Jennifer Bohnhoff
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Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children

6/13/2024

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When Mamie Phipps Clarks was just four years old, she was frightened to hear of the lynching of Gilbert Harris in her community of Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Mamie realized that the world was not as open and caring as her family and close community. The injustice, discrimination, and unfair treatment that her community faced needed addressing. She began to ask herself what she could do to help Black children faced with such negativity. 

Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children is a graphic novel that is part biography, part self-help activist awareness manual. In it, Lynnette Mawhinney tells the story of an extraordinary woman who, after being the 

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first Black woman to graduate from Columbia University with a doctorate degree in psychology, began research on the development of self-image in Black children. Her conclusions, that racial segregations resulted in negative outcomes for Black childhood development, became pivotal in the fight to end segregation of U.S. schools. The fight wasn't easy: Clark had a hard time balancing her public and private life. Raising a family while developing a career and fighting a political system is hard work, and Mawhinney doesn't sugar coat the stress. 

Neil Evans' illustrations are clear and compelling and make this graphic novel an interesting read.

Mamie Phipps Clark, Champion for Children goes beyond just being a biography of an inspiring woman. It gives middle-grade readers a lot to think about regarding race, identity, and advocacy. Each chapter ends with a brief history lesson that helps set the scene for Clark's life, and then a section called Try This that gives readers a chance to extend the lessons of the past into today through thought-provoking activities. A timeline and glossary at the end of the book will help readers understand our nation's struggle for equality and be able to voice their concerns as they carry on Mamie’s legacy and become champions for themselves and others in their community. ​

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The author of this book is the no less impressive and inspiring Lynnette Mawhinney, an award-winning writer, creator, and long time educator who taught high school English in Philadelphia before she transitioned into teacher education. A Professor of Urban Education and Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Academic initiatives at Rutgers University-Newark, she had conducted teacher trainings throughout the world, including Vietnam, South Africa, Bahrain, and Egypt. She is the author of five academic books and books for children, and is the founder and President of Gaen Knowledge, a consultancy firm that performs equity audits. 

​I am grateful that Magination Press provided me with an ARC of this hard cover graphic novel, which is the third book in the American Psychological Association's Extraordinary Women in Psychology series. If you'd like me to send you my copy, please comment below.

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Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former educator who now concentrates on writing historical and contemporary fiction for middle grade through adult readers. Her next book, The Famished Country, is book three in Rebels Along the Rio Grande, a trilogy of middle grade novels set in New Mexico during the Civil War, and is due out from Kinkajou Press in October 2024.

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Two Variations on the Cookie with a Thousand Names

11/14/2021

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Okay, so a thousand names is a bit of hyperbole, but these are the cookies that everyone seems to call by a different name. I’ve heard these called Snowballs, Swedish Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookie, Russian Tea Cakes, and Butterballs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you, dear readers, offered me an additional name or two.

Whatever you call them, these cookies have been a constant on the Bohnhoff Family Christmas cookie platter since long before I became a Bohnhoff. In our house, these cookies are made in balls, but I’ve seen them made into logs and crescents, too.

When my boys were young, I doubled this recipe every year. Sometimes I had to make it twice to make sure we had some all the way through the holidays. Then I discovered that one of my daughters-in-law was a peppermint fan, so I found and adaption that pleased her. It has now become a second standard on the cookie plate. The boys are all grown up, and the need for hundreds of cookies lying around the house has lessened, so I’ve adapted once again, to make two kinds of cookies from one batch of dough. I’m including suggestions so that you can make a full batch of regular butterballs, a full batch of peppermint butterballs, or one mixed batch. I’ve found the easiest way to make these is using a food processor. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to grind the nuts and peppermints in a blender, a coffeemill or some other way, then mix the ingredients in a mixer or by hand. However you pursue these, I hope you enjoy them!
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Since Sweden, Mexico and Russia all get credit for these cookies, I am including a person from each who immigrated to America and significantly impacted our society. 


