent in the way the school was run, the author presents information and survivor testimony revolving around the torture and rape that occurred at the school. Admittedly this was the hardest part of the book to read. The next chapter presents the stories of a handful of survivors who have chosen to speak out about their experiences. It was hard to read about the abuse they experienced at the hands of those who should have been helping them.
The rest of the book focuses on the survivors efforts to reveal the secrets the school had been keeping for so long and the results of their efforts. The investigations that were made, the reunions that were held, and the forensic work conducted around the school's cemetery. While informative, this section of the book is ultimately unsatisfying. By the time these investigations took place, there wasn't much to find. Out of the fifty or so bodies found in the cemetery only a handful were identifiable. And none of the remains were in good enough shape to provide any definitive answers. Still the survivors continue to speak out and their efforts did help lead to the closure of the school in 2011.
An informative book on a difficult topic, The Dozier School for Boys, gives the reader a glimpse into a modern day tragedy that stretches back into the past. I didn't look at a physical copy of the book so I can't speak to the effectiveness of the book's design, but as far as the content goes, it's a well-written and solid account.
The Story of Norman Mineta, A Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II
ABOUT THE BOOK
It's 1941 and ten-year-old Norman Mineta is a carefree fourth grader in San Jose, California, who loves baseball, hot dogs, and Cub Scouts. But when Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, Norm's world is turned upside down.
One by one, things that he and his Japanese American family took for granted are taken away. In a matter of months they, along with everyone else of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, are forced by the government to move to internment camps, leaving everything they have known behind.
At the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, Norm and his family live in one room in a tar paper barracks with no running water. There are lines for the communal bathroom, lines for the mess hall, and they live behind barbed wire and under the scrutiny of armed guards in watchtowers.
Meticulously researched and informed by extensive interviews with Mineta himself, Enemy Child sheds light on a little-known subject of American history. Andrea Warren covers the history of early Asian immigration to the United States and provides historical context on the U.S. government's decision to imprison Japanese Americans alongside a deeply personal account of the sobering effects of that policy.
Warren takes readers from sunny California to an isolated wartime prison camp and finally to the halls of Congress to tell the true story of a boy who rose from "enemy child" to a distinguished American statesman. Mineta was the first Asian mayor of a major city (San Jose) and was elected ten times to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked tirelessly to pass legislation, including the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. He also served as Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation. He has had requests by other authors to write his biography, but this is the first time he has said yes because he wanted young readers to know the story of America's internment camps.
Enemy Child includes more than ninety photos, many provided by Norm himself, chronicling his family history and his life. Extensive backmatter includes an Afterword, bibliography, research notes, and multimedia recommendations for further information on this important topic.
REVIEW
Andrea Warren has written a compelling account of Norman Mineta's childhood experiences in a Japanese Internment camp. After giving some background about Norman's family and life before the camps, the author then follows Norman as he and his family travel to the camps and set up a new life there. Providing background information about the camps while sharing specific experiences of Norman and his family gives the reader a nice combination of external and internal views of the camps. The way Japanese Americans were treated was appalling. What was impressive was how most Japanese Americans worked hard to build as decent a life for themselves as they could within the limitations they were given. Warren presents the reader with a nice overview of camp life while integrating many of Norman Mineta's specific experiences. She looks at everything from building a home in a small space, to meals and laundry, to recreation and education. Norman Mineta's life after the camps is also highlighted at the end of the book allowing the reader to see the man he became and how he didn't let his difficult experiences stop him from becoming a successful person and influential politician. He even played a key role in helping get reparations from the government along with an apology. A powerful and well-told story that provides an important look at the consequences of some of the awful decisions that have been made in the United States history. Highly recommended.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When they were born on May 28, 1934, weighing a grand total of just over 13 pounds, no one expected them to live so much as an hour. Overnight, Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie Dionne captivated the world, defying medical history with every breath they took.
In an effort to protect them from hucksters and showmen, the Ontario government took custody of the five identical babies, sequestering them in a private, custom-built hospital across the road from their family — and then, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, proceeded to exploit them for the next nine years. The Dionne Quintuplets became a more popular attraction than Niagara Falls, ogled through one-way screens by sightseers as they splashed in their wading pool at the center of a tourist hotspot known as Quintland. Their faces sold everything from Baby Ruth candy bars to Colgate toothpaste.
In this masterful work of narrative nonfiction, Sarah Miller examines the lives of five identical sisters forced to endure the most publicized childhood in history — and how they survived their turbulent teenage years to forge identities of their own. Impeccably researched, with photos of the Dionnes from birth through adulthood, this is an enthralling, heartbreaking portrait of a unique sisterhood, imbued with the astonishing resilience of the human spirit.
REVIEW
This story of the Dionne Quintuplets and the ups and downs of their lives up to the present day was quite the roller coaster ride emotionally. From the difficult circumstances of their birth and the tremendous efforts made to save their lives up through the building of the hospital and 'imprisonment' of the girls, to their release back to their parents at age 9, their growing up years, and journey to adulthood, Miller tells the story of these five individuals in a accurate and powerful way. I found the book very compelling as well as heartbreaking. The title of the book is very appropriate in that the girls survival was a miracle brought about through the efforts of many, but too many of the decisions made regarding the girls later ended up causing a lot of grief for the girls and their family. Reading about how the girls were separated from their family for nine years, except for brief, and often uncomfortable visits, was sad. There was little chance that the girls would ever have a normal relationship with their parents and siblings after growing up apart from them.
The part of the book that made me the angriest though was reading about how the government took them from their parents to protect them from exploitation and then turned around and exploited them. But then again, during their childhood they were exploited by almost everyone, including their own family. And the money that should have been theirs was generously spent by their family, guardians, and caretakers leaving the girls with financial challenges later. Reading about the challenges the girls carried with them into their futures was also difficult as it became apparent that their childhood left them ill-prepared to cope with the problems of adulthood.
Miller has written a compelling account that has clearly been thoroughly researched and as accurately presented as possible. All biographies should be so well done.
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