Subtitled ``Early Westward Expansion of the United States,'' this first volume in the Young Readers' History of the West series describes the exploration of this country in the early 1840s from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. What distinguishes this fine treatment of an oft-told subject (e.g., The West by Dayton Duncan, p. 1151) are the many original sources set forth for readers: diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and old photographs of the many individuals who made the challenging journey west. There are letters between Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1803 planning their expedition, as well as photos of one of Clark's many elkskin-bound journals. Surviving letters from many of the women who accompanied their husbands on the trip describe their vigorous daily life. Herb (with Norman Bolotin, For Home and Country, 1995) makes the frontier stories come to life with this compilation of letters and diaries from the early pioneers. Her work is certain to be a hit with readers. (b&w photos, maps, chronology, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-525-67503-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
In this rich, insightful memoir, Molnar offers a child’s-eye view of life in Romania in the late 1950s. Known as Eva Zimmerman then, she lived in a crowded but loving Bucharest home that included her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They are a lively, eccentric bunch brought vividly to life in a simple first-person, present-tense narration. Especially endearing is Eva’s relationship with her grandfather, who encourages her to embrace her Jewish heritage. Her cinematographer father, a survivor of several concentration camps who lost his parents to the Holocaust, is haunted by his experiences. Eva learns from her grandmother the complicity of Romania’s World War II fascist regime in the murder of thousands of Jews. With anti-Semitism still pervasive in Communist Romania, Eva keeps her Jewish identity secret from classmates when she begins school. The author vividly depicts the harsh realities of life under fascist rule: scarcity of food and housing, ideological indoctrination in school and constant fear of the Securitate, the secret police who are always watching and listening. Black-and-white family photographs illustrate this poignant, memorable memoir. (Memoir. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-31840-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2010
After years of normal living, a teenager learns he has epilepsy and has to cope not just with the disease, but with the side effects, including the hostility of his peers. High schooler Lefty has an epileptic seizure while hanging out with his best friend, Reuben, and must subsequently learn to live with the disease, deal with medication, make lifestyle changes, overcome his own fear, as well as that of family and friends, and face his peers. What little action there is in this marathon talkfest concerns Lefty and his friends (including his 12-year-old brother) smoking and drinking. In his tough, working-class neighborhood this is considered perfectly normal, and the author never counters that. Most of readers’ efforts may be spent trying to keep track of the many characters: Lefty’s friends and brothers, his mother’s tough-as-nails girlfriends, neighbors, classmates, medical personnel, etc. When Lefty, a budding writer, pens an imaginary dialogue between two elderly neighbors and a would-be mugger, the story picks up; otherwise this is a flat and emotionally distant bull session that, though extended, leads nowhere. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2000
ISBN: 1-55143-166-1
Page Count: 215
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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