NEXT book for Karen Blumenthal: Bio of Steve Jobs

Guess what?
I just read (yesterday!) that our guest author is writing a brand new nonfiction book for young people that will be published in February (2012)-- it's a biography of Steve Jobs. (She's working on other projects, too, but this book has moved to the top of her list.) Here's the story:

From the Children's Bookshelf of PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY (Oct. 27, 2011)
"Steve Jobs Bio for Kids Due in February"
By Sally Lodge
Oct 27, 2011

Macmillan’s Feiwel and Friends will issue what publisher Jean Feiwel describes as "truly an instant book" on February 14, when it releases Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal. Framed by Jobs’s inspirational 2005 Stanford commencement speech and illustrated with photos, the biography emphasizes how this late computer pioneer’s life was never predictable: he dropped out of college after a single semester and, at the age of 20, launched Apple in his parents’ garage with his friend Steve Wozniak. Aimed at readers 12-up, the biography has an adult counterpart in Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs, released this week by Simon & Schuster and currently #1 on Amazon.

"I think Steve Jobs is one of the most important figures of our generation," says Feiwel of her decision to publish the biography. "He is of interest to kids not just for the computers, iPads, and iPods he created, but for who he was and how he lived his life. He was a visionary who was very complicated, and he had his ups and downs, which makes him very human and appealing."

Several days after Jobs’s death on October 5, Feiwel tapped Blumenthal to write the biography. The author is a journalist for the Wall Street Journal and has written a number of nonfiction books for young readers, most recently . "Karen has also written about Jobs previously, so she had already conducted quite a bit of research on him," Feiwel says. "And as a journalist she certainly understands a tight deadline. We wanted to make sure that this would be a worthy biography by someone with excellent credentials."

Isn't that exciting? And she is still squeezing in a chat with us!

Posted by Sylvia Vardell

SIX DAYS IN OCTOBER

I loved this book, so thank you for the impeccable research and thoughtful writing. The human experiences of the text are what made the book particularly compelling for me. I could not help but marvel at Billy Durant’s perspective on money after the turbulence of a lifetime of gaining and losing fortunes: “Many people value money too highly. After all, money is only loaned to a man; he comes into the world with nothing and he goes out with nothing” (Blumenthal, 2002, p. 146). I found many of the stories sobering. The story of the rural car salesman who sold his car dealership for stocks, experiencing the lure of the riches-without-work mentality of the market. He enjoyed the ride until the stock market crash. His words reveal that not only the wealthy and powerful are lured by greed, but the common man struggles with it as well. The other fascinating part of the book is the informational sidebars. While the primary text tells the human story, the sidebars give an outstanding education about stock market terms and operational aspects. As I absolutely consumed the entire book, I repeatedly read parts aloud to my husband until he finally said he wanted to read the entire book himself. Even though you chronicled the events for young people, even adults should read and enjoy this book. Many thanks! (M. Lynne Mays)

Blumenthal, Karen. SIX DAYS IN OCTOBER: THE STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002.

Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Wal-Mart and Became America's Richest Man

Thank you for this interesting and engaging biography of SamWalton. While the story itself was compelling, the added features like “Sam Stories”, “Retail Detail” and “Our Money” are what kept me turning the pages! They provided fascinating facts, trivia, and a visual overview of the story.

One thing that struck me most about Sam Walton was his ability to keep his private life private. In your opinion, how was he able to pull that off? In most instances of notoriety, there are people who are more thanwilling to “tell all” or there are disgruntled friends or family members who have an ax to grind.

Thank you again for writing this book. I’ve already added it to my school library collection!

Posted by Cheryl Read

Mr. Sam

Everybody is familiar with the chain stores Wal- Mart and Sams. I really loved the book. Every time I hear about a documentary about Wal-Mart or Sams, I always read about it. I even watched the 2 hour documentary on the discovery show. These are stores that I have been going to since I was a kid. I really love the photographs in the book, How Mr. Sam Walton Built Wal-Mart and Became America’s Richest Man by Karen Blumenthal. I like to read about success business store owners in hope of getting some tips on becoming just as lucky. Her book is filled with inserts of interesting fun facts. The layout of the book is brilliant with its theme of store coupons and weekly sells ads.

Posted by Amany Isa

Six Days in October Private/Government Reponse

Hi,
I'm also reading "Six Days in October", and looking for parallels and differences between what went on back in 1929 and what happened to the stock market just a few short years ago.

One clear similarity is how bank leadership was trying to escape blame, even attempting to profit from the situation as described in page 103: "During the greatest stock-market decline of all time, Mr. Wiggin (chairman of Chase National Bank) would make a person profit of $4 million." This was done by betting that his own company's stock would go down.

The difference I see is that the government actually took some action back then by creating "the first real national rules for the stock market" (Blumenthal, 141). It would be interesting to delve into how the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 helped to control this type of problem until it's Republican repeal in 1999 (signed by Bill Clinton). I know that banks' holdings of sub-prime mortgages steadily increased after this change. These days, government seems nearly powerless to regulate wall street. It's interesting how history repeats itself.

-David Jurecka

~Six Days in October~

I read your book, “Six Days in October”. Even though my step-father has always had jobs that involved the Stock Market and is always discussing what happened on the New York Stock Exchange that day, I was never really interested in listening to his “speeches”. I chose to read “Six Days in October” because I felt it would give me a chance to understand what exactly it was my step-father had been discussing for all of these years.

I must say, even though I wasn’t interested at all in the Stock Market before reading your book, I was truly intrigued by the information that you presented in this book. The introductory information about life in the 1920’s helped me understand how exciting and carefree everyday life was during this time period. Your book helped me realize the devastating effects that Black Thursday had on the thousands of people who invested their life savings in the stock market, and the strides they had to take to keep themselves afloat trying to save their livelihoods after it crashed. I realized how much of an impact Wall Street had on the economy in the 1920’s and still does today. I found all of the personal information about well known people such as the Marx Brothers, Billy Durant, Mike Meehan, Richard Whitney, John D. Rockefeller, Charles E. Mitchell and Albert H Wiggin to be very informative, and helped me understand these individuals' dedication to the Stock Market.

Your book “Six Days of October” has given me a new interest in the Stock Market. I find myself paying attention to the stock exchange as it scrolls along the bottom of my TV screen when I watch the news. Most of all I appreciate the conversation that I now can have with my step-father that I couldn’t or didn’t care to have before, and I thank you for that.
Christi McCarty

Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX

Thank you so much for telling this story! If not for this book, I would have never known how difficult it was for women to gain equal rights in sports and education. I've always taken those rights for granted, but I won't anymore. I was truly inspired by the supporters (especially the women) who worked tirelessly to ensure that this amendment became a law. Your book serves as a glorious tribute to their continuous efforts to ensure that girls have the same opportunities as boys. Submitted by Kathy Seidel

Surveys or Social Histories?

Your book, Let Me Play: the Story of Title IX, has been described as "one example of an excellent survey style book of informational literature" (Vardell, p. 238). I would argue that it is also a "social history," presenting information in the context of its impact on human history (p. 239). Do you view your work through either of these lenses when you set out to write? What place do you hope for your work to occupy in the canon of informational lit for children?
-Kathleen McKim

Vardell, Sylvia (2008). Children's Literature in Action: a Librarian's Guide. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition Question

I read Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition and I liked how you included individual people's stories. My favorite was Leroy Ostransky’s story about working in his father Sharkey’s saloon. Do you feel that adding these individual stories enables the reader to better connect to the overall history being talked about in your books? Thank you.
Jessica Pollock