1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kerley, Barbara. 20010. THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY). New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780545125086
2. PLOT SUMMARY
No one truly knows you like your family does. In THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY), thirteen year old, Olivia "Susy" Clemens tells the true biography of her father, Mark Twain. According to her:
"People probably thought they were Mark Twain experts.
But they were wrong, and Susy was 'annoyed.' Greatly."
Susy, "the busiest bee in the household hive," offers her candid and unapologetic accounts of her father's writings, humor, speeches, love of animals, and physical appearance. Indeed, Susy includes her Papa's fine and not-so-fine qualities in her biographical account - "and under the pillow - it all went." That is until her mother discovers her journal and shares it with Papa. "It was the finest compliment he had ever received" and determines to help Susy by providing any additional information she may need to fill in the blanks.
"People probably thought they were Mark Twain experts.
But they were wrong, and Susy was 'annoyed.' Greatly."
Susy, "the busiest bee in the household hive," offers her candid and unapologetic accounts of her father's writings, humor, speeches, love of animals, and physical appearance. Indeed, Susy includes her Papa's fine and not-so-fine qualities in her biographical account - "and under the pillow - it all went." That is until her mother discovers her journal and shares it with Papa. "It was the finest compliment he had ever received" and determines to help Susy by providing any additional information she may need to fill in the blanks.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Susy Clemens' real life biography of her father, currently held at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, inspired Kerley to write this book about Mark Twain. Kerley studied a microfilm of the manuscript (with notes and comments by Mark Twain) along with excerpts from Twain's autobiography and additional sources to compose her account. All sources are listed on the inside back cover of THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY). Kerley's picture book biographies have been praised for their "accuracy, dynamism, and flair" and her account of Mark Twain does not disappoint.
The perspective of two texts running through the pages of this book provide a unique experience. One is Kerley's account of Susy's idea of her father, and the other is Susy's actual observation of her father with direct quotations from the journal she kept under her bed between 1885 and 1886. While the book's large graphic pages are filled with full digital color and accounts of Mark Twain's life, mini journal booklets are placed throughout various spreads. When opened, the Journal mini booklets provide direct accounts from Susy's biography (spelling and grammatical errors included). So, in the end the audience gets just what "Susy thought they needed: a portrait of the funny, serious, absentminded, cat-loving, billiard-playing, philosophical Papa - the extraordinary Mark Twain."
Reference aides include Author's Notes of Papa and Susy, a detailed How-to for kids interested in writing their own biography of a family member (printable page available at www.Barbarakerley.com/teachers.html), a selected time line of Mark Twain's life, and a full list of sources for each quote included in Kerley's book.
The perspective of two texts running through the pages of this book provide a unique experience. One is Kerley's account of Susy's idea of her father, and the other is Susy's actual observation of her father with direct quotations from the journal she kept under her bed between 1885 and 1886. While the book's large graphic pages are filled with full digital color and accounts of Mark Twain's life, mini journal booklets are placed throughout various spreads. When opened, the Journal mini booklets provide direct accounts from Susy's biography (spelling and grammatical errors included). So, in the end the audience gets just what "Susy thought they needed: a portrait of the funny, serious, absentminded, cat-loving, billiard-playing, philosophical Papa - the extraordinary Mark Twain."
Reference aides include Author's Notes of Papa and Susy, a detailed How-to for kids interested in writing their own biography of a family member (printable page available at www.Barbarakerley.com/teachers.html), a selected time line of Mark Twain's life, and a full list of sources for each quote included in Kerley's book.
4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS
Megan Dingee (Kutztown University Book
Review, Spring 2011)
For readers looking for true, honest accounts of the author Mark Twain, this is the book for you. This story is told from perspective of his daughter Susy. It has excerpts of her diary, that include details about her father that cannot be found in other biographies.
For readers looking for true, honest accounts of the author Mark Twain, this is the book for you. This story is told from perspective of his daughter Susy. It has excerpts of her diary, that include details about her father that cannot be found in other biographies.
Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
Kerley and Fotheringham (What
to Do About Alice? \n) pair up again to offer a
behind-the-scenes glimpse of another famous family. Wanting to present a
portrait of her papa beyond that of just humorist and author, Mark Twain’s
13-year-old daughter Susy spent a year chronicling her observations and
reflections. While her entire work was published in 1985 (Papa:
An Intimate Biography of Mark Twain \n), Kerley contextualizes
the teenager’s admiring musings with vivid familial backdrops.
Kerley and Fotheringham (
5. CONNECTIONS
*Read other biography
books by Barbara Kerley such as
WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
*Visit www.Barbarakerley.com/teachers.html
to begin writing your own extraordinary biography.
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