News on the Web
Fannie Never Flinched: One Woman's Courage in the Struggle for American Labor Union Rights
★
"Over six brief chapters, Farrell deftly places Sellins’s story within the larger context of immigration and industrialization at the time….Readers...shouldn’t miss this entrée to the subject...." Click to read this starred review...
"Over six brief chapters, Farrell deftly places Sellins’s story within the larger context of immigration and industrialization at the time….Readers...shouldn’t miss this entrée to the subject...." Click to read this starred review...
★
"The author may be addressing this stirring story of early union activist Fannie Sellins to middle-schoolers, but the rigor of her approach yields a book with solid scholarly features….Her story, richly illustrated with vintage photographs and documents, fairly leaps off the page, driving home the message that the work she fought for is far from over." Click here to read this starred review...
"The author may be addressing this stirring story of early union activist Fannie Sellins to middle-schoolers, but the rigor of her approach yields a book with solid scholarly features….Her story, richly illustrated with vintage photographs and documents, fairly leaps off the page, driving home the message that the work she fought for is far from over." Click here to read this starred review...
★
"An essential purchase for public or large school libraries interested in workers’ rights and social justice."
"An essential purchase for public or large school libraries interested in workers’ rights and social justice."
Kirkus Reviews: A cogent, well-documented, handsomely designed treatment of a heretofore forgotten hero of labor.
"This is the kind of book we need to see on every school shelf across America." Read more here...
"Farrell does not take sides when writing about the incident in which Sellins lost her life. She writes the facts as though she were there, ace reporter, after-the-fact—which she was. Yet, thanks to all her trustworthy research, what happened on that awful day is easy to surmise and horrible to believe. Not every hero survives.
Mary Cronk Farrell, thanks to Fannie Never Flinched, and her other titles, may be one today’s most influential and important historians in children’s literature." Read more here...
Mary Cronk Farrell, thanks to Fannie Never Flinched, and her other titles, may be one today’s most influential and important historians in children’s literature." Read more here...
"...a clear, incisive biography of this courageous lady, who, as she says, never flinched in the face of danger....Using photographs, documents and newspaper articles, Farrell chronicles the rise of Fannie's career, and puts it into the larger context of what was happening in industries all over the United States in this picture book for older readers. Read more here....
"While young readers may study a little bit about the labor movement in the United States, it is often impersonal. Focusing a movement around the actions of one person is a great way to encourage empathy for it by giving it a human face.
The formatting of this book is excellent-- while I'm not usually a fan of larger books (this is about 10" x 10"), this size allows plenty of photographs and a lot of space around the text. While it may seem silly, this is a HUGE selling point. Readers are often reluctant to pick up books filled with dense blocks of text and few pictures." Read more here...
Today we're excited to chat with Mary Cronk Farrell, author of Fannie Never Flinched!
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book? Read interview on YABC...
The formatting of this book is excellent-- while I'm not usually a fan of larger books (this is about 10" x 10"), this size allows plenty of photographs and a lot of space around the text. While it may seem silly, this is a HUGE selling point. Readers are often reluctant to pick up books filled with dense blocks of text and few pictures." Read more here...
Today we're excited to chat with Mary Cronk Farrell, author of Fannie Never Flinched!
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book? Read interview on YABC...
The Rick Smith Show is a labor radio program from Central Pennsylvania. The show covers state and local politics and national issues. Thanks, Rick for recommending people put FANNIE NEVER FLINCHED on there Christmas list!
Author of "Fannie Never Flinched” joins Rick to discuss her recent kids book on labor organizer Fannie Sellins and explain what convinced her to write this book and what she hopes will be learned from its pages.
Author of "Fannie Never Flinched” joins Rick to discuss her recent kids book on labor organizer Fannie Sellins and explain what convinced her to write this book and what she hopes will be learned from its pages.
Pittsburgh's News Source
"Farrell chose Pittsburgh to introduce her book because of the story's strong ties to the region.
