Narrowing the list of QuickReads topics was a hard task. We kept the topics that we did not get a chance to write about in a folder. As you can imagine, that folder is quite large. As March is Women History Month, this month’s topic of Freddy’s Favorites is women we greatly admire, but never had the chance to sing their praises in QuickReads.
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Family Pictures Cuadros De Familia
Written and Illustrated by Carmen Lomas Garza
Family Pictures Cuadros De Familia is the first book of three that tells the life story of the author and illustrator Carmen Lomas Garza. Written in both English and Spanish, this book will feel like you are looking at Garza’s family photo album. Each picture is an intimate look at her life when she lived in her hometown of Kingsville, Texas. From ordinary everyday events such as stargazing on the roof with her sister or a day at a fair, the book takes the reader to the Garza and her family.
Books like Family Pictures Cuadros De Familia serves two purposes. One is to capture an important and influential artist’s life story. The other is to serve as a historical record of what life was/is like in the border towns. Every picture in this book is a picture of family, community, and culture. This is a book that shows the author’s roots and also how far she’s come. To me, this books screams ‘This is where I came from and with this book as proof, look at where I am now.’ Family Pictures Cuadros De Familia is truly an inspirational book.
Order Family Pictures Cuadros De Familia from Bookshop Santa Cruz
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Four Pictures By Emily Carr
Written and Illustrated by Nicolas Debon
Emily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer. Everything she did or wanted to do was in conflict with the world she lived in. Carr was an artist when there were very few female artists in the world. She enjoyed painting the native people of Vancouver Island when there was still great prejudice against them. Later in life Carr stopped painting because she wasn’t accepted and was heavily criticized for her artwork. It was many years later, when she met the Group of Seven, that she resumed painting.
The format of this book is in a graphic novel format, and beautifully compliments Carr’s artwork, and life. The purpose of this book is not to tell Carr’s entire life story, but rather to give the background story to four of her artworks. The book begins with Ada and Louisa Outside Cedar Canim’s House, Ucluelet and ends with Scorched as Timber, Beloved of the Sky.
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Lucy Maud Montgomery, A Writer’s Life
Written by Elizabeth MacLeod
Lucy Maud Montgomery began her career as a writer when she was a child living with her grandparents. Her mother died when Montgomery was 2 years old and her father left her in the care of her mother’s elderly and strict parents. She was a lonely child who amused herself by making up stories of things she saw or experienced. Sound familiar? Many aspects of Montgomery’s life can be found in her world famous book, Anne of Green Gables. As a Canadian, I grew up with Anne of Green Gables. It is still one of my favorite books. But I have also become fascinated with Montgomery’s life. Though the story of Montgomery career is interesting, what fascinated me the most was her personal life. Her attitude was very much “…tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it…” even when her husband was showing signs of severe mental illness, and Montgomery had to hide it from the world. The courage it must have taken to keep things together and continue writing the books she did must been astounding.
This book is riddled with pictures and memorabilia from Montgomery’s life. There are snippets of information that further ties Montgomery’s real life to Anne of Green Gables. As 2008 is the 100 anniversary of the publication of Montgomery’s first novel, Anne of Green Gables, this book is a great way to introduce the Montgomery, and to connect her life to her books.
Order Lucy Maud Montgomery, A Writer’s Life from Bookshop Santa Cruz
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Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange
Written by Elizabeth Partridge
Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange is one part history book and one part biography. Written by Elizabeth Partridge, daughter of Lange’s first assistant, this book is full of Lange’s own person pictures as well as those pictures she is most famous for. Just as Lange used her photographs to tell the history of people she sees, Partridge uses Lange’s photographs to tell the history of Lange’s personal and professional life. However, to give context to Lange and her work, Partridge used historical events to help tell the story.
This book gives the readers a fascinating look into the Lange and her photographs. Just as some of her photographs stirred controversy, so did Lange with her life. Most women of her time did not marry a man 20 years her senior, and she constantly battled with the constraints of her duties as a mother and a wife. Often times she left her children in the care of other families or at a boarding school so that she may have the time and freedom to travel and take photographs. Lange never shied away from making difficult decision to help further her work.
Order Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange from Bookshop Santa Cruz