Montgomery, Sy. Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. 2012. Lexile 960.
This engaging biography is notable for being about a successful person who's autistic. After overcoming many hurdles, Temple Grandin became a professor, a prominent consultant who designs more humane animal facilities, and an influential activist for animal welfare. Montgomery, who clearly spent time with Grandin, uses a personal, conversational tone in relating Grandin's story. She effectively conveys Grandin's personality and even describes her memento-filled home. Sections alternate between a chronological account of Grandin's life and discussions of her current work, which include a few grim details about slaughterhouses and blood pits. Grandin has made her way in a male-dominated world area of work, while also also figuring out how to deal with aspects of her autism, some of which she believes have given her strengths. Sidebars add information about autism and a useful appendix offers "Temple Grandin's Advice for Kids on the Spectrum," meaning the autism spectrum, followed by a resource list and index.
Website Tie-in: Grandin's 20-minute Ted talk gives a wonderful sense of her energetic personality. She shows slides, discusses the advantages of different kinds of thinking that are characteristic of those on the autism spectrum, and talks about her work with animals. She relates many of her comments to kids and her own younger years.
Reading Std #6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. Because Montgomery spent time with Grandin, visited her home, and talked to her friends and family, this book has a personal feel to it. Have students look for specific evidence of Montgomery's point of view about her subject. Is the biography even-handed? Does she discuss what might be considered Grandin's weaknesses as well as her strengths?
Levine, Ellen. Rachel Carson: A Twentieth-Century Life. 2007. Lexile 1060.
Rachel Carson's ground-breaking book, Silent Spring, was published 50 years ago, in September, 1962. It had been serialized a few months earlier in The New Yorker and
soon became a best-seller. This biography, an entry in the
"Twentieth-Century Life" series, skillfully blends Carson's personal and
professional lives, building to Silent Spring and its
impact. Themes about the value of nature and the importance of
persistence infuse the book. Carson, who was born in 1907, attended a
women's college in Pittsburgh where she was torn between majoring in
writing or science. She chose science but much of her career entailed
writing about science at the federal Fish and Wildlife Service and
through the books and articles that made her famous. She was known for
combining lyrical writing with meticulous, extensive
research. Many quotes from her voluminous correspondence and her books
demonstrate why she gained such a wide audience. In her personal life,
Carson was reserved but had a wide group of close friends and a sense
of adventure. Occasional black-and-white photos show her over the
years. Her story remains relevant because she sounded the alarm about
pollution and other ecological problems we still face. End notes,
bibliography, websites, index.
Reading Std #2: Determine central ideas or themes and analyze their development; summarize key supporting details and ideas. One
theme to consider is how sexism affected Carson's career and other
aspects of her life, which the author touches on repeatedly. Her
doctors knew Carson had breast cancer, which eventually killed her, but delayed telling her. According to the author, it was not uncommon
to "protect" women from bad medical news and tell it to their husbands,
but since Carson was single, no one was told.