​Butterballs and Peppermint Butterballs

Preheat oven to 325°
If you are making half a batch of peppermint butterballs, whirr the following ingredients in a food processor until the candies are crushed fine, then set aside in a shallow bowl. Double the ingredients if you plan to make all your cookies peppermint.
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup broken peppermint candies or candy canes
 
If you are making half a batch of butterballs, place 1/3 cup powdered sugar in another bowl and set aside. Use ½ cup of powdered sugar if you are making a full batch of butterballs.
 
To make the dough for both cookies, process in food processor until chopped very fine
 
½ pecans (you can use almonds or walnuts if you prefer. It occurs to me that pinons would make a lovely New Mexican version of this cookie)
 
Add to food processor and pulse until mixed with the nuts.
 
½ cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
 
Add to ingredients in food processor and pulse until everything is blended into a dough that bunches together in a ball.
 
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
 
Take dough out of food processor and knead on the counter a few times if you feel the butter hasn’t distributed all the way.
 
If you are making both variations of cookies, divide the dough in two.
 
To make butterballs, shape the dough into crescents, logs or balls about 1” large. Roll in the reserved bowl of powdered sugar.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Cool on a cooling rack, then roll again in powdered sugar.
 
To make filling for a half batch of peppermint butterballs, mix the following in a small bowl. Double ingredients if you are making a full batch
 
2 TBS peppermint and powdered sugar mixture
1 TBS cream cheese, softened
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp milk
 
Put a tablespoon of dough into your hand and form into a ball. Use your thumb to make a pocket in the middle of the ball, and fill it with about ¼ tsp of the filling. Seal the ball shut and roll it in the peppermint and powdered sugar mixture. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Cool on a cooling rack, then roll again in powdered sugar and crushed peppermints.

The Swede responsible for a famous American icon

Alexander Samuelson was born in Kareby parish, Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden in 1862. A glass engineer, he emigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1883 and is credited with designing the famous Coca-Cola contour bottle in 1915. Although the shape has been modified, this bottle remains one of the most recognized trademark and package in the world. 

The Mexican American who Fought for better education and voting rights

Jovita Idár was born in 1885, in Laredo, Texas, right on the border with Mexico. She wrote for her father’s Spanish language newspaper, La Crónica, using it as a platform to speak out against racism and in support of women’s and Mexican-Americans’ rights to vote and to receive decent educations. In 1915, when Woodrow Wilson sent troops to the Mexican-American border, Idár wrote a scathing editorial condemning the President’s actions. When the Texas Rangers arrived at the newspaper’s office, intent on shutting it down, she barred the door with her own body.  https://americansall.org/legacy-story-individual/jovita-id-r

The Russian who keeps us Entertained at Home

Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin was born in Murom, Russia, in 1888. He studied "electrical telescopy," later called television, at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. During World War I, Zworykin served in the Russian Signal Corps, testing radio equipment that was being produced for the Russian Army. In 1918, after the Russian Civil War broke out, made several trips to the United States on official duties. When the White party collapsed, Zworykin decided to remain permanently in the US. He got a job at the Westinghouse laboratories in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was able to continue experimenting on television. In 1923, he applied for a television patent. 

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Jennifer Bohnhoff's latest novel, A Blaze of Poppies is set in the same time period as these three people lived and worked. 

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a writer of historical and contemporary fiction for middle grade readers through adults. Each year, she sends a book of recipes out to the friends, fans and family on her email list. If you'd like to join this list, click here.

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Elizabeth Garrett: Songbird of the Southwest

7/11/2021

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Elizabeth Garrett may not have the name recognition of her famous father, but she deserves to be well known among New Mexicans for her personal bravery and her contributions to her state.

Elizabeth’s father was Pat Garret, a bartender, customs agent, and lawman who was sheriff of both Lincoln and Doña Ana Counties in New Mexico. He is most known for killing Billy the Kid, then coauthoring a book titled The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, which for decades was considered the most authoritative biography of the famous outlaw. 
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Pat Garret and his second wife, Apolinaria Gutierrez Garrett had eight children. Elizabeth, the third child, was born on October 9, 1885 in their home in Eagle Creek, outside the small community of Alto, in New Mexico’s Sierra Blanca Mountains. In the same year, the nearby town of Ruidoso was established. 


