Girl with Brush and Canvas

December 21, 2018

Gr 6-9-She was a masterful painter and a towering figure of 20th-century American art. She was athletic, musical, a skilled seamstress, and a romantic. Though fiercely independent throughout her long life and contented being alone, she made lasting friendships. Readers will learn all this and more from Meyer's detailed fictionalized biography. The title brings readers into O'Keeffe's world starting at age 12-when she first announced that she wanted to be an artist-through her years as a child, teen, young adult, then mature adult-from growing up on her family's farm to attending schools in Wisconsin; then studying art in Chicago and New York City; working as a fashion illustrator and artist in New York; then teaching in high schools and universities in Virginia, South Carolina, and Texas. Teens will also learn about her romances, including her marriage to famed photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz; her travels; and her steady progress toward great success and fame. Narrated in first-person, this is an interesting glimpse into early- and mid-20th-century America and the life of a complex woman. Meyer has researched O'Keeffe's life intensively and, for much of the book, the narrator's voice rings true-but not always. Some details-O'Keeffe's descriptions of her artistic processes, for example-sometimes seem contrived to sound like spoken narrative but may cause readers' attention to wander. However, budding romantics and artists should appreciate this work. VERDICT Recommended for public and school collections. A useful selection for art history and women's studies units.-Carol Goldman, formerly at Queens Library, NY

November 15, 2018
Growing from a stubbornly individualistic girl to "one of the most important abstract artists in the country," Georgia O'Keeffe is depicted as a true American pioneer.The story opens with young narrator "Georgie" making the remarkably self-aware observation: "I did not have in mind just drawing pretty pictures--I was going to be an artist. There was a difference." What follows is a fictionalized chronicle of her life from 12 to 42 years old, traversing her life from childhood in small-town Wisconsin and Virginia through teachers and art schools in Chicago and New York to adult life in Texas and New Mexico. Periodically, she experiences revelations of art techniques and style, with romantic relationships (none same-sex) manifesting later. Georgia addresses gender inequality of the times, for instance vocalizing how much she hates being known as a "woman artist"--but not racism, despite the white character's time in the South. Peers and authority figures encourage her to conform to custom, but she refuses, preferring instead to be "provocative" and embracing her "misfit" status. As developed by Meyer, Georgia's character possesses stalwart self-confidence bordering on hauteur. In part a tour of early-20th-century American landscapes and also part school story and part biography, the narrative sometimes reads like a recitation of facts that at times veers into first-person observations. Meyer reports emotions in an omniscient adult voice, but they remain flat, with little emotional resonance for readers; the stiff style and small type skew this novel's readership older than its putative middle-grade audience.This chronicle of uncompromisingly sticking to one's unique perspective is, alas, also a fairly dull one. (Historical fiction. 11-14)

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December 1, 2018
Grades 5-8 Georgia O'Keeffe's life and artistic development are chronicled in Meyer's latest work of historical fiction. From her childhood in Wisconsin to her teaching in Texas to her professional life as an artist in New York and New Mexico, Georgia is depicted by Meyer as living life according to her own rules. Alternately revered and reprimanded for her unconventional ideas about art, teaching, and what women should and shouldn't do, Georgia comes to life in Meyer's portrait, which shows how an individual's artistic �vision can strain against societal expectations and ultimately break them down. In Georgia's alternatingly practical and passionate first-person narrative, Meyer details periods of great inspiration alongside her creative dry spells. Images of Georgia's art would have been a welcome addition, but readers will no doubt look up specific works, especially when she describes her growing fascination with abstraction. The story covers 29 years, but the pace moves along at a satisfying rate. Meyer's portrait of the bold, groundbreaking painter should inspire young artists and historical fiction lovers alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)