Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery

           One time, long ago, when I was in the fifth grade,  I was wondering around the elementary school library.  That day was the last day, in a week of days, that students got to come into the library BY THEMSELVES to pick a book to adopt and donate to the school library.  I had wanted to adopt a book so badly, but my parents were hesitant to let me, because, as parents who wanted to put four children through college and who worried about money, they were always hesitant to spend money on something that wasn't essential or wasn't a special present for someone. I had spent weeks begging them to let me adopt a book. It seemed so cool, and I loved books so much, and I wanted to have a book with my name in that would be in the school library forever. So finally, they decided that maybe $20 to adopt a book could be a special present for me and as I walked through the library, I clutched the check that my mom had written that morning.  I remember being disappointed--I had had my heart set on adopting one of the American Girl craft books that had been some of the choices, but of course they had been some the first ones to go--so I walked around looking at the rest of my choices, my heart sinking down further and further becuase all the "cool ones" and then all the "interesting ones" had already been adopted. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spied this book, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman. I remember taking the book down, considering it, thinking about it, and wondering that if I choose this book my dad--who was always taking to me about civic virtues, great thinkers, and strong women--would be proud of me that I choose this book out of all the others, and so that is what I did.  I choose this book, had my name written down and pasted on the back of the front cover, and then went back to class, still a little sad because I had not gotten to adopt an American Girl craft book.
         When you adopted a book from the school library, you got to be the first person to check that book out from the school library. So I checked it out, took it home, and it sat on the end of a table for a week. Finally, one weekend, in between all the other books I was reading, I picked it up and started to read in and becuase of this book I fell in love with Eleanor Roosevelt.
        This book discusses Roosevelt's life in an honest, engaging way. It does not sugar coat her life, but nor does it cast Roosevelt as a victim.  It does no vilifying, victimizing, or glorifying of its subject like some biographies do. It simply presents Roosevelt as an ordinary person, someone with struggles and triumphs, and everything in-between. It is a great book for talking about the time period of the Depression, the presidency of FDR, and how Roosevelt became her husband's eyes, ears, and feet. It also showcases Roosevelt as a woman of great compassion and wisdom. 
       What made this book so important to me was that, it also showcases Roosevelt as a woman who overcame something that cripples many girls and boys, including myself, an extreme and painful shyness. Until recently, I have barely ever been able to talk in class and I have an extremely difficult time when I'm not around people who I feel comfortable with, and I was this book inspired me, as Roosevelt still inspires me now, to talk to more people and feel more comfortable with myself as a person. As I read this book, I was amazed by how a girl who seemed even shyer than myself as a young girl and as a young lady, could somehow grow up to be this fascinating person, who did all these brave and amazing things, and who talked to all these people, and who people across America loved becuase she took the time to listen, to care, and to understand their lives. It was this woman who I wanted to be, and who I still want to be today. It was this woman who inspired me to want to do things to make lives better and to change the ways people was viewed.
        It is to Russell Freedman's credit to that I had, and still have, these inspirations. Others could have skipped over Roosevelt's accomplishments, her shyness, her struggles, and could have ignored her hardships, but Freedman. They could have made her seem like a victim in some circumstances but  Freedman does not. Others could have made her seem like an unreachable ideal, but Freedman does not.
   This book is 200 pages, and probably would not good for read-alouds but it could be great for a higher level (fifth or sixth) guided reading groups or class reading. This website and this website have great ideas for using it.  It is a Newbery Honor book and both the writing and the pictures are suparb. Another awesome book about Eleanor Roosevelt that I have seen used as a great read-aloud in a volunteerism Social Studies lesson is Eleanor, Quiet No More.  I will definitely have both of these books in my classroom library if I teach upper elementary.
        This book really meant a lot to me when I was younger, and I guess I have talked more about that then given an actual review, but it is a really great book. Also, if you go into my elementary school library, you will not find the American Girl craft books, but you still find this book still there, sitting on a shelf, waiting for another young girl to come and read it and fall in love with Eleanor.