Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

The writing is crisp and the story is well paced.

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Wonderful words for A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland from the Seattle Book Review:

Author Caroline Starr Rose has written a fun and fascinating story of this amazing true event that will have youngsters enthralled waiting to see which of these women can pull off this amazing feat. The writing is crisp and the story is well paced. Illustrator Alexandra Bye captures the sense of the time and places in the story perfectly with plenty of excellent details. This is a winner.

Nellie and Elizabeth also made A Mighty Girl’s 2019 Books of the Year list as well as the Christian Science Monitor’s Best Children’s Books of 2019. I’m hopeful, through these accolades, more readers will learn of Bly and Bisland’s incredible adventure!

A Kirkus Star!

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For those of you who don’t live in book world, Kirkus takes pride in being the toughest trade reviewers out there.* A good Kirkus review is gold. A star is a wonder!**  Look look at these lovely words for A Race Around the World:

Rose (Ride On, Will Cody!, 2017, etc.) explores the true story of a race between two accomplished 19th-century women in this children’s book featuring illustrations by Bye (Leading the Way, 2019).

In 1889, famed reporter Nellie Bly believed that she could circle the globe faster than anyone had before—in less than the 80 days of Jules Verne’s fictional hero. She pitched the story to her boss at the New York World, who, after initial protests, approved her journey. As Bly left New York City, heading east, Cosmopolitan writer Elizabeth Bisland was sent off to the west, with little notice, to race Bly back to the city. In this entry in the She Makes History series, Rose reports the travels of both women in tandem, showing the eastward movement of Bly and the westward travel of Bisland as the reporters encountered successes and setbacks. Rose’s text and Bye’s cartoon-style color images, which accurately and vividly depict the era in detail, allow young readers to get a deeper sense of what living in the late 1800s was like, and how travel, by various methods, was very different than it is in the modern day. The extensive text never overwhelms the illustrations, though, and Bye depicts the players in action-oriented poses that propel the story forward. One particularly elegant two-page spread shows the two travelers’ ships literally passing in the night. Rose captures both the wonder of the world as the women experience it, as well as the dangers and miseries of their journeys. Her straightforward vocabulary and accessible narration will let young readers immerse themselves in the history. Endnotes offer greater context for the role of women reporters of the era, highlighting the main characters’ tremendous achievements.

An absorbing account of a real-life adventure in a series that showcases historical accomplishments of women.

So happy to know this review will help even more readers learn of Nellie and Elizabeth’s story.

*Jane Friedman defines trade reviews as “those read by booksellers, librarians, and others who work inside the industry (as opposed to readers/consumers).” They are the primary way these gatekeepers discover new titles to share with the public.

**My only other Kirkus star was for May B.

130 Years Ago Today…

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…Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland set off on their circumnavigational race. Millions followed their story from every corner of the globe. For a time, winner Nellie Bly was the most famous journalist in the world. 

What an incredible piece of history! 

I hope to reach as many young readers as I can with Nellie and Elizabeth’s story. But here’s the tricky part. Nonfiction titles for children don’t often get a lot of exposure. Readers primarily discover books like A Race Around the World through libraries — a lifeblood and lifeline for titles like mine. At this point in time, only sixty-three public libraries have purchased copies.* (Thank you, Washington state, Chicagoland, Iowa, the Netherlands, and Germany!)
 
I hate to think children, families, and teachers might never discover Nellie and Elizabeth’s story simply because their local library never learned of A Race Around the World.

This post is my grassroots effort to spread the word. Like Bisland and Bly, I’d love to see this book race across the country and around the globe! I’ve marked on a map the libraries that currently have copies. I’d love if you’d help me add more!

Would you please consider placing a purchase request at your local library? My library system allows me to do this online. It takes three minutes tops. Though your library might do things differently, this is how mine works: 

From the homepage, I go to the “Books and More” tab. Under this is the option “Suggest a Purchase.” To make a request, I need to include my name and library card number plus information about the book:

title: A Race Around the World
author: Caroline Starr Rose
publisher: Albert Whitman and Co.
publication date: October 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0807500101

If you make a purchase request at your library, could I ask one more favor? Would you add a comment with the name of your town and library system? And if you’re really feeling adventuresome, once your library copy arrives, you could take a picture of the book with a landmark in town (to mark the book’s stop on its race around the world). Just don’t forget to send me a copy!

You are welcome to request A Race Around the World as a purchase for school libraries, too!

I plan to share map updates and and landmark photos on social media. (You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter.) On Twitter I’ll also run a 76-day accounting of where Nellie and Elizabeth were in the world during their race — an opportunity for anyone interested to follow along in real time.

Thank you, friends. Book people are the best people. I can’t express how much your support means.

*Information on books in public libraries can be found at WorldCat.org.