From Lewin (Fair!, 1997, etc.), a memorable assortment of anecdotes and encounters that weren’t, for one reason or another, picture-book material. At a page or two each, they never form a connected narrative, but make vivid, stand-alone verbal snapshots, “taken” in Botswana, Egypt, Norway, and other exotic places: witnessing the killing and butchering of a wildebeest in the Kalahari; nervously pushing a truck over a submerged bridge past the “DANGER—CROCODILES” sign; laughing as a caribou deliberately spooks a group of hikers in Alaska, then turning to see a grizzly not 50 feet away; visiting a brawling Egyptian camel market; renting a jeep from the king of Ranthambor, India; vainly trying to stop the fire from smoking in a reindeer-hide tepee 125 miles above the Arctic Circle. Illustrated with a glossy section of watercolor sketches and full-color photos, these vignettes are written with an eye for arresting detail, plus the offhand humor that made Lewin’s memoir, I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler (1993) such a delight. (Memoir. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-14109-9
Page Count: 68
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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In an eye-opening companion to such works as Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (1999) and Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Ice Story (p. 66) on Shackleton, readers get a contemporary look at Antarctica.
Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her godson, Daniel, describe a harsh environment so cold that dental fillings fall out. Double-page spreads dotted with full-color snapshots form short chapters on the icy region, suiting up, the difficulties of everyday existence, food and drink, shelter, transportation, entertainment, and wildlife. The last third of the volume is devoted to current scientific pursuits as well as an overview of famous expeditions to the nearly uninhabitable “bottom of the planet.” The cheery photographs – most by the author – show her dwarfed by the Barne glacier, posing with Emperor penguins, even building an igloo. While the chatty letters highlight personal details of the trip, boxed inserts provide background information. Key dates in Antarctic history complete this accessible profile, ideal as entry into units on the region. (maps, charts, diagrams, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-87226-295-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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Perfectly pitched to its target elementary audience, this tells the story of Sarah Keys Evans, a young woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus three years before Rosa Parks did the same.
While serving in the Women’s Army Corps in 1952, Evans took a bus to visit her family in North Carolina. At the time, discrimination on busses that crossed state lines was forbidden by law, but the bus company had its own rules. When she reached her home state, the driver demanded that she move to the back of the bus, and had her arrested when she refused. Evans filed a lawsuit against the bus company, eventually winning the case. Nathan reproduces many family photographs of Evans, clearly and concisely explaining her fight. She portrays Evans as an extremely shy young woman; because of her restrained personality, she comes across to readers with heightened courage. By weaving in photographs and Evans’s life story with her legal battle, the book will hold reader interest. Nathan strikes just the right balance of emotion and facts necessary to reach children within the context of a history lesson. As a result, this thin volume would be a good choice for elementary classrooms as part of a Civil Rights unit.
A winner. (Nonfiction. 6-12)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-595-41761-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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