The book is about Fannie Sellins, an organizer for the United Mine Workers who was gunned down in Brackenridge on the eve of a nationwide steel strike, Aug. 26, 1919. A historical marker at Union Cemetery, Arnold, honors her and Joseph Starzelski, a miner also killed that day. They were buried in Union Cemetery." Read more here...
"Farrell chose Pittsburgh to introduce her book because of the story's strong ties to the region.
The book is about Fannie Sellins, an organizer for the United Mine Workers who was gunned down in Brackenridge on the eve of a nationwide steel strike, Aug. 26, 1919. A historical marker at Union Cemetery, Arnold, honors her and Joseph Starzelski, a miner also killed that day. They were buried in Union Cemetery." Read more here...
Irena's Children, Young Readers Edition
Kirkus Reviews: Farrell's adaption of Mazzeo's adult title clearly presents her life and the ever present reality of death in a sobering, heartbreaking narrative. Read more...
Pure Grit: How American WWII Nurses Survived Battle & Prison Camp in the Pacific
March 11, 2014
'Pure Grit': An informative, harrowing tale of nurses' survival as Japanese prisoners
Mary Cronk Farrell’s informative, sometimes upsetting book follows a group of U.S. military nurses who had been stationed, quite happily, in the Philippines before Pearl Harbor. “I
had no idea there was going to be a war,” one later lamented. “That’s how naive I was.” Read more...
Mary Cronk Farrell’s informative, sometimes upsetting book follows a group of U.S. military nurses who had been stationed, quite happily, in the Philippines before Pearl Harbor. “I
had no idea there was going to be a war,” one later lamented. “That’s how naive I was.” Read more...
Kirkus Reviews: "A fine purchase for young-adult--and adult--World War II collections that illuminates a previously unexplored aspect of the war." Read more...
Publishers Weekly
January 27, 2014
"Grit" scarcely describes what the heroines of this stark chronicle of wartime military service demonstrated. Farrell (Fire in the Hole!) lays bare the experiences of Army and Navy nurses who enlisted for peacetime duty in the Philippines, caring for military families at base hospitals. Their jobs and lives drastically changed when the Japanese invaded the country after attacking Pearl Harbor, thrusting the nurses into...click to read more
January 27, 2014
"Grit" scarcely describes what the heroines of this stark chronicle of wartime military service demonstrated. Farrell (Fire in the Hole!) lays bare the experiences of Army and Navy nurses who enlisted for peacetime duty in the Philippines, caring for military families at base hospitals. Their jobs and lives drastically changed when the Japanese invaded the country after attacking Pearl Harbor, thrusting the nurses into...click to read more
★Booklist Starred Review
February 15, 2014
"Well-chosen quotes from interviews, personal accounts, and articles bring their voices into the story, while the many period photos offer intriguing glimpses of the war, the camps, and the women’s later lives. At times the narrative is nearly overwhelmed by the sheer number of experiences recorded and women profiled. But in the end, the details of many nurses’ individual trials combine to form a memorable portrayal of their shared experience, one which will emotionally impact readers." — Carolyn Phelan
February 15, 2014
"Well-chosen quotes from interviews, personal accounts, and articles bring their voices into the story, while the many period photos offer intriguing glimpses of the war, the camps, and the women’s later lives. At times the narrative is nearly overwhelmed by the sheer number of experiences recorded and women profiled. But in the end, the details of many nurses’ individual trials combine to form a memorable portrayal of their shared experience, one which will emotionally impact readers." — Carolyn Phelan
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The Horn Book Magazine
March/April 2014
There are many books written about young people enlisting in the military, being unprepared for the horrors of battle or tortures of capture, serving bravely, and coming home.
But women? In direct fire? In POW camps? During World War II? Not so many, a void Farrell admirably fills with this account of the more than one hundred army and navy nurses who served in the Philippines during the bombing and evacuation of Manila, the Battle of Bataan...Read more
March/April 2014
There are many books written about young people enlisting in the military, being unprepared for the horrors of battle or tortures of capture, serving bravely, and coming home.
