Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America

Middle Grade Non-Fiction

G/A  Bartoletti, Susan Campbell.  Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America.  Houghton Mifflin, 2015.  240p.  978-0-544-31367-5. 17.99

There is not a lot of information about Mary Mellon available. We know she was Irish, worked as a cook and was a healthy carrier of the typhoid virus. After unknowingly infecting over 20 people with typhoid, Mary was nicknamed Typhoid Mary by the medical community. Bartoletti has pieced together Mary’s story, including her strong spirit and her confinement on North Brother Island. She also brings to light the fact that there were actually many healthy carriers of typhoid and none of them were treated as harshly as Mary was. The facts raise questions about differences in gender discrimination and civil rights. Book includes archival photographs, a timeline, notes and index. Loren Spector, LAPL, Memorial Branch Library

Buried Beneath Us

Middle School Non-Fiction

F/A  Aveni, Anthony.  Buried Beneath Us: Discovering the Ancient Cities of the Americas.  Roaring Brook Press, 2013.  90p.  978-1-59643-567-4.  18.99.

What makes a city? That is what author, Anthony Aveni, attempts to explain in this middle school book. He discusses four different ancient cities in the Americas with four different cultures that archeologists and anthropologists have been studying for years. Discussion includes daily life, religion, how the cities grew and then were eventually destroyed and what we can learn from them. The topic is interesting, but the author often jumps from city to city, making it hard for the reader to remember which city/culture he is referring to. The answers to the questions he poses are not easily found in the text. Better organization of the information would have made the book more reader-friendly. Loren Spector, LAPL, Memorial Branch Library