An outstanding and readable introduction to the social history of westward migration and homesteading in the US in the 184070s. The text of this entry in the Settling the West series is a compilation of perspicaciously selected excerpts from the diaries and letters of settlers, mainly women, stitched into a continuous narrative. It begins with the preparations for the journey, follows the migrants across the plains and over the mountains, then describes the process of homesteading in all its facets. Since most of the information in the book comes from documents of an intimate nature, plenty of attention is paid to the life of the spirit, leaving readers with a vivid impression of the psychology of the settler. Apart from punctuating the narrative here and there with historical road signs, Harvey remains in the background; he supplies introductions and transitions, but allows the sources to speak for themselves, and ``politically correct'' editorializing is minimal. Accompanied by full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a coherent, balanced picture of the homesteader. (maps, notes, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8050-2999-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
Marguerite Henry died barely two years ago, after living the life of which most writers dream: She wrote from the time she was young, her parents encouraged her, she published early and often, and her books were honored and loved in her lifetime. Her hobby, she said, was words, but it was also her life and livelihood. Her research skills were honed by working in her local library, doing book repair. Her husband Sidney supported and encouraged her work, and they traveled widely as she carefully researched the horses on Chincoteague and the burros in the Grand Canyon. She worked in great harmony with her usual illustrator, Wesley Dennis, and was writing up until she died. Collins is a bit overwrought in his prose, but Henry comes across as strong and engaging as she must have been in person. Researchers will be delighted to find her Newbery acceptance speech included in its entirety. (b&w photos, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 10, 1999
ISBN: 1-883846-39-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Subtitled “A concise guide to a century of contrast and change,” with “concise” as the key word, this slim survey takes sweeping, single-spread glances at wars, the decline of empires, show business, the battle for racial and sexual equality, the globalization of US culture, and other major themes of this century. Underscoring the text’s generalizations, the many full-color photographs are chosen to create pointed juxtapositions, matching, for instance, Marlene Dietrich to Buzz Lightyear, or impoverished parents and children in 1912 London and in modern Somalia. Selected events are highlighted both in chronologies on every spread and along a timeline that spans the last four pages. Too scanty for basic reference, and employing oversimplification (as well as the same photograph of Mickey Mouse twice) to a fault” “the culture of Hollywood, represented by the smiling face of Mickey Mouse, became the culture of the whole world”—this provides only a slim framework on which to hang some understanding of recent history. (charts, chronology, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: May 17, 1999
ISBN: 0-19-521488-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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