1790s France was a renaissance of social justice. Though largely forgotten today, 18th century France pioneered the world's first civil right's movement. And at the helm, Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Reiss tells us, stood a figure resplendent in stature, dwarfing Napoleon's own domineering presence and troubling his ambitions, France's pride and heart of the republican cause, the mixed race Haitian born General Alex Dumas. Tim Reiss plunges us into the unfathomable exploits of a black general successfully erased from popular history at the behest of Napoleon Bonapart, whose own rise attracted the sponsorship of the reigning sugar and slave trades that made France a world power. Tim Reiss's Pulitzer Prize winning "The Black Count" beautifully captures the obsession of a son to write a beloved father back into the remembrance of a once adulating public. Reiss's seemingly effortless writing style thrusts us into not only the adventure of this dynamic figure, but also of Reiss's own detective work, which is a story in of itself. Riveting, heartwrenching, improbable, Reiss does for us what Alexander Dumas could not. If you have ever loved The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers-- indeed any of the great author's work--then The Black Count is a must for your personal Dumas canon.

Finding Dorothy is a quick, informative read. I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of Letts' parallels, though the hasty feel of the writing style prevented me from developing any real emotional attachment to any of the characters. I was surprised by the frequent appearance of inconsistencies--it reads like an early draft-- and there were times I wondered what kind of audience Letts intended to target. Despite the wobbly and summarizy-feel of the project, and the weaving in and out of a mature to young-adult sound, the subject matter is a winner. In focusing on Maud Baum, Letts has chosen a fascinating, unique perspective on the backstory of Oz, making it a worthwhile, if not an entirely seductive, read.