Although it colorfully examines a horrific disease, only devoted horror enthusiasts are likely to savor this story.
Horror is the dominant feature of this entry in the aptly named Horrors of History series.
Illustrated with numerous period photographs, this fictional effort follows many through the lethal 1918 influenza epidemic in Philadelphia, one of the hardest-hit cities in America. The tale moves smoothly among four sets of protagonists: children residing in a tenement; seminary students involved in burying the numerous dead; those providing medical care in a hospital ward where the mortality rate seems to approach 100 percent; and the head of public health for the city. Anderson (City of the Dead, 2013) uses this look at the epidemic from a variety of points of view to significantly increase the body count. Although rich with historic detail, the narrative is even richer with gruesomeness. Beginning to hemorrhage from the disease, a nurse looks back at the ward: “She saw all the doctors and nurses writhing on the floor as dozens of patients begged for help.” All, instantly afflicted, simultaneously? At one point, a 3-foot-long worm is dragged from a choking patient’s mouth by a gagging nurse. The dead are graphically described, as well: “[H]is body [was] greenish and swollen like a balloon, maggots wriggling under his nostrils and around his eyes.”
Although it colorfully examines a horrific disease, only devoted horror enthusiasts are likely to savor this story. (nonfiction epilogue, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-58089-518-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
Readers will agree when, in the triumphant final poem, an assured Addie proclaims: “I am a girl who knows enough / to know...
In this companion novel, Howe explores the interior life of the most outspoken member of the “Gang of Five” from The Misfits and Totally Joe (2001, 2005).
Told entirely in verse, the story follows 13-year-old Addie’s struggles to define herself according to her own terms. Through her poems, Addie reflects on her life and life in general: her first boyfriend, what it means to be accepted and her endeavors to promote equality. Addie is at her most fragile when she examines her relationship with her boyfriend and the cruel behavior of her former best friend. Her forthright observations address serious topics with a maturity beyond her age. She contemplates the tragedy of teen suicide in “What If” and decries the practice of forced marriages in “What We Don’t Know,” stating “…And their mothers / have no power to change how it goes. They too / have been beaten and raped, sold and traded like / disposable goods, owned by men, while the only thing / they own is their misery…” Addie’s voice gains confidence when she takes on the role of an advocate, as when she reveals her reasons for forming the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) at school in “No One is Free When Others Are Oppressed (A Button on My Backpack).” Bolstered by the sage advice of her grandmother, Addie charts a steady course through her turbulent seventh-grade year.
Readers will agree when, in the triumphant final poem, an assured Addie proclaims: “I am a girl who knows enough / to know this life is mine.” (author's note) (Verse novel. 11-14)Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1384-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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