In women's history month, we think first of historical heroines like Harriet Tubman or Eleanor Roosevelt. What about women who dealt with the difficulties of being different in times of convention? Being a fan of both historical fiction and original characters, I am pleased by several new children's book releases which show heroines negotiating unjust societies.
Emily McCully's Starring Mirette & Bellini (Putnam, $15.95; ages 7 and up) is a companion to her Caldecott-winning Mirette on the High Wire. Her first book is a hard act to follow, but McCully triumphs and we see Mirette's determination and dedication in a very dangerous situation. Mirette learned tight rope walking in the first story and by the second she's touring Europe with Bellini. She has yet, however to learn the Death Walk, where one walks blindfolded up an inclined wire. Mirette finds the concentration and courage to perform this feat when she rescues Bellini from a Russian jail after he has spoken out about freedom. Viewing the sadness of turn of the century Russian poverty of body and soul through the eyes of a young child, McCully also takes her characters from small community to larger world where they walk the wire showing people "that everything is possible!"
Michelle Dionetti's Painting the Wind (Little Brown, $15.95; ages 6 and up), published by Little Brown, is a fictionalized story about Vincent van Gogh. This famous artist is seen through the eyes of Claudine, a poor child who lives in Arles, a city that can't keep out the raging mistral wind. Claudine helps her mother clean the houses the man who children call Fou Roux, or Redheaded Fool. "Stay out of the painter's way, " whispers her Maman, "He is crazy. The mistral has blown away his mind." While her mother talks of van Gogh's craziness, Claudine sees the beauty of his work and wishes to paint pictures like his that can talk without words or one that would show her family what she saw inside of him. At the end of the story Claudine defends Van Gogh in the village and has the courage to tell him she likes his paintings. "Do not tell the others, he joked, "or they will make you leave, too and then hands her a small painting blazing with sunflowers. The author's words embrace the poetry of the man's life and of artists who have the courage to see differently. As if story weren't enough, illustrations by Kevin Hawkes play Van Gogh's palate and style, adding elements that add visual discussion to a story that demands talking about.
Susan Pfeffer's Justice for Emily (Delacorte, $14.95; ages 10 and up) is a sequel to her first book, Nobody's Daughter. The first story ends dramatically when eleven year old orphaned Emily, dispossessed of family and social standing, witnesses the murder of another orphan by three haughty advantaged girls. The sequel tells of her need to have the truth triumph despite small town prejudice which relegates its orphaned children to a status of social pariah. Whether in police station or school, Emily is continually denigrated and shamed. Happily she has support. Two kindly women nurture her both physically and emotionally and she makes her first real friend, the daughter of a union organizer and suffragette. From these people Emily learns that kindness and honesty can defeat the cruelty of a society based on strict social order.
Frances Wood's book, Becoming Rosemary (Delacorte, $14.95; ages 11-14) , captures a thoughtful heroine from a 1790's North Carolina farm. From the start, we know Rosemary and some of her family members are uncommon and that their differences might be dangerous. Rosemary's mother is a clairvoyant healer and her sister Con speaks without words, laughs mostly inside, and can be miles away from her books and their pages mysteriously turn as she reads them. The author gives Rosemary a lyrical voice perfectly crafted to show her unusually sensitive link with nature. Bit by bit Wood strips away the veneer of the society. We learn the village is governed by superstitions and ruled by a woman who distrusts anyone with differences and works to fan fears born of ignorance into a witch-hunt atmosphere. In a crescendo ending, Rosemary's sister Con flees from potential harm and her new artist friend also leaves to find a more accepting community. Rosemary, filled with heartache, anger, and confusion, chooses to fulfills her gift when she frees a monarch from a damaged chrysalis by thinking it (and herself) into its true strength and beauty. Magic adds appeal to a story already strong with character depth, beautiful prose and powerful human truths.