PictureMrs. Elizabeth Garrett and Teene, her seeing-eye dog, at her 'La Carita' home in Roswell, New Mexico. Courtesy of the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 057207.
Elizabeth’s life was never easy but she had an independent spirit and a can-do attitude. It is unsure whether she was born blind or lost her sight at an early age. Soon after her birth, the family moved to Roswell, where she led an active outdoor life, riding horses, playing in her family’s apple orchard, and doing all the things the other children did. When she was six, she was sent to the Texas School for the Blind in Austin, where her education included the musical instruction that would guide her future. When she graduated, she rejoined her family, who had moved to El Paso when her father began working as a Customs Officer. When the family moved to Las Cruces, Elizabeth stayed alone in El Paso for three more years so she could continue to teach music there. After that, she moved to Roswell and supervised the building of her dream home, a five-room adobe.

Elizabeth composed and sang her own songs at performances around the state and the country. She once performed for the prisoners at New York’s infamous Sing Sing Prison. Her most memorable song is "O, Fair New Mexico," which she wrote in 1915. Two years later,  New Mexico Governor Washington E. Lindsey asked her to sing it to the state legislature, who unanimously voted to make it the official state song the very next day.
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Elizabeth Garrett died in Roswell on October 16, 1947 after falling while out on a walk.

O fair New Mexico

Under a sky of azure,
Where balmy breezes blow,
Kissed by the golden sunshine,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
Land of the Montezuma,
With fiery hearts aglow,
Land of the deeds historic,
Is Nuevo Mejico.

O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o’reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.

Rugged and high sierras,
With deep canyons below,
Dotted with fertile valleys,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
Fields full of sweet alfalfa,
Richest perfumes bestow,
State of apple blossoms,
Is Nuevo Mejico.

O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o’reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.

Days that are full of heart-dreams,
Nights when the moon hangs low;
Beaming its benedictions,
O’er Nuevo Mejico.
Land with its bright manana,
Coming through weal and woe;
State of esperanza,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
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O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o’reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.
"O, Fair New Mexico" is a tango in 2/4 time. I believe New Mexico is the only state that has a tango as its state song. It is in the key of A flat major. Its three stanzas, with refrain, describe the climate, geography, agriculture, and overall beauty of the state of New Mexico. In order to show the two cultures that Ms. Garrett had running in her own veins, each stanza uses the Spanish words "Nuevo México," while the refrain uses "New Mexico."

New Mexicans really like their music, and its legislators like to acknowledge that face. While "O, Fair New Mexico" remains the official state song, the state also has an official Spanish-language state song, a state bilingual song, a state ballad, and an official cowboy song.


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​In February 1937, Elizabeth Garrett gave an interview given to Works Progress Administration writer Georgia Redfield, where she said this about her famous father: “Quite frequently,” said Elizabeth Garrett, “my father had to bring harmony with a gun. I try to do so by carrying a tune.” You can read the transcript of the interview here.
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Jennifer Bohnhoff is a native New Mexican and a former New Mexico history teacher. She lives in the mountains of central New Mexico, where she is presently writing the third in a trilogy of historical novels set in New Mexico during the Civil War. The first in the series, Where Duty Calls," will be published by Kinkajou Press in May 2022.
​To read more about her and her writing, click here.

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    ABout Jennifer Bohnhoff

    I am a former middle school teacher who loves travel and history, so it should come as no surprise that many of my books are middle grade historical novels set in beautiful or interesting places.  But not all of them.  I hope there's one title here that will speak to you personally and deeply.

    What I love most: that "ah hah" moment when a reader suddenly understands the connections between himself, the past, and the world around him.  Those moments are rarified, mountain-top experiences.



    Can't get enough of Jennifer Bohnhoff's blogs?  She's also on Mad About MG History.  

    ​
    Looking for more books for middle grade readers? Greg Pattridge hosts MMGM, where you can find loads of recommendations.

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