But women? In direct fire? In POW camps? During World War II? Not so many, a void Farrell admirably fills with this account of the more than one hundred army and navy nurses who served in the Philippines during the bombing and evacuation of Manila, the Battle of Bataan...Read more
Through the Eyes of Women Radio on KHSU FM
Women's Views, Women's Issues, Women's Lives
Author Mary Cronk Farrell has once again given her readers a long, historic and passion filled chronology of a distinct American event. Mary tells the story of 80 women who served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps and were prisoners of war once Pearl Harbor was bombed. Their capture, survival and ultimately recognition from a grateful country defy imagination. Pure Grit honors these courageous women with compelling tales of their strength, compassion, kindness and unbelievable spirit. Read more...
Listen now...
Women's Views, Women's Issues, Women's Lives
Author Mary Cronk Farrell has once again given her readers a long, historic and passion filled chronology of a distinct American event. Mary tells the story of 80 women who served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps and were prisoners of war once Pearl Harbor was bombed. Their capture, survival and ultimately recognition from a grateful country defy imagination. Pure Grit honors these courageous women with compelling tales of their strength, compassion, kindness and unbelievable spirit. Read more...
Listen now...
WGN-TV Midday Fix
Chicago, Ill January 22, 2014
Steve Sanders interviews me about how the food supplies dwindled in the POW camp until the nurses were receiving only 500 calories a day. So weakened by starvation they hardly had the strength to climb a stair step, the women continued nursing others in the camp hospital. Video no longer accessible here to see PURE GRIT on WGN-TV Midday Fix.
Chicago, Ill January 22, 2014
Steve Sanders interviews me about how the food supplies dwindled in the POW camp until the nurses were receiving only 500 calories a day. So weakened by starvation they hardly had the strength to climb a stair step, the women continued nursing others in the camp hospital. Video no longer accessible here to see PURE GRIT on WGN-TV Midday Fix.
KGO 810 News/Information
San Francisco, CA, January 19, 2014
The Pat Thurston Show
Audio no longer accessible here to listen to Pat's interview with me covering the nurses before the war, their experiences in POW camp and betrayal when they came home to the United States.
San Francisco, CA, January 19, 2014
The Pat Thurston Show
Audio no longer accessible here to listen to Pat's interview with me covering the nurses before the war, their experiences in POW camp and betrayal when they came home to the United States.
Kababayan Today America's daily talk show for and about the Filipinos featured PURE GRIT on it's Day of Valor broadcast. Watch here...
Kidsbookshelf.com "PURE GRIT is a compelling story of determination, suffering, bravery, life and death." Read more...
Stella Bain and Pure Grit
by Major Van Harl USAF Ret.
I read two books this weekend, one Stella Bain, fiction by Anita Shreve and Pure Grit, non-fiction by Mary Cronk Farrell. Both books dealt with the same subject: women and war. One book had the objective to entertain the reader and the other to tell the true stories of women and combat. Both books were about women who go to war as healers and caregivers—nurses. Read More...
by Major Van Harl USAF Ret.
I read two books this weekend, one Stella Bain, fiction by Anita Shreve and Pure Grit, non-fiction by Mary Cronk Farrell. Both books dealt with the same subject: women and war. One book had the objective to entertain the reader and the other to tell the true stories of women and combat. Both books were about women who go to war as healers and caregivers—nurses. Read More...
Hearts in the Darkness
By Leah Sottile
Inlander, Spokane, WA
March 5, 2014
In her new book, local author Mary Cronk Farrell writes of the unsung female heroes of World War II....As she entrenched herself in research, Farrell heard story after story that horrified her — tales of bombings and mass carnage, of violence and steadfast courage. She found out that even as bombs were falling around them and bullets were flying past, these World War II nurses never wavered from their compassion. Farrell was floored by a photo she found in her research of a young Japanese soldier receiving care from American nurses.
