Studyplans

Since I'm writing about books to read when you travel, I need to include this book for before, after, or during visits to the east coast of the United States, especially New York and New Orleans.  Bliss Broyard, however, does much more than describe the area. She tells about her ancestors and how it was living through the decades for those who were black, whether this was readily apparent by looking at the person or not. The full title of the book is One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life - A Story of Race and Family Secrets. Bliss Broyard's father was Anatole Broyard, a columnist and editor at the New York Times Book Review.  I enjoyed this book very much mainly because of the honesty of the writing and the detailed descriptions of the people and places. 

This beautifully illustrated children's book shows and describes frogs in various parts of the world.  It is interesting to learn about them and might also lead youngsters to learn more about the science of an area that will be or has been visited.

Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca by Deborah Kogan Ray is a young adult biography that tells about the life of Sarah (the name white people gave her) Thocmetony Winnemucca.  She was two years old and following the way her native people had lived for generations in what is now the general area of Nevada. She was clever, outgoing, and spoke for her people. The book tells of the hardships she and her tribal family endured as well as the ways that she worked to help them.  This is a well written and illustrated book, if sad, that adds to our current understanding of the area and the people.

Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation by Jon Ferling is an intense book that would be great to read when traveling, or thinking about traveling, in the Boston, Philadelphia, and Monticello, Virginia areas. It explains the background for the Revolutionary War and the contributions that many people made during the war and in the years after it.  Jefferson and Hamilton wanted the United States to develop in different ways and both contributed to the United States we see today.