by Anne E. Neimark

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002

Image from Teaching Books

This biography of Woody Guthrie for middle grade readers recounts the ups and downs of Woody’s life, from childhood to age and disease.  The text is full of complete song lyrics, which is great for the unfamiliar reader.  Neimark does a great job of placing Woody in his historical context, often choosing photos of other hard-pressed Americans to set the stage.  At times the dates are not clear, which makes it hard to follow and would make a timeline creation based on the text next to impossible.  Neimark also sometimes (probably unintentionally) makes judgements in her interpretation of facts.  

(This review was originally submitted to my Materials for Children class)