Splendidly entertaining and informative—ideal for any kid interested in fossils.
A debut children’s book describes the contributions of women past and present to paleontology in the United States.
Most kids are fascinated by fossils, especially of dinosaurs, but they may not know about the female experts who have helped advance the science of paleontology. As the book acknowledges, most workers in this field have been men, mainly because “many men did not think women should have jobs, go to college, or become scientists.” Nevertheless, they persisted. From Annie Montague Alexander (1867-1950) through Phoebe Cohen (“alive and digging!”), this volume highlights some of the female paleontologists’ greatest exploits. Alexander, for example, discovered the fossilized bones of a prehistoric marine reptile in 1903; with her companion Louise Kellogg, she donated more than 20,000 specimens to the University of California. In her book, Stricker offers approachable chunks of information in a friendly, graphic-novel format, which succeeds in making the pursuit of science sound like an exciting adventure. Though the work is keyed to young readers, nothing is dumbed down, and the author carefully shows why the paleontologists’ achievements were significant. Debut illustrator McGillis’ highly appealing and informative images strongly support the text; the women’s personalities come alive, and vivid details show historic and scientific context. About to flee Nazi Germany, a Jewish scientist, Tilly Edinger, reflects: “One way or the other, fossil vertebrates will save me.” She went on to found the field of paleoneurology.
Splendidly entertaining and informative—ideal for any kid interested in fossils.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-87710-521-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Paleontological Research Institution
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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