More appealing to the brain than to the stomach, but nutritious nonetheless.
A history of American food, from traditional Native American salmon feasts to oat milk.
Rightly calling out the fallacy of regarding apple pie or any other food as quintessentially “American,” the authors have enlisted feedback from a squad of food historians to highlight dishes and cuisines that have earned significant places in this country’s story. Along the way, they clearly demonstrate how much of what we eat has been influenced by the cultures of immigrants, as well as how national borders have proved little if any barrier to free exchanges of culinary practices and components. Backed up by a hefty load of discursive source notes but generally free of recipes, photos, or even evocative sensory impressions, the discourse has a cerebral cast. Still, it’s loaded with fascinating facts about regional types of pizza, the origins of nachos and General Tso’s chicken, the histories of the Automat and of the renowned New York eatery Mamma Leone’s, how Howard Johnson’s pioneered the idea of franchising, and the recent rebirth of urban farmers markets, among other topics. The book includes nods to major foodstuffs such as corn and rice, plus side dishes from camas and jambalaya to maraschino cherries. Better yet, readers will come away with a food-forward overview of the “waves of prejudice and progress” that have characterized our multicultural history, not dating from 1492 or 1619 but from thousands of years ago. Final art not seen.
More appealing to the brain than to the stomach, but nutritious nonetheless. (index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781665935500
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Intrepid explorer Lourie tackles the “Father of Waters,” the Mighty Mississippi, traveling by canoe, bicycle, foot, and car, 2,340 miles from the headwaters of the great river at the Canadian border to the river’s end in the Gulf of Mexico. As with his other “river titles” (Rio Grande, 1999, etc.), he intertwines history, quotes, and period photographs, interviews with people living on and around the river, personal observations, and contemporary photographs of his journey. He touches on the Native Americans—who still harvest wild rice on the Mississippi, and named the river—loggers, steamboats, Civil War battles, and sunken treasure. He stops to talk with a contemporary barge pilot, who tows jumbo-sized tank barges, or 30 barges carrying 45,000 tons of goods up and down and comments: “You think ‘river river river’ night and day for weeks on end.” Lourie describes the working waterway of locks and barges, oil refineries and diesel engines, and the more tranquil areas with heron and alligators, and cypress swamps. A personal travelogue, historical geography, and welcome introduction to the majestic river, past and present. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-56397-756-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
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