This adaptation will diminish Red Cloud’s legacy, perpetuate negative stereotypes, and provide incorrect information to...
In 1868, Red Cloud, a respected Oglala chief, led an intertribal war against the U.S. Army and won.
Waters’ adaptation reiterates the subtitle’s claim that it's an untold story (“his story has long been forgotten by conventional American history”), though this is far from the first book about him, and contemporary tribal nations honor his legacy. Unfortunately, this book’s outsider perspective is all too evident. In the text, Lakota men and women are labeled as “braves” and “maidens” and the Lakota Sun Dance ceremony as “fearsome,” when it was an annual sacred ceremony to honor the Great Spirit. Often the tone is condescending. When the Mormon Trail opened in 1847, readers are told “the Lakota, in particular the Oglalas, were initially helpless in the face of this onslaught,” eliding the fact that the Oglalas were well-trained warriors. Further, Red Cloud is often portrayed as brutish: “Sometimes it just felt good and natural to go out and steal horses. If he took some scalps in the process, so much the better.” Finally, there is a glaring chronological error: in 1868, when Gen. Philip Sheridan closed Fort Laramie, the Lakota were told “if they wished to trade, they were free to do business at Fort Randall on the Missouri River in distant southeast South Dakota, about as far from [their Black Hills homeland] as one can travel and still be in the state.” South Dakota did not achieve statehood until Nov. 2, 1889.
This adaptation will diminish Red Cloud’s legacy, perpetuate negative stereotypes, and provide incorrect information to young readers: skip. (afterword, acknowledgments, timeline, glossary, historical sites, further information, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6460-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Chatty, formulaic, superficial—and dispensable, as the content is neither reliable nor systematic. .
Sprouting bodies and grins, the states introduce themselves alphabetically in this Basher History gallery.
Following the series’ cast-in-stone design, each entry poses in a cartoon portrait with small emblems representing prominent physical features, industry, number of native U.S. presidents and other select distinctions. On opposite pages, a hearty self-description dominates: “Aloha! Come and hang ten with me, dude. I’m a bunch of chilled-out islands in the Pacific, but I have a fiery heart.” This is sandwiched between bulleted lists of superficial facts, from state bird, flower and nickname to (for Arkansas) “Known for diverse landscape, extreme weather, and Walmart.” U.S. territories bring up the rear, followed by a table of official state mottos and, glued to the rear cover, a foldout map. Along with out-and-out errors (a mistranslation of “e pluribus unum”) and unqualified claims (Boston built the first subway), Green offers confusing or opaque views on the origins of “Hawkeye,” “Sooners,” some state names and which of two “Mississippi Deltas” was the birthplace of the blues. Furthermore, a reference to “sacred hunting grounds” in West Virginia and Kentucky’s claim that “It wasn’t until pioneer Daniel Boone breached the Cumberland Gap…that my verdant pastures were colonized” are, at best, ingenuous.
Chatty, formulaic, superficial—and dispensable, as the content is neither reliable nor systematic. . (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7534-7138-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Hades leers—“sooner or later.” At least the terra won’t be completely incognita.
A tour of the ancient Greek (and Roman) underworld, squired by Hades and his lovely wife, Persephone.
Enthusiastically embracing his assigned role, Hades invites young visitors to pick an entrance to his shadowy realm (“There’s one right outside your bedroom.” Bwa ha ha) and to mind the monsters. The tour proceeds past Acheron and other rivers to the “fire pits of Tartaros” and the Fields of Asphodel and Elysium. Besides complaining continually that he gets no respect and fulminating about “brute-brat-boy” Herakles, the chatty chaperon delivers background on the origins of his mythological clan. He also introduces his fiendish staff and discourses on a range of need-to-know topics from Roman curse tablets to the mysterious significance of beans in ancient writings. Midway through, Persephone commandeers the narrative to tell some favorite myths—notably the one about how Theseus left part of his butt attached to the Hadean Chair of Forgetfulness. Hades ultimately leaves readers to find their own ways back to the land of the living with a generous bibliography as well as a glossary and a guide to the gods as mementos of their junket. Larson’s mannered, Aubrey Beardsley–style pen-and-ink scenes of angular figures shrouded in long cloaks or gowns add more chills than chuckles, but the map is helpful.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Hades leers—“sooner or later.” At least the terra won’t be completely incognita. (index) (Mythology. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62091-598-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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