Samantha Seiple

Digital audiobook read by David de Vries

Subtitle: Theodore Roosevelt's Amazon Adventure

This is a children’s middle-grade book detailing the expedition to chart a previously uncharted tributary of the Amazon. To say that this journey was treacherous is an understatement. Canoes broke up over waterfalls, native tribes attacked the intruders, their food ran short (huntable game was NOT plentiful), some members of the expedition were untrustworthy, injuries and infection could prove fatal. They had to cut their own path through dense jungle in order to create a portage area around waterfalls they hadn’t anticipated. At one point they had to fell trees to build new canoes!

Then there were the dangerous animals: jaguar, venomous snakes, piranhas and the Anopheles mosquito which carried malaria. Oh, and their fellow adventurers posed a risk as well. One man frequently “stole” extra rations for himself, leaving the others with a quickly diminishing supply. Another’s dire health crisis resulted in his rations being cut off, “since he was going to die anyway.”

The book includes numerous photographs from the journey and other times in Roosevelt’s life. At the end of the story Seiple includes “Teddy’s Travel Tips” with notes on when to go, what to pack and what food and supplies one would need for such a journey. Additionally. she provides a timeline of career highlights in Roosevelt’s life.

It's a great introduction for the younger set on Theadore Roosevelt and this particular historic adventure. Now I need to read Candice Millard’s book on the same episode.

David de Vries does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. He has clear diction and a good pace for this nonfiction adventure story. However, listeners are encouraged to have a copy of the text handy to see the many photos, maps and lists.… (más)

In this book Seiple relates the highlights of Louisa May Alcott’s life before, during, and after Alcott’s short stint as an army nurse during the Civil War. With the extensive use of passages from the letters and journals of Alcott, her family members, friends, and contemporaries, Seiple weaves a compelling narrative that captures and keeps the reader’s interest. Especially vivid are the chapters relating Alcott’s work as a nurse in an army hospital. This is a worthwhile read for those interested in Alcott, the Civil War, and life in the nineteenth century.… (más)

Louisa on the Front Lines by Samantha Seiple recounts the little-known story of Louisa's experience as a nurse and how it affected her life and her writing.

At a time when women were considered to be weak physically and intellectually, Louisa May Alcott challenged every stereotype of her sex, from running through the streets for health to supporting a woman's right to vote

Her father Bronson Alcott's extreme idealism made him unsuitable as a father of a large family. His wife Abby worked any job she could find to support them. Lu took the burden of breadwinner on herself, working in various jobs "suitable" for a gentlewoman and by writing sensational stories. She was expected to marry and thereby help her struggling family but preferred independence. "I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe," she wrote.

When the Civil War broke out, Lu watched the young men march off and felt frustrated with merely sewing "for the boys" and making lint for the hospitals. The establishment of the Sanitary Commission and appointment of Dorothea Dix as superintendent of female nurses led to a call for the first women nurses. A nurse had to be single, over thirty, and "plain." Lu applied and, with her family's blessing, traveled to Washington, D.C. to work in a hospital.

It is all very well to talk of the patience of woman; and far be it from me to pluck that feather from her cap, for, heaven knows, she isn't allowed to wear many; but the patient endurance of these men, under trials of the flesh, was truly wonderful. Their fortitude seemed contagious, and scarcely a cry escaped them, though I often longed to groan for them, when pride kept their white lips shut, while great drops stood upon their foreheads, and the bed shook with the irrepressible tremor of their tortured bodies. from Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott

Louisa wrote Hospital Sketches about her experiences, the first to document life for nurses during the war. It was a sensation during her lifetime. Somehow, we have forgotten this part of her life.

In vivid detail, Seiple recounts the hard work and long hours in a subpar facility, the suffering of the boys, the awful food, the ineffectual medical treatments, the high death rate, and how workers stole from the supplies and the wounded. Lu realized the importance of her role as surrogate mother, sister, and wife for the suffering and dying men.

....at the Hurly burly Hotel, disorder, discomfort, bad management, and no visible head, reduced things to a condition which I despair of describing. from Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott

The experience changed Lu's life. She had seen the world, became close to the dying boys, and had contracted typhus and became mortally ill. Bronson brought Lu back home and she survived, although her health never fully returned.

Having lived fully, profoundly affected by the men she nursed, Lu went on "to create characters and stories that would transcend the page and full her readers' hearts." Including her most famous novel, Little Women.

I very much enjoyed Louisa on the Front Lines. Although it focuses on the few months Lu spent as a nurse, there is enough background information on her family and life to provide a fuller context. The battlefield is brought to life as a background to the men Lu nursed. It is a moving story.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.… (más)

I picked up this title as an audio book through my library because the title intrigued me and I have an interest in history in general, and Civil War history. When I checked it out I did not know that this was a title written for a younger audience. While the target audience meant that Samantha couldn't go into the greater depth and detail that an "adult" book would have offered, I was very happy with the information provided.

Lincoln's Spymaster focuses on Allan Pinkerton, the man behind the most famous detective agency ever in the United States: Pinkerton's Detective Agency. Samantha does a good job of showing us who Allan Pinkerton was, from his assistance during the Civil War in not only keeping Lincoln safe (Pinkerton and his operatives were instrumental in foiling an assassination attempt before Lincoln was inaugurated) to sending out spies for the Union during the war. We also learn about how Pinkerton got started as a detective - he was originally a barrel maker - as well as some of his more famous exploits after the war catching train robbers and murderers. The writing is simple and Samantha sets a good pace. My 12-year-old son really loved the book as we listened in the car, and he's much more interested in fiction than non-fiction, so kudos for writing that captures the imagination and interest of a pre-teen boy.

My quibbles stem more from my perceptions. While knowing that this is a book written to a younger audience I would have liked to have known more about the people in Pinkerton's life. Samantha mentions that Pinkerton was the first (and only) man to hire women as detectives, finding them a valuable asset in his ability to fight crime, but we are not shown any of the exploits of these women in great detail. We also learn very little about Pinkerton's family life or relationship with his wife. Finally, the title of the book suggests more focus on the Civil War period, however Pinkerton's work as Lincoln's Spymaster is covered in just a few chapters. All of these bring my rating down a bit, but I am balancing my own expectations with my understanding that I am not the target audience for the book.

Certainly, if you have children who are interested in history, or even if they aren't and you want to get them interested, Lincoln's Spymaster is a great hook to do that. My son is a voracious reader, but mostly of fiction, so knowing that this book peaked his interest shows that Samantha's book does hit its mark with the target audience. And even though I wanted more, I learned a lot that I didn't know about America's First Private Eye.… (más)