"They were in the middle of combat. ... They didn't have guns and they were nursing the enemy," she says. "I'm not saying they loved it. They didn't. They did not. It was hard for them — but they did it because that's who they were. Read more...
By Leah Sottile
Inlander, Spokane, WA
March 5, 2014
In her new book, local author Mary Cronk Farrell writes of the unsung female heroes of World War II....As she entrenched herself in research, Farrell heard story after story that horrified her — tales of bombings and mass carnage, of violence and steadfast courage. She found out that even as bombs were falling around them and bullets were flying past, these World War II nurses never wavered from their compassion. Farrell was floored by a photo she found in her research of a young Japanese soldier receiving care from American nurses.
"They were in the middle of combat. ... They didn't have guns and they were nursing the enemy," she says. "I'm not saying they loved it. They didn't. They did not. It was hard for them — but they did it because that's who they were. Read more...
Author2Author Blog Talk Radio & Pacific Northwest Writers Association
Bill Kenower, Editor-in-Chief of Author magazine, talks to writers of all genres about the books we write and the lives we lead, and how these two are one in the same. Here, Bill welcomes novelist Mary Cronk Farrell to the show to discuss the books we write and the lives we lead.
Listen now...
Bill Kenower, Editor-in-Chief of Author magazine, talks to writers of all genres about the books we write and the lives we lead, and how these two are one in the same. Here, Bill welcomes novelist Mary Cronk Farrell to the show to discuss the books we write and the lives we lead.
Listen now...
New Writing Podcasts with Author magazine on BlogTalkRadio
ON THE VERGE
Recreating a Living, Breathing History
By Jody Casella
I'm so excited to feature Mary Cronk Farrell, the author of the new book Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific on my blog today. I recently read the book and I was blown away by it. The story is riveting--horrifying, heartbreaking, and somehow inspirational. And all the more so because it is true. What these women went through is incredible and how they managed to do their jobs during their captivity is even more amazing. Here's Mary's take on some of the research-gathering involved in writing non-fiction:
I needed to recreate a number of different worlds for this book, none of which I had ever experienced myself. How would I make the sights and sounds of a combat hospital realistic? Where would I discover the smells of a tropical jungle? Read more...
Recreating a Living, Breathing History
By Jody Casella
I'm so excited to feature Mary Cronk Farrell, the author of the new book Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific on my blog today. I recently read the book and I was blown away by it. The story is riveting--horrifying, heartbreaking, and somehow inspirational. And all the more so because it is true. What these women went through is incredible and how they managed to do their jobs during their captivity is even more amazing. Here's Mary's take on some of the research-gathering involved in writing non-fiction:
I needed to recreate a number of different worlds for this book, none of which I had ever experienced myself. How would I make the sights and sounds of a combat hospital realistic? Where would I discover the smells of a tropical jungle? Read more...
Author of...
The writers behind great children's stories –
from picture books to middle-grade, novels to non-fiction
By Kate Hannigan
March is not only Women's History Month, it's also National Reading Month. So what better way to celebrate the two than with a gripping read about some remarkable women at a crucial time in America's history. Mary Cronk Farrell's Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific (Abrams, February 2014) is designated for a third- to seventh-grade audience, but its appeal is much broader. I've talked about this title with parents and grownup friends as well as my own kids, and I simply cannot recommend this book enough. Not only does it detail the harrowing accounts of what these brave women went through, but it also looks at the frustrating treatment they endured upon return to the United States. Read more....
The writers behind great children's stories –
from picture books to middle-grade, novels to non-fiction
By Kate Hannigan
March is not only Women's History Month, it's also National Reading Month. So what better way to celebrate the two than with a gripping read about some remarkable women at a crucial time in America's history. Mary Cronk Farrell's Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific (Abrams, February 2014) is designated for a third- to seventh-grade audience, but its appeal is much broader. I've talked about this title with parents and grownup friends as well as my own kids, and I simply cannot recommend this book enough. Not only does it detail the harrowing accounts of what these brave women went through, but it also looks at the frustrating treatment they endured upon return to the United States. Read more....
