Author: Anastasia Suen

From her studio in Northern California, developmental editor Anastasia Suen reads, writes, and edits books for creators of all ages.
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The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey

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The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey
by Alexis O’Neill (Author) and Edwin Fotheringham (Illustrator)

Booktalk: When Melvil Dewey realized every library organized their books differently, he wondered if he could invent a system all libraries could use to organize them efficiently. A rat-a-tat speaker, Melvil was a persistent (and noisy) advocate for free public libraries. And while he made enemies along the way as he pushed for changes–like his battle to establish the first library school with women as students, through it all he was EFFICIENT, INVENTIVE, and often ANNOYING as he made big changes in the world of public libraries–changes still found in the libraries of today!

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Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy

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Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy
by Kenneth C. Davis (Author)

Booktalk: What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders–strongmen–capable of killing millions acquire their power? How are they able to defeat the ideal of democracy? And what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

See how it happened in these profiles of the most notoriously ruthless dictators in history–Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein–by examining the forces in these strongmen’s personal lives and historical periods that shaped the leaders they’d become.

Snippet: Learning from the experience of history requires recognizing the patterns of dictatorships–the Stongman’s Playbook. Each of these profiles as laid out a set of steps that go into the making of a dictatorship. This blueprint typically includes the following:

  • Extreme nationalism that calls for restoring a country’s past glory or greatness.
  • Placing blame in a single group–usually an ethnic or religious minority, or foreign threat.
  • Warning of an emergency, often nonexistent, or responding to severe economic distress that threatens the nation.
  • Calls for “law and order” and eliminating corruption.

    • Nonfiction Monday

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    Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars

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Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars
by Gary Golio (Author) and E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Willie Johnson was born in 1897, and from the beginning he loved to sing–and play his cigar box guitar. But his childhood was interrupted when he lost his mother and his sight. Fortunately for Willie, the music saved him and brought him back into the light. His powerful voice, combined with the wailing of his slide guitar, moved people. Willie made a name for himself performing on street corners all over Texas. And one day he hit it big when he got a record deal and his songs were played on the radio. Then in 1977, his song–“Dark Was the Night”–was chosen to light up the darkness when it was launched into space on the Voyager I space probe’s famous Golden Record. His immortal song was selected for the way it expresses the loneliness humans all feel, while reminding us we’re not alone.

Snippet:

Listen to “Dark Was the Night” by Blind Willie Johnson on Voyager’s Golden Record.

Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Just Between Us: Mother & Son: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal

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Just Between Us: Mother & Son: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal
by Meredith Jacobs (Author) and Jules Jacobs (Author)

Booktalk: A keepsake journal for a mother and son to share stories and dreams, hopes and fears in these challenging times with advice, guidelines, and prompts created by a mother and her son.

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Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents

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The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents
by Kate Messner (Author) and Adam Rex (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Who will be the NEXT president? Could it be you? When George Washington became the first president of the United States, there were nine future presidents already alive in America, doing things like practicing law or studying medicine.

When JFK became the thirty-fifth president, there were 10 future presidents already alive in America, doing things like hosting TV shows and learning the saxophone.

And right now–today!–there are at least 10 future presidents alive in America. They could be playing basketball, like Barack Obama, or helping in the garden, like Dwight D. Eisenhower. They could be solving math problems or reading books. They could be making art–or already making change.

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Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Global Citizenship: Engage in the Politics of a Changing World

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Global Citizenship: Engage in the Politics of a Changing World
by Julie Knutson (Author) and Traci Van Wagoner (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Readers ages 12 to 15 discover the resources and information they need to learn about issues of global concern and strategies for taking informed action, as outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly.

Each chapter centers on a specific human right defined by the United Nations’ “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” focusing on the political, human, economic, environmental, and cultural guarantees born of our common humanity. Readers learn about the history and evolution of citizenship, about past and ongoing human rights struggles, about economic justice, and about environmental sustainability and the climate protests happening around the world. They also learn about cultural appreciation and preservation in an age of global convergence. All of these issues have major ties to the present and align with the values being described by today’s movements, such as Black Lives Matter, which aims to reduce violence toward Black communities and individuals.

The book also has QR codes that can be accessed with a phone or tablet. A list of the QR code URLs also appears in the Resources at the end of the book.

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Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Gridiron: Stories from 100 Years of the National Football League

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Gridiron: Stories from 100 Years of the National Football League
by Fred Bowen (Author) and James E. Ransome (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The National Football League is the most popular sports league in the United States. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is watched by millions of people every year. But it wasn’t always like this. In the last one hundred years, football has changed from a poorly organized, often overlooked sport to America’s favorite pastime. Discover the league’s scrappy beginnings in an automobile showroom, and early players like Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost. Relive the very first championship game, played indoors after a circus had visited, and famous games like the Ice Bowl. See the NFL at war, and meet some of the remarkable athletes who helped desegregate the league. Learn how the draft came into existence, and about the teams that strove for that almost impossible goal–a perfect season.

Snippet:


Hear the author talk about the book.

Nonfiction Monday

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.