Scan barcode
A review by stenaros
Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal
5.0
Read for Librarian Book Group
A great example of why people of all ages should be reading nonfiction books written for a young adult audience. From the first first sentence, this book is readable and engaging. I loved how it translated things of yesterday into today's terms. This happens most often with prices of things, but also now I know that a Model A car was approximately the same width as a Ford Focus.
Bluemnthal carefully illustrates the outlaws' story from different angles, taking time to pick through what details probably stem from legend rather than truth. The book also takes time to recognize the people who were murdered during Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree and they present their story as a complex one, rather than just a tale of bad criminals.
One small quibble. Given the attention to translating early-20th century things into modern day, I would have expected Bluemnthal to do the same thing when she mentions people's weight. Bonnie, Clyde, and their associates all grew up in extreme poverty at a time when Americans were smaller from birth to death. Currently, there is a lot of pressure for women and girls to obtain an extremely low body weight, so some context of why a historical figure weighed 81 pounds, and why that would not be the case today, would have been welcome.
Aside from that, this was another great example of the golden age of children's nonfiction we are living in.
A great example of why people of all ages should be reading nonfiction books written for a young adult audience. From the first first sentence, this book is readable and engaging. I loved how it translated things of yesterday into today's terms. This happens most often with prices of things, but also now I know that a Model A car was approximately the same width as a Ford Focus.
Bluemnthal carefully illustrates the outlaws' story from different angles, taking time to pick through what details probably stem from legend rather than truth. The book also takes time to recognize the people who were murdered during Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree and they present their story as a complex one, rather than just a tale of bad criminals.
One small quibble. Given the attention to translating early-20th century things into modern day, I would have expected Bluemnthal to do the same thing when she mentions people's weight. Bonnie, Clyde, and their associates all grew up in extreme poverty at a time when Americans were smaller from birth to death. Currently, there is a lot of pressure for women and girls to obtain an extremely low body weight, so some context of why a historical figure weighed 81 pounds, and why that would not be the case today, would have been welcome.
Aside from that, this was another great example of the golden age of children's nonfiction we are living in.