Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

 
Book menu for Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

ISBN of edition I read: 9780525953616 (hardcover)

Food mentioned in Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker:
Bread, 63
Cheese, 63
Apples, 63, 220
Roast turkey, 76
Foie gras, 76
Oysters, 76
Fruits, 76
Cakes, 76
Ices, 76
Spun sugar, 76
Punch, 100-101

Books/Authors mentioned in Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker:
Nathaniel Parker Willis (poet), 86
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl / Harriet Jacobs, 107
The Bible: Book of Job, 134-135
Sojourner Truth, 191, 303
MacBeth / William Shakespeare, 206
Phillis Wheatley, 343
W.E.B. Du Bois, 343
Behind the Scenes / Elizabeth Keckley, Chapter 16

Music mentioned in Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker:
"Dixie", 205, 209
"Rally Round the Flag", 208
"Star-Spangled Banner", 208
"Yankee Doodle", 209

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Twelve Years a Slave

 
Book Menu for Twevle Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

ISBN of edition I read:  9780143125419 (trade paperback, movie tie-in cover)

Food mentioned in Twelve Years a Slave :
Fried pork, 25
Gingerbread, 32
Hoe-cakes
Sweet potatoes and bacon, 59, 112
Corncake, 69, 112
Watermelon, 84
Oranges, 96
Peaches, 96
Plums 96
Pomegranate, 95-96
Biscuits and preserves, 141
Tarts, 141, 191
Pies, 141
Frosted cake, 191

Books/Authors mentioned in Twelve Years a Slave:
Uncle Tom's Cabin / Harriet Beecher Stowe, dedication
The Task: a Poem, in Six Books / William Cowper (poet), epigraph
A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin / Harriet Beecher Stowe, 185

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Chasing the Nightbird

 
Book menu for Chasing the Nightbird by Krista Russell

ISBN of edition I read:  9781561455973 (hardcover).

This historical fiction won the 2012 Massachusetts Book Award in the children's/young adult category. Set in 1850s New Bedford, MA, this quick read is filled with the serious business of slave fugitives, whaling, and child labor. Yet, Russell's tale also offers wonderful humor and wit.

Food mentioned in Chasing the Nightbird:
Roast beef and fried potato, 3
Plum duff, 3, 76
Chachupa, 16, 19, 122
Salthorse, 54
Fish stew, 81

Great vocabulary in Chasing the Nightbird :
bilgy, 1
offing, 1
doffed, 3, 18
landlubbers, 3, 7, 11, 14, 23
roil, 5
visage, 7
waylay, 10
bilge, 11
berth, 14
mete, 27
dissonant, 30
leviathan, 57
caul, 60
stevedore, 86
addled, 93
scrimshawed, 109

Literary elements in Chasing the Nightbird :
Personification: page 26 - "Tall windows were menacing mouths with rows and rows of teeth."
Simile: page 33 - "A boy with skin dark as a moonless night at the equator smiled at him."

Discussion questions for Chasing the Nightbird :
1. Each chapter begins with the name and image of a marine knot. How does each knot relate to the novel and to each chapter?

2. Which of the whaleman's "commandments" is your favorite? Which helped Lucky the most?

3. In the first paragraph the narrator explains the belief of seagulls possessing the souls of dead sailors. Whose soul might Delph possess?  What is this seagulls significance to Lucky and his story?

4. Why do think the author named her main character "Lucky"?  What significance does the name "Fortuna" have?

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