by Andreas Schroeder ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004
The author of several titles on like topics for adults boils down ten modern tales of large-scale chicanery, from P.T. Barnum’s relentless promotion of Jumbo the Elephant to a massively successful Nazi effort to counterfeit British currency, from the Shakespearean fakes of William Henry Ireland to the supposedly cave-dwelling Tasaday tribe. Schroeder turns each “sting” into a ripping good yarn, generally, though not invariably, starring a bold, clever Robin Hood who draws some combination of widespread fame, high social standing, and vast amounts of cash or credit, then comes to a deserved (not always entirely bad) end. Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” broadcast also gets a gripping rendition, though it doesn’t really belong with these more intentional frauds. There are Lessons here, but the compelling presentation makes them far easier to swallow than the moral and ethical chunks in conventional Chicken Soup–style “values” reading. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-55037-853-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2004
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by Andreas Schroeder & illustrated by Rémy Simard
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by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Kenard Pak ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.
In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.
When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-12940-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Jonathan Stroh
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PROFILES
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001
Using illustrations from mid-19th-century newspapers and stories of people actually involved, Bartoletti has written a fascinating account of a terrible time. In the Great Irish Famine, one million people died from starvation and disease, and two million fled to other countries after a fungus destroyed the potato crop, a disaster in a country where six million farm laborers depended on that one crop. Bartoletti’s sure storytelling instincts put the reader in the midst of the drama. Though the layout is dense and uninviting (in galley form), the stories make the narrative memorable. Bridget O’Donnel, sick and seven months pregnant, is evicted from her cabin. “Spectre-like” crowds of walking skeletons in Skibbereen on market day see shops full of food they can’t afford to buy. British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel’s determination to persuade the government to help is thwarted by laissez-faire economic policies and religious and ethnic prejudice. This is history “through the eyes and memories of the Irish people,” and it is history that’s meant to instruct. In her conclusion and extensive bibliography, Bartoletti steps back from her narrative to encourage readers to respond to the hunger, poverty, and human suffering in our own time. An illuminating discussion of the Great Irish Famine and how emigrants contributed to the growth of cities around the world. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-00271-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
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edited by Marc Aronson & Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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by Susan Campbell Bartoletti ; illustrated by Ziyue Chen
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edited by Marc Aronson & Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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