THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY)

a. Bibliographic data: Kerley, Barbara. THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY). Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham. New York, New York: Scholastic Press, 2010. ISBN 9780545125086.

b. Plot summary:

         THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY) tells the story of the world-famous author and his behind-the-scenes home life. Susy Clemens, Samuel Clemen’s thirteen-year-old, curious daughter, wants the world to know who her Papa really is. Through around-the-clock observations, Susy is busy writing a secret biography in her journal that is kept under her pillow at night. Barbara Kerley extraordinary words and Edwin Fotheringham’s illustrations are beautifully combined to create an inside look into the life of an American icon. Through real journal entries from Susy, misspellings and all, the reader gains inside access into a man that she so desperately wanted the world to know. “And so, people finally got just what Susy thought they needed: a portrait of the funny, serious, absentminded, at-loving, billiard-playing, philosophical, Papa- the extraordinary Mark Twain according to Susy.”

c. Critical Analysis: 

         Barbara Kerley writes a story of the life of Mark Twain, embedding real journal entries from a person who witnessed first hand his unfiltered, everyday life. Twain’s daughter, Susy, truthfully and openly documented the life of her father, Papa, in the form of a biography. This young girl’s view of her papa was told in a way that captures his every essence, from his sometimes quiet home life, to his long writing days, to his vacation away from the busy city life.

         Kerley includes the real journal entries of Susy on several pages, which are fascinating because they tell such raw truth and include the original spelling errors and thoughts of Susy. Different fonts are used to distinguish between the primary sources, which are Susy’s journal entries, and the secondary sources, which are Kerley’s words. This distinction is beneficial to the readers, both young and old.

         The book is organized in a logical sense, creating flow through chronological events. The story starts off explaining the why behind the biography. Susy, just thirteen years old when she started writing, was determined to let the world know who her real papa’s was, which is something so few people really knew. As the story continues, Fotheringham’s brilliant and elaborate illustrations give expression and life to the pages of Kerley’s and Susy’s words. The illustrations include curvy and elaborate lines that emanate from several objects surrounding Mark Twain, to show sound and expression.

         At one point in the story, Fotheringham shows Twain and his family in a variety of settings, yet all in their one house. From Papa reading in bed, to the family eating dinner as Twain throws around his napkin, to Twain stopping to converse with the felines, all as the eyes of Susy are upon him, carefully observing his every move.

         At the end of the book, Kerley provides some very useful and factual information about the story of Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel Clemens. It is obvious that Kerley is well qualified to be the author of such an extraordinary book because of the lengths she went to in order to really know the full story of Mark Twain’s life (especially obvious by just seeing how many sources she used). She concludes with a brief history of Susy and Twain’s short life together. Kerley also provides the reader with a guide to making his or her own extraordinary biography!

d. Reviews:

"This is a frank biographer and an honest one; she uses no sandpaper on me." -Mark Twain

“The text flawlessly segues into Susy's carefully recorded, sometimes misspelled, details of his character, intimate life, and work routine during his most prolific years....A delightful primer on researching and writing biographies, and a joy to peruse.” -School Library Journal

“With a restrained palette and a fine sense of line, Fotheringham's stylized, digital illustrations are wonderfully freewheeling, sometimes comical, and as eccentric as Susy's subject.” –Booklist

“Kerley's conversational, quotation-rich narration effectively complements Susy's insights, and the result is an affectionate portrait of Twain as writer and family man…. Fotheringham's dynamically composed, digitally created full-bleed illustrations, both inventive and appealing, effectively recall the 19th-century setting, and big, swirling lines reflect the flourishes of an ink pen…. A heartwarming tribute to both the writing life in general and the well-loved humorist-oops, sorry Susy… "Pholosopher!" -Kirkus

“Author notes about Susy and her father, a time line of Twain's life, and tips for writing an "extraordinary biography" complete this accessible and inventive vision of an American legend.” -Publishers Weekly

Awards/Honors:

Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2011-2012

NCBLA - Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts 2011

2011 NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended

2011 NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

CLA Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts 2011

Children's Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Children's Choices - Best Books of 2011, Historical Fiction, ages 9-12

Kirkus Reviews 2010 Best Children’s Books

Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books 2010, Picture Books

e. Connections:

The students can use the back of the book to make their own biography, using the many helpful hints of Barbara Kerley.

Students can compare other books written by Barbara Kerley: A Home for Mr. Emerson, Those Rebels, John & Tom, Walt Whitman: Words for America, What to do About Alice.

Students could do a study on the life of Mark Twain. They could research where he grew up, where he would visit, etc. in order to give life to the biography written about him.