These Books Made Me

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This episode marks our final foray into the American Girliverse and our season 1 finale. We delve into the world of Josefina Montoya,  our most introverted girl to date, but possibly the most resourceful. There is a piano disaster (and subsequent miraculous piano healing), a rattlesnake attack (and subsequent semi-miraculous healing), a deceased parent, a deceased goat, and a kind of squicky wedding. We discuss the great blanket gambit of 1824 and decide we may need to rebrand as a Tia Dolores stan account. Josefina introduces us to Florecita, truly the GOAT goat, whose passing we mourn to this day. We reminisce about our own families and traditions as we examine some of the Mexican roots of this series, from language to food to enigmatic musical fathers. We are also joined by a very special expert, Professor Tey Diana Rebolledo, who served on the AG advisory committee and has fascinating insights into the creation and legacy of Josefina.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:
Curanderismo: https://www.calhealthreport.org/2013/05/15/curanderismo-is-alive-and-well-in-america/
History of fiber arts and textiles in New Mexico: https://www.newmexico.org/blog/post/the-colorful-history-of-fiber-arts-in-new-mexico/
Rio Grande blankets and weaving history:
http://www.chimayoweavers.com/HIST.html
https://jamescomptongallery.com/rio-grande-blankets/
Yucca, not yuca (don't eat this kind): https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=YUEL

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On we trek through the American Girls canon as we journey through Addy Walker's world. We explore the formation of the Addy advisory committee, Connie Porter's writing style, and the way the series presents slavery and the Civil War time period to children. We discuss how this Harriet also might be a sociopath and how colorism is depicted in the text and in the illustrations, with a sidebar about the controversy surrounding the Addy illustrators and their work. All of us want to wear Addy's Christmas dress, reminisce about double dutch, and wish we could give poor Sarah (who deserved a spinoff!) a hug. Once again we have some real questions about AG chronologies and the economy of spool puppets. We also talk about the impact of Addy and just how revolutionary the Addy doll's textured hair was. Sadly, we also discover that none of us are all that great at spelling bees. We are joined by a very special guest who is foundational to the creation of Addy Walker and her story.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Links:
The Creation of Addy Walker: https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/the-making-of-addy-walker-american-girls-first-black-doll.html
Connie Porter: https://iridescentwomen.com/2020/02/28/connie-porter-on-writing-the-american-girl-collection-series-addy/
Addy's Hair: https://www.salon.com/2021/05/15/we-were-american-girls-what-addy-taught-me-about-black-hair-freedom-and-myself/
Spelling bee words:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/us/spelling-bee-words.html

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We are diving back into the American Girl canon with Felicity Merriman. Felicity was a second wave American Girl and infamous horse thief. We learn about the author of the original six Felicity books (as well as several of our previous AG books), Valerie Tripp, and wonder whether the gender roles focus in the Felicity books is particularly successful or just kind of confusing. In this episode, we tackle some big issues with the framing of slavery and plantation life in both the fiction and non-fiction parts of the book. We also learn that Kelsey doesn't believe in animal best friends and that Hannah has some grave concerns about what happened to Posey the lamb. We debate whether Ben really has what it takes to make it as a soldier, Ella explores Felicity's historically inaccurate hair and suggests some improvements, and everyone learns that nobody's getting jiggy with it in debtor's prison. We'll also horse around with our community expert, Tara Roberts, who has some insights about that Felicity and Penny relationship.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       

We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:
Isaac and the Role of Black Soldiers in the Revolutionary War
https://www.army.mil/article/97705/black_soldiers_in_the_revolutionary_war
Debtors' Prisons
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100938
Notable Housewives
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/women-in-colonial-virginia/
Horses in Felicity
https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/23/21583105/real-horseback-riding-books-american-girl-meet-felicity
The Many Faces of Felicity
https://dandridgehousedolls.com/2019/06/27/felicity-through-the-years/

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We take a break from the American Girls (in more ways than one!) this week to discuss a British childhood classic of both page and screen, Roald Dahl's "Matilda". Matilda is a quintessential bookworm who uses her unmatched smarts and special powers to triumph over her less than ideal surroundings dominated by neglectful and at times abusive adults. In this episode, Hannah, Kelsey, and special guest/Matilda enthusiast Sarah discuss the eternal art vs. the artist debate, examine the various tropes of womanhood present, and *gasp* - consider whether the movie might be better than the book?! We also talk to Dr. Margaret Peterson from the College of Education at the University of Maryland about the depiction of teachers in children's literature. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Roald Dahl Family Apology for Anti-Semitic comments: https://www.roalddahl.com/global/rdsc-and-family-notice
Analysis of anti-semitism in Roald Dahl's works and personal life: https://time.com/5937507/roald-dahl-anti-semitism/
Racism in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: https://www.processhistory.org/yacovone-dahl-racism/4/
Roald Dahl's life: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/wales/articles/the-story-of-roald-dahl/
Nell Stevens article that Kelsey cites re: at vs. artist debate: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/10/should-we-stop-reading-authors-lives-books-vs-naipaul?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks
Vox article about art and artists: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/11/17933686/me-too-separating-artist-art-johnny-depp-woody-allen-michael-jackson-louis-ck
Arguing that kids SHOULD read things that scare them: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-features/features/2019/february/fear-with-a-safety-net-why-children-should-read-scary-books/
Some things actually just straight up go over kids heads. https://www.bustle.com/articles/177023-why-matilda-was-more-messed-up-than-your-childhood-self-realized
But not everything, which is why parent’s discretion is always suggested. 

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We delve ever deeper into the OG American Girl canon as we explore the pranktastic world of Molly McIntire. We try to decipher the strange recurring chronologies of American Girl books and discuss the highs and lows of the first six Molly books. In this episode we examine the books' decidedly Midwestern-nice spin on World War II complete with casseroles, Victory Gardens, turnip emojis and never-mentioned Nazis. Ella takes us on a spectacle-ular dive into Molly's (or possibly Chekov's) glasses, we struggle with the take home lessons of Molly's glow up, and we ask some hard questions about the serious liability issues at Camp Gowonagin. Additionally, we take a side trip to discuss the book Molly Takes Flight with women's aviation history expert Lauren Deutsch from the College Park Aviation Museum.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                   

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:   
Hula as culture, not costume:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cultural-appropriation-halloween-costume-video
Evacuations of British children during WWII:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-evacuation-of-children-during-the-second-world-war/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/forgotten-wolf-children-world-war-ii
Rationing and victory gardens:
https://www.history.com/news/americas-patriotic-victory-gardens  
    

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We continue our journey through the American Girl book series with Samantha Parkington. Samantha was one of the AG OGs and was released as one of the original three characters in the Pleasant Company catalog. We learn a bit about doll manufacturing and discuss Samantha's first six books and their historical and literary merits. In this episode, we will explore how American Girl frames feminism, suffrage, child labor and questionable interior decorating choices. Kelsey makes a startling disclosure of Munchausen's by doll violence and we are flummoxed by mysterious pregnancies and chronological discrepancies in the American Girl books. We'll also chat with a community expert, Laurie Lemieux of Proteus Bicycles and Brews, to get her take on Samantha's bicycling mishaps and the history of women in cycling.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:
American Girl doll manufacturing information: https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Classic_Mold and https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Pre-Mattel_Dolls
The Manners of the Edwardian Era: https://driehausmuseum.org/blog/view/the-manners-of-the-edwardian-era
What Is the Difference Between Edwardian & Victorian Eras?: https://classroom.synonym.com/difference-between-edwardian-victorian-eras-23230.htm
Child Labor in the United States: https://laborcenter.uiowa.edu/special-projects/child-labor-public-education-project/about-child-labor/child-labor-us-history

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We begin our first foray into the world of juvenile chapter series and the American Girls specifically with the young Swedish immigrant Kirsten Larson. Kirsten was one of the original three dolls released by Pleasant Company, the company that first created American Girl, and in this episode we cover all six - yes, that's right six - books in Kirsten's original series. In this episode, our hosts explore the not-so-great representation of indigenous people, expose the great doll conspiracy baked into the books, and ask whether Kirsten was really quite sorry enough for [spoiler alert] BURNING DOWN HER WHOLE HOUSE. And the bees thing. Plus, our community expert, Dr. Amy Klion of the National Institutes of Health, tells us just how accurate the cholera scene that traumatized all of us as children really was.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Minnesota Historical Society, for more information about Minnesota's history: https://www.mnhs.org/
Information about the two tribes who lived on what is now called Minnesota: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Indigenous_Peoples_of_Minnesota#:~:text=Two%20major%20Native%20American%20tribes,once%20had%20reservation%20land%20there
Information about Swedish immigration to Minnesota:
https://www.mnopedia.org/swedish-immigration-minnesota
More information about Kirsten's bangs: https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Kirsten_Larson and their historical inaccuracy: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qvddqq/a-short-uneven-history-of-bangs

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We had such a good conversation with this second community expert for our last episode, we had to release it as a separate episode. Ella (of Ella's Ephemera fame) chats with St. Mark's Church Historian Sandra Johnson about sharecropping and other related topics in Prince George's County African American history that are connected to the book "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred Taylor.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

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Mildred Taylor originally did not set out to write a children's book when she wrote "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry," yet it quickly became a children's classic and classroom staple for young readers. We'll reexamine this iconic work that unflinchingly examines racism as the children and their parents find ways to push back against the injustices of the Jim Crow South. Our hosts discuss what actually makes a book a children's book, try to guess how much things actually cost in the 1930s (*insert obligatory "how much could a banana cost, $10?"*) and profess their love for the book's most iconic, very 90s, former cover. Plus, we'll hear from Marsha Quarles, a library associate at our South Bowie Branch, about the lasting impact of this book.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

As a beloved historical fiction novel that tackles a difficult and important aspect of American history and that is often taught in schools, there’s a lot of background research to dive into with this book! Here are a few of the key resources we used.

Two articles about recent challenges to the inclusion of this book in school curriculum:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-11-12/burbank-unified-challenges-books-including-to-kill-a-mockingbird
https://www.newsweek.com/kill-mockingbird-other-books-banned-california-schools-over-racism-concerns-1547241
And here’s the title’s listing in the ALA report of the top 10 banned books from the 2000s: https://bit.ly/2SSgkbi. It was most often cited for use of language.

Notably, Roll of Thunder is actually book 4 in a multi-part series about the Logan family. You can see the full series listing here, including the final addition to the series released in 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/series/54001-logans


If you’re interested in learning more about money and inflation from the early half of the 1900s:
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/this-is-what-groceries-cost-the-year-you-were-born/ 

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For our A Tree Grows in Brooklyn expert segment, we reached out to Prince George's County Councilwoman Deni Taveras to reflect on whether Smith's depiction of New York reflected any of her own experiences growing up in New York. The conversation morphed into a much broader discussion about affordable housing and public education and was simply too good to reduce to one segment. We're happy to offer the entire conversation here as our first bonus episode.