Bookshelf
By Sue Bradford Edwards
"Like Louie Zamperini, known since the publication of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, these women became Japanese prisoners. Their families received no word on whether they were still alive and they remained invisible to the outside world for several years." Read more...
Sue interviews me on the topic: How to Build Reader Empathy
By Sue Bradford Edwards
"Like Louie Zamperini, known since the publication of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, these women became Japanese prisoners. Their families received no word on whether they were still alive and they remained invisible to the outside world for several years." Read more...
Sue interviews me on the topic: How to Build Reader Empathy
Farrell's PURE GRIT Reveals Nurses' Struggles
by Cindy Hval
Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA
March 2, 2014
Almost every page of “Pure Grit” features photos. Pictures of the nurses before the Japanese invasion show them enjoying their tropical locale, but the book also features grim combat photos that depict the horror and deprivation they endured..
While researching, Farrell said she discovered that their mission and sense of identity helped the nurses endure the brutal conditions of captivity. “They had a purpose,” she said. “They were caregivers and they continued to fulfill that mission. It was their commitment to nursing as a vocation that helped them survive.”
Although starving and sick, they continued to care for their patients in the internment camp. “We couldn’t give up,” said one. Read More...
by Cindy Hval
Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA
March 2, 2014
Almost every page of “Pure Grit” features photos. Pictures of the nurses before the Japanese invasion show them enjoying their tropical locale, but the book also features grim combat photos that depict the horror and deprivation they endured..
While researching, Farrell said she discovered that their mission and sense of identity helped the nurses endure the brutal conditions of captivity. “They had a purpose,” she said. “They were caregivers and they continued to fulfill that mission. It was their commitment to nursing as a vocation that helped them survive.”
Although starving and sick, they continued to care for their patients in the internment camp. “We couldn’t give up,” said one. Read More...
PURE GRIT: HOW AMERICAN WORLD WAR II NURSES SURVIVED BATTLE AND PRISON CAMP IN THE PACIFIC http://t.co/ESndiMPJ1I
— alscblog (@alscblog) February 25, 2014New Review: Pure Grit by Mary Cronk Farrell http://t.co/Qtqhizd035 True story - How American nurses survived as POWs in #WWII #YA
— Alex Baugh (@thechildrenswar) January 13, 2014Review of "Pure Grit: How American #WWII Nurses Survived Battle and #Prison Camp in the Pacific" - http://t.co/kD6c5KXefm
— Truthout (@truthout) February 9, 2014Denver Post nextGEN
Pure Grit is Pure Page Turner
"Imagine yourself as an Army nurse in WWII in the Philippines with little food, and the patients keep piling in, and the medicine is low." Read more...
Pure Grit is Pure Page Turner
"Imagine yourself as an Army nurse in WWII in the Philippines with little food, and the patients keep piling in, and the medicine is low." Read more...
Right Here Book Reviews
"I fell in love with the women featured in this book. I fell in love with their strength, determination, and willpower.
I fell in love with their grit.
I fell in love with this book." Read more...
"I fell in love with the women featured in this book. I fell in love with their strength, determination, and willpower.
I fell in love with their grit.
I fell in love with this book." Read more...
Social Cafe Magazine
"Definitely a must read not only because we are in the Year of Military Women, or because the Women’s History Month is approaching, but because this book is educational and an excellent read for readers of all ages."
"Definitely a must read not only because we are in the Year of Military Women, or because the Women’s History Month is approaching, but because this book is educational and an excellent read for readers of all ages."
The Shreveport Times
Shreveport, LA January 9, 2014
Brave local nurses from World War II lauded
By John Andrew Prime jprime@gannett.com
Lt. Col. Edith Wimberly of Natchitoches Parish and Lt. Col. Hattie Brantley of Jefferson, Texas, were among the almost 80 U.S. military nurses captured during the fall of the U.S. possessions in the western Pacific in early 1942, women known to history as the “Angels of Bataan.” The two nurses, both now dead, feature in the book penned by award-winning journalist and author Mary Cronk Farrell. Click to read more...
