Saving Washington

Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and The Battle of Brooklyn  by Chris Formant  320 pages

I was attracted to this fragment of forgotten history because of the first line on the dust jacket: “Somewhere deep beneath the bustling streets of Brooklyn, New York, lie the remains of perhaps the most important citizen soldiers in American history; the heroic men from Baltimore, Maryland, who held back superior British forces long enough to preserve the Continental Army and save the life of General George Washington.” After reading it, I expected a story about finding the graves, how they were exhumed and relocated to a place of honor. This is not that story.

The time is 1776. Baltimore teenager Joshua Bolton and his BFF, Ben Wright, watch as the British Army does its best to make the American Colonists’ lives so hard that they would give up that idiotic notion of independence and return to a civilized way of life. As the boys watched the tyranny, they knew that they had to do something. When the call went out for new recruits for the 1^st Maryland Regiment, they boys enlisted.

I know this is historical/biographical fiction, but I was surprised that a black man, even a freed man, was allowed to join the fight.  I need to brush up on this aspect of American history, obviously.

The story illustrates the hardships of the citizen-soldiers, and what they were up against. At first I was surprised that Josh and Ben were teenagers, but then again, I’m not sure we really know how many young adults fought alongside their adult counterparts. A lot I imagine.

The language of the book makes it obvious early on that it is written for young adults. On the downside, I didn’t feel the tension of the situations that the boys got themselves into until the Battle of Brooklyn was underway. I never felt that they were in any real danger.  But that’s the point of view of a middle-age female.

I think young adult readers will enjoy this book. I like that it tells a tale of forgotten heroes, that we all need to know more about.

“Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and The Battle of Brooklyn” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

2 a.m. at the Cat's Pajamas

2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino    261 pages

This is one of the times that two things went wrong. First I wanted to read this book based solely on its title. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Second, I kept reading and reading, expecting/hoping that it would get better and end up being a wonderful read. Well, I was wrong on both counts.

According to the book jacket, this is the story of nine-year-old Madeleine who has a great jazz voice and knows it. She practices every day and desperately wants to sing at a jazz club, especially once she learns that her recently departed mother worked at the Cat’s Pajamas.  That I’m not really sure about because it was vaguely alluded to in the story.

The story is also about two other lost souls: Sarina Greene who hope to meet an old high school crush at a dinner party and Lorca, the Cat’s Pajama’s owner learns that if he can’t come with $30,000, the club will shut.

I found the story hard to follow.  All three---Madeleine, Sarina, and Lorca---vie for role as the central character. I was never really able to care about any of them, but I must admit felt more for Madeleine than the others, she’s the reason I kept on reading. I did like that the chapter headings were times and that the story takes place on Christmas Eve Eve. That was well done. The book also lacks tension.

 I give 2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas 2 out of 5 stars.

 I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.