Monday, March 4, 2024

Let's Bust a Recap : Riding Freedom

I recently pulled this middle grade book out of a Little Free Library in my brother's neighborhood in LA. (I also went to The Last Bookstore and ended up having to ship all the books I bought back home to myself because I couldn't fit them in my luggage, but that's neither here nor there.) While most of the books I acquired on my trip will probably sit on my shelves for a while before I get around to reading them, this one I brought home specifically to read out loud with my niece and nephews so I found myself reading it this past weekend a mere week after I added it to my library. 

And it was so good. When we finished the last chapter, I looked up at my niece and exclaimed out loud, "That was such a good book!" 

First of all, Pam Muñoz Ryan dedicated her excellent book "To Women of Substance" and proceeded to name six such women. If you've been around any length of time, you know a good dedication will get me and this one did. The subject of her 1998 fictional biography is Charlotte "Charley" Darkey Parkhurst who lived from 1812 to 1879 and is thought to be the first woman to cast a vote in a presidential election in the United States—a whopping 52 years before women were afforded the right to vote in federal elections in this country. Running away from the boys orphanage she was raised in when she was about twelve years old, Charlotte spent the rest of her life posing as a male in order to live independently and became one of the finest stagecoach drivers on the West Coast during the Gold Rush era of our country, despite losing the sight in one of her eyes after a horse kicked her. She managed to keep her female identity a secret her whole life and was only found out when her neighbors came to lay out her body for her burial. 

I really appreciated Pam Muñoz Ryan's note in the back of the book explaining the facts we actually know about Parkhurst and what she added to flesh out her short novel. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book and enjoyed getting to learn about this little known historical figure who led such a mysterious and interesting life. My niece and nephew loved it too, especially looking at the illustrations by Brian Selznick that are sprinkled throughout the book. I grabbed this book thinking my niece would be interested in the horse storyline and ended up being fascinated myself by One-Eyed Charley and her brave life. I would have actually liked it to be longer, but given how little we actually know about Parkhurst, I think Muñoz Ryan did a wonderful job keeping it factual and to the point. I had so much fun reading this aloud with my niece and nephews, but would honestly recommend it whether you're reading it with kids or not. Great story, great piece of history. 

Has a good book ever opened your eyes to a little known piece of history you wouldn't have learned about otherwise? 

8 comments:

  1. Pretty much any book that has any historical content, seeing as how I’m not usually very much into history. 😂

    I’m really glad you enjoyed this book and that the author tried to stay as true to what little was known about Charley as possible. It’s starting to be a non-negotiable for me, especially when an author is writing a fictional retelling of a Bible character’s story, when they take way more license than they should with that character’s…well, character 😅

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    1. Have you ever read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom?

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    2. Not yet, but I own it :)

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  2. This is Lyndsey and Addyson, it won’t let me sign in to comment. 🙄

    Addyson read this a couple years ago and she really liked it and said it was 💯 a book she would read again one day! 😍

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    1. Oh yay! I immediately thought I might need to re-read this one when they're here next month, but I'm glad she has already read it! 💛🇺🇸🐴

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  3. clocking the shout out; I was there when this was found! makes me happy that it is good and you enjoy it too.

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    1. Dude, the LFLs in your neighborhood are 🔥

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