Franklin Delano Roosevelt

by Russell Freedman

Overview

Traces the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his birth in 1882 through his youth, early political career, and presidency to his death in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1945.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395629789
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	08/28/1992
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.59(d)
Lexile:	1070L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Russell Freedman received the Newbery Medal for LINCOLN: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY. He is also the recipient of three Newbery Honors, the Sibert Medal, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and was selected to give the 2006 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Mr. Freedman lives in New York City.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"It's the photo essay at its best." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review

Editorial Reviews

"It's the photo essay at its best." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review

From the Publisher

Newbery Medalist Freedman ( Lincoln: A Photobiography ) breathes new life into the subject of our 32nd president. FDR (1882-1945) emerges in all his complexity: Freedman succinctly presents the privileged student ``content to squeak by'' on a ``gentleman's C''; the suitor defying his mother; the polio victim whose suffering taught him compassion for the common man; and, of course, the statesman and leader who shepherded the U.S. through the Depression and WW II. Liberal use of judicious quotations vivifies every discussion. The 125 photographs and prints are equally well-chosen--requisite images of the FDR era are included along with the more unusual, and nearly all are stirring. Fortunately, this fine biography does not apologize for FDR's failings. He is specifically castigated for his failure to save European Jews from Hitler; his ``romance'' with Lucy Mercer is also mentioned, as well as its profound effect on Eleanor (who is admiringly captured throughout). Young readers will need help interpreting some of the terminology here (``trickle-down'' economics, for example), but Freedman's heartening pace and equable tone will stimulate the reader to seek that help. Ages 9-up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Newbery Award Winner Russell Freedman has gifted us with another memorable biography. Roosevelt, the man, emerges forcefully throughout the book. His confidence and vigor allow readers to see why he was able to lead us through a severe Depression and a devastating world war so successfully. Although he was crippled by polio in 1921, he led such an active life that the public never knew how handicapped he really was. Children will meet a likeable, down-to-earth, yet complex man who understood the meaning of 'leadership.' The photos are gems and provide a candid glimpse of the man and his family.

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

Gr 5-8 --As in Lincoln: A Photobiography (Clarion, 1987), Freedman has taken a larger-than-life historical figure about whom innumerable volumes have been written and has retold the story of one man's life in the context of his times. The carefully researched, highly readable text and extremely effective coordination of black-and-white photographs chronicle Roosevelt's priviledged youth, his early influences, and his maturation. Drawing on first-hand observations of his family, friends, and enemies, as well as Roosevelt's own diary entries, Freedman formulates a composite picture of a complex, enigmatic individual and a consummate politician. Roosevelt's public career is given further significance because of the cataclysmic events of the Depression and the tumultuous war years during his presidency. As controversial as many of his programs and policies were or have come to be, no one could ever call to question his dedication, his initiative, or the energy he brought to the job. His all too human shortcomings are just as clearly delineated. Even students with little or no background in American history will find this an intriguing and inspirational human portrait.-- Luann Toth, School Library Journal

School Library Journal