Finding Oz, How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story by Evan I. Schwartz; 2009; $28.00; 374 pages; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, NY; 978-0-547-05510-7; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Central; 7/14-7/21

Part biography, part literary detective story this book purports to show where L. Frank Baum got his ideas for the Oz  series.  This is the second tale of how Baum came up for the idea.  This one seems to be very well researched and the suppositions could very well be right.  Baum’s interest in Theosophy and woman’s suffragette could well be the inspiration for the four paths in the land of Oz and the strong women in the story.  Baum’s Mother in Law was a compatriot of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and was more radical than either of them.  I am looking forward to reading the Wizard of Oz, which I have  never read.  I have seen the movie multiple times but I guess there are major differences.  This was an interesting look at a classic American story.Grade-B