A Student Guide to the Bronte Sisters.

Pasachoff, Naomi. A Student Guide to the Bronte Sisters.
Enslow 2009 160p 27.93 978-0-7660-3267-5 ms/hs
Understanding Literature (Enslow)
An excellent guide for students on the works of the Bronte sisters. Describes their life, their influences and their literary works. The Bronte Sister were exceptional young women with a talent for writing. The most famous the three is Charlotte Bronte who wrote Jane Eyre but her sister Emily is probably equally famous with her book Wuthering Heights. The least famous was the youngest, Anne but her work was also excellent reading, her novel Agnes Grey was also considered worthy of publishing. All three wrote poetry and were very literate young ladies. In the beginning they used names that could be considered male so that their work would not be rejected but once they were able to establish themselves they wrote in their own names. That was quite an accomplishment for the late 1800’ hundreds. They also had a brother who was very talented but his talent was in fine arts. Most of the pictures that exist of the sisters were actually painted by their brother Branwell. This book give the reader biographical information the Bronte Family, it give interpretation of their literary work, explains various literary techniques used in their writing and an interpretation of their body of work. Excellent introduction for high school students. Includes: Chronology, Chapter notes, glossary, major works by the Bronte sisters, Further reading, Internet Sites and Index. Diaz, Magna

An informative biography

Schraff, Anne. Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
Enslow, 2008. 128p $31.93 978-0-7660-2704-6
African American Biographies series

This informative biography of the civil rights activist, teacher, and journalist provides a solid introduction to the life of Ida B. Wells-Barnett. She was an eloquent and passionate woman who fought for justice and against hate crimes such as lynching. An early incident in her life is a precursor to the Rosa Parks protest, when Wells-Barnett refuses to leave her seat in a whites only train car. Most students know about Parks and will be able to relate to this earlier event. There are historical black and white, sepia, and a few color photographs that elucidate the text at the appropriate places as well as sidebars that provide background about the time period. Some primary sources are pictured, such as a photo of Wells-Barnett’s newspaper article. The format includes a chronology, chapter notes, suggestions for further reading, Internet addresses, and an index. Recommended for Tristate Books of Note Series with the caveat that there is an error on page 97 where a caption for a photograph reads: “Mary Church Terrell was another women who advocated for African-American rights.” This should be changed in later printings.
There are twenty-four other biographies in this series that highlights prominent African-Americans. TW