Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life;
Babe Didrikson Zaharias; and
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery
Martha Graham was born in 1894, into a loving, comfortably situated family. When she was sixteen years old, she was captivated by the dancer Ruth St. Denis, a modern dancer. Although she had never had a dance lesson in her life, Martha decided she would become a professional dancer. She was accepted into the dance school operated by Ms. St. Denis and her husband. She cultivated a style of her own, appeared in the Greenwich Village Follies, and became a broadway star. She eventually opened her own dance studio, where she danced in productions she choreographed herself. She gained worldwide fame for her contribution to modern dance, and performed until she was 75 years old. She continued to travel with her dance company, taking bows at the end of every show, until her death at the age of 96. Russell Freedman�s fine writing style imbues his text with the artistic fire that inspired this visionary dancer. �Nowhere does the drama of Graham's long and legendary life dim: even when the stage lights are not directly shining on her as performer, Freedman catches the passion of her dedication.� (Horn Book Guide, September 1, 1998)
Babe Didriksen was born in 1911, to a poor immigrant family in Port Arthur, Texas. Always a tomboy, Babe preferred sports over dolls. She joined every sports team in school, and boasted about being the best. When she was in high school, sportswriters started taking note of Babe�s prowess on the all-city and all-state basketball teams. She was asked to work for an insurance company and join their women�s sports team. She won a place on the Olympic team, where she won three medals and broke world records in every event she entered. She later took up golf, a sport she dominated during her career. She was voted "Woman Athlete of the Year" four times, and "Outstanding Woman Athlete of the Half Century" in 1950. She died of colon cancer when she was just 45 years old. Freedman manages to capture Babe�s quirky personality while in no way diminishing her athletic prowess. �[Freedman] pays ample attention to Babe's extraordinary achievements (e.g., her three world records in track and field at the 1932 Olympics; her record-setting golf career in the '40s and '50s), but his book's greatest strength lies in his portrait of the person behind the athlete, a portrait that hums with the energy and vibrancy of Babe herself.� (Publishers Weekly, July 19, 1999)
Eleanor Roosevelt, the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, was born into wealth and privilege in 1884. A homely child, she was withdrawn and shy. Orphaned by the age of ten, Eleanor and her brothers lived with their grandmother. It was only when she was sent to a European finishing school that Eleanor came into her own. Blossoming under the tutelage of the headmistress, Eleanor was extremely popular with both students and teachers alike. After spending the three happiest years of her life there, Eleanor was called back home for her �coming out� debut. She began seeing more and more of a handsome fifth cousin, once removed, Franklin Roosevelt, whom she married in 1905. Freedman handles the Roosevelts' unconventional, and sometimes troubled, marriage appropriately for young readers. �Freedman treats the marital difficulties and Franklin Roosevelt's affair with Lucy Mercer with compassion and delicacy.� (Voice of Youth Advocates, February 1, 1994) After Franklin became president, Eleanor broke the mold of presidential wives, becoming very outspoken and active on social and political issues, and the Roosevelt�s forged a partnership that strengthened the presidency and benefited the country. Consistently voted America�s �Most Admired Woman,� she traveled, wrote articles, and gave speeches throughout her husband�s presidency. After his death, she served as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. She died in 1962, when she was considered to be �first lady of the world.�
Analysis
Russell Freedman uses the same format and style of writing in each of these biographies about three very different women. The introductory chapter of each provides an overview of the subject�s accomplishments, always opening with a sentence that grabs the reader�s attention immediately and reveals the source of her fame. �Eleanor Roosevelt never wanted to be a president�s wife.� (Eleanor, p. 1) �As far back as she could remember, Babe Didrikson Zaharias lived only for sports, and she loved and excelled in them all.� (Babe, p. 9) �As an ambitious young woman who wanted to create a new kind of dance, Martha Graham spent many hours in New York City�s Central Park Zoo.� (Martha, p. 11)
Freedman�s strict adherence to accuracy in his books is evidenced in all three of these biographies. Voice of Youth Advocates (February 1, 1994) states that, even though Freedman's admiration of Eleanor Roosevelt is obvious in his biography of her, "he takes care not to be fawning in his praise: he lets Roosevelt's extraordinary life and accomplishments speak for themselves, fostering new and renewed admiration in his readers." Martha and Babe include �Notes� at the back of the book which meticulously cite every quotation, by chapter. Eleanor includes sources of quotations within the text of the book itself. All three books include acknowledgments and photo credits, a selected bibliography of other works, and an alphabetical index. Eleanor includes a �Photo Album� that supplements those included in the body of the work, and �A Visit to Val-Kill,� which describes in detail the history of Eleanor�s �one true home� (p. 185). The books contain 11-14 titled chapters, described in a table of contents.
Each book�s design is consistent with the essence of its subject. The fonts used for the cover page, titles, and footnotes in Martha have a distinctly art deco flavor. Eleanor uses an elegant script, echoing her aristocratic lifestyle. Babe uses a retro-style, bold, all-caps font, suggesting her aggressive drive to be the best. Each book is a photo essay, with most being accompanied by captions. The books are printed with ample spacing and margins, on glossy, heavy-weight paper. The book covers of Martha and Babe have a collage of illustrations, while Eleanor has a painting of the first lady.
The writing style Freedman uses is engaging, entertaining, and appropriate for young readers. School Library Journal (July 1, 1999) describes how the author shows Babe Didrikson Zaharias as both a colorful personality and an obsessive, driven competitor: ". . . the narrative transcends her various fields of play and is essentially a powerful personal story. Freedman delves into the psyche of the fierce competitor, whose natural abilities belied her single-minded drive and obsessive training regimes, and enlivens the text with quotes by the charismatic sports star and many other primary sources." He makes his subjects come to life through the use of appropriately cited dialog and details. � . . . she [Babe] marched around the infield hollering, �I�m going to win everything I enter!�� (Babe, p. 51) The narratives read more like a story than a reference book, even though the author�s adherence to fact certainly makes them suitable for research projects. His conversational style uses language that children can relate to. �Eleanor and Earl spent so much time together that tongues wagged.� (Eleanor, p. 88)
These three women shared the planet during the years of Babe Didrikson�s life, from 1911 � 1956. Reading these three books shows how different were their backgrounds, families, and circumstances of birth. These differences had a hand in the opportunities life offered them, but the passion and determination within each of these women pushed her to make the most of those opportunities, and shaped her destiny. These three books, read together, provide an opportunity for children to see how the tumultuous events during these decades affected each of these women, and how each of them, in turn, had an impact on the world. Girls, in particular, will enjoy these fine biographies, and may find within them guideposts that may help them map their own life journeys.
Sources
Books in Print [database online]. Available from http://www.booksinprint.com. Accessed 02 February 05.
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY