The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

http://www.barbarakerley.com/image/obj407geo407pg25p25.jpg

Bibliography

Kerley, Barbra.  Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.  The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy).  New York: Scholastic, 2010.  978-0-545-12508-6

Summary

Everyone knows Mark Twain, the creator of legendary characters such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.  It is likely that thousands of biographies have been written about his life, however there was one author who told a different story.  As she entered her teenage years, Twain’s daughter Susy took it upon herself to write a true biography of her father.  Susy was “a frank biographer and an honest one,” and she used “no sandpaper” in telling her father’s story.

Analysis

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) is not your typical biography.  Rather than give a large and detailed overview of Twain’s life, this book focuses on the relationship of father and daughter while giving a taste of Twain’s accomplishments and a glimpse into Susy’s world.  This unusual rendition creates an intriguing story that feels more like a work of fiction than the researched and historical account it is.  An extensive, page-by-page bibliography gives credit to the accuracy of the information while embedded quotations allow the personalities of Susy and Twain to shine through without bias or exaggeration.

The illustrations and layout support the text and further engage the reader in Susy’s story.  Deep, rich colors are a unifying factor in the illustrations, which vary from extremely detailed to simplistic silhouettes, keeping the reader interested in the art.  The biggest layout highlight may be the embedded pages from Susy’s journal, attached to the illustrations on every other page.  Rather than include the words from Susy’s journal entries in the text of the story, they are pulled out and placed as a book within a book, allowing the reader to open the journal entries separately.  Opening the journals and reading the italicized writing allows the reader to feel as though she is peering into Susy’s own journal, reading her original writing.

 Awards and Reviews

*2010 CYBILS Nonfiction Picture Book Award

*Best Children’s Books 2010 – Publisher’s Weekly

*Best Books 2010 – School Library Journal

*Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee

“Kerley and Fotheringham again craft a masterfully perceptive and largely visual biography, this time about the iconic 19th-century American writer. In pursuit of truth, Susy Clemens, age 13, vows to set the record straight about her beloved (and misunderstood) father and becomes his secret biographer. Kerley uses Susy's manuscript and snippets of wisdom and mirth from Twain's copious oeuvre as fodder for her story. The child's journal entries, reproduced in flowing handwritten, smaller folio inserts, add a dynamic and lovely pacing to the narrative, which includes little-known facts about Twain's work.  The text flawlessly segues into Susy's carefully recorded, sometimes misspelled, details of his character, intimate life, and work routine during his most prolific years....A delightful primer on researching and writing biographies, and a joy to peruse.” –SchoolLibrary Journal

“Kerley's conversational, quotation-rich narration effectively complements Susy's insights, and the result is an affectionate portrait of Twain as writer and family man…. Fotheringham's dynamically composed, digitally created full-bleed illustrations, both inventive and appealing, effectively recall the 19th-century setting, and big, swirling lines reflect the flourishes of an ink pen…. A heartwarming tribute to both the writing life in general and the well-loved humorist-oops, sorry Susy… ‘Pholosopher!’” –Kirkus Reviews 

Connections

Susy writes a biography to capture Mark Twain, his strengths and shortcomings.  Choose a member of your family.  In a journal format, write a biography that would give historians a clear picture of what they are like.

Writing an Extraordinary Biography by Barbara Kerley

Barbra Kerley’s Website

Throughout the book, illustrator Edwin Fotheringham incorporated different types of writing into the book’s illustrations – Susy’s journal pages, a newspaper print, one of Twain’s letters that appears as though he is writing it.  Choose a writer or artist to research.  Create a picture book incorporating their writing or art in a similar fashion.

Give students more traditional biographies on Twain.  Have them compare and contrast the styles then write a review of each book explaining its benefits and drawbacks.  Have them include an explanation of which style they like more. 

The Mark Twain Museum