Shreveport, LA January 9, 2014
Brave local nurses from World War II lauded
By John Andrew Prime jprime@gannett.com
Lt. Col. Edith Wimberly of Natchitoches Parish and Lt. Col. Hattie Brantley of Jefferson, Texas, were among the almost 80 U.S. military nurses captured during the fall of the U.S. possessions in the western Pacific in early 1942, women known to history as the “Angels of Bataan.” The two nurses, both now dead, feature in the book penned by award-winning journalist and author Mary Cronk Farrell. Click to read more...
1st Lieutenant Ethel Thor, 1945
The News Tribune
Tacoma, WA December 6, 2013
Bataan Peninsula captivity of ‘angel’ from Tacoma among stories featured in book
by adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
Ethel Thor did not talk much about the three years she spent in captivity as an Army nurse in World War II, nor of the Japanese attack that started it all 72 years ago this weekend.
She’d say the men captured on the Philippines’ Bataan Peninsula suffered far more than she and the nearly 80 other female American military nurses who were taken prisoner in the war’s early days. She felt there was little more to say.
“We didn’t grow up around that,” said her daughter, Carla Kingsbury of Gig Harbor. “And even when we were adults, my mom just did not talk about it.”
Now, 11 years after Thor’s death, the stoic Tacoma woman’s days in captivity are coming back in focus through a Spokane author’s effort to share the stories of the so-called “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor.”
Tacoma, WA December 6, 2013
Bataan Peninsula captivity of ‘angel’ from Tacoma among stories featured in book
by adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
Ethel Thor did not talk much about the three years she spent in captivity as an Army nurse in World War II, nor of the Japanese attack that started it all 72 years ago this weekend.
She’d say the men captured on the Philippines’ Bataan Peninsula suffered far more than she and the nearly 80 other female American military nurses who were taken prisoner in the war’s early days. She felt there was little more to say.
“We didn’t grow up around that,” said her daughter, Carla Kingsbury of Gig Harbor. “And even when we were adults, my mom just did not talk about it.”
Now, 11 years after Thor’s death, the stoic Tacoma woman’s days in captivity are coming back in focus through a Spokane author’s effort to share the stories of the so-called “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor.”
December 7, 1941
THE PACIFIC WAR
FROM PEARL HARBOR TO GUADALCANAL
Text and Web-site by James Bowen.
Convener, Pacific War Historical Society
The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - NARA 195617
Although General Douglas MacArthur was informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor nine hours before Japanese bombers struck at the Philippines, the commander of the United States Army and Air forces in the Philippines was paralyzed by indecision and ...read more
Author Nancy I. Sanders interviews me on Blogzone
Q: Mary, how do you hope to influence today’s young readers through this book?
A: I have so many hopes for young people who read PURE GRIT. First, I hope they will come to admire these women as much as I do, and that they will be inspired by the nurses’ courage and …read more
Q: Mary, how do you hope to influence today’s young readers through this book?
A: I have so many hopes for young people who read PURE GRIT. First, I hope they will come to admire these women as much as I do, and that they will be inspired by the nurses’ courage and …read more
MetroKids.com
March 2014
Not a pretty subject, but it is perfect for Women’s History Month.....gripping photos combine personal snaps of the book’s subjects with wartime images of blank-faced Japanese soldiers, aerial bombardments and destitution in war-occupied territory. Author Mary Cronk Farrell makes a powerful antiwar statement in a book that adds nuance, if not a new dimension, to notions of heroism and women’s roles in history. Read more...
March 2014
Not a pretty subject, but it is perfect for Women’s History Month.....gripping photos combine personal snaps of the book’s subjects with wartime images of blank-faced Japanese soldiers, aerial bombardments and destitution in war-occupied territory. Author Mary Cronk Farrell makes a powerful antiwar statement in a book that adds nuance, if not a new dimension, to notions of heroism and women’s roles in history. Read more...