The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) (review)

Samuel Clemens evidently wasn't the only writer in his household. His thirteen-year-old daughter Susy diligently kept a notebook filled with biographical details and observations of her famous father from 1885 to 1886. Here the noted team of Kerley and Fotheringham (What to Do About Alice?, BCCB 3/08) tails Susy as she tails Twain, offering a daughter's-eye view of the great author and an inspirational model of what an observant child writer can accomplish without leaving home. This take on the private Mark Twain reveals a man with "much more in him that is earnest than that is humorous," who was intent in his work ethic and dedicated to his family. Readers familiar with Kerley/Fotheringham's previous work will recognize the visual style—broad but affectionate caricature, whimsical composition, and swirling motifs (in this case, curlicue pen lines) that propel the action from page to page and unify the overall design. This title also boasts foldout journal insets of Susy's own words attached to the majority of spreads, an addition so interesting that it may, for some readers, upstage the efforts of author and illustrator. Nonetheless, this is an able introduction to Twain, with substantial endnotes, source notes, timeline, and suggestions to children for writing their own domestic biographies. Kids not quite ready for Sid Fleischman's raucous The Trouble Begins at 8 (BCCB 7/08) should be thoroughly satisfied.