Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant and strong-willed scientist, struggles in the hostile environment of a chemical research institute during the Eisenhower and Kennedy years.
After she gives birth to the daughter of her soulmate, a Nobel-worthy chemist who has died in a freak accident, she ends up hosting Supper at Six. Her scientific rigor and respect for her homemaker audience take her from a local TV fill-in to a national sensation.
What makes this tragicomedy fun is the over-the-top quality of the satire—the villainy of Elizabeth’s detractors and of forces taking children away from loving parents; her dog’s and her kid’s ability to handle sophisticated tasks; the outlandish co-incidences. Plus, I love a good comeuppance.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads
"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…
The author-illustrator spoke at our library, showing both movingly and hilariously how his life informed his books.
He said middle school is the worst, but exhorted the young people in the audience that they can thrive even after humiliation. In this graphic novel, he offers up the 1989 group tour he took to Europe after becoming a laughingstock at school. It’s astonishing how much freedom these young teens have exploring Paris, Munich, London, and more.
I enjoy his visual style, from facial expressions to iconic tourist sights. Dan gets into scrapes (he steals a bike from punks!) and tries new things (disco!). He forges new relationships with harassers (“Barf. Look at how he kisses. I’m happy for him, though.”), new acquaintances, and a girl he likes. She likes him back.
At first, he's right. Stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, Dan doesn't know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, a series of first experiences begin to change him - first Fanta, first fondue, first time stealing a bike from German punk rockers . . . and first love.
Funny, heartwarming, and poignant, A First Time for Everything is a feel-good coming-of-age memoir based on New York Times bestselling author and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat's awkward school…
These are thoughtfully observed, multi-generational stories about people obsessed with science while negotiating relationships and their place in the world. I’ve met some of them in Barrett’s previous books.
Much of the action happens in upstate New York, by the lake where my grandparents had a cottage. One major character, Henrietta Atkins, is first seen as a ten-year-old during the Civil War. She becomes a science teacher who studies moths, helps her sister’s family, and tries to find her place among the natural historians of her day.
A family tree helps keep track of the characters over a century and a half. I especially like the details Barrett’s characters focus on. “…a young heron stabbed at a frog and missed, as if he didn’t yet understand how the surface bent the light and made everything shift position.”
In Natural History, Andrea Barrett completes the beautiful arc of intertwined lives of a family of scientists, teachers, and innovators that she has been weaving through multiple books since her National Book Award-winning collection, Ship Fever. The six exquisite stories in Natural History are set largely in a small community in central New York state and portray some of her most beloved characters, spanning the decades between the Civil War to the present day. In "Henrietta and Her Moths," a woman tends to an insect nursery as her sister's life follows a different path. In "Open House," a young man…
My sheep have had many adventures—driving (badly), sailing (not too skillful at that, either), orbiting the earth (good thing they got help!), and more. Now they’re tired, but it’s hard to settle down. Luckily, a trusty collie comes to the rescue. Like a frazzled parent, he finds ways to help them snooze. Margot Apple’s pictures show the collie loves his work. The rhyming story is also a counting book, and after the countdown, the collie ends up under the haystack, fast asleep.
