A dynamic patchwork of memories and life lessons.
A rags-to-riches memoir ponders the power of human potential.
Born in a beautiful farming village in eastern Nigeria, Ndukwe (The Courage to Aspire, 2018, etc.) writes fondly of loving parents and caring teachers who shaped his character. When a Methodist church opened a school in his area, he was not quite 4 years old, but he still attended and excelled. His “life altering magic moment” occurred when two American electrical engineers performed a science demonstration in his classroom—with wires, a battery, and the flip of a switch, they made a light bulb shine. That’s when the excited student decided to become an electrical engineer. He not only ended up working in electrical engineering, he also earned computer science degrees in the U.S. at Boston’s Northeastern University and worked for companies like USRobotics. At his highest point, he was a manager at Lucent Technologies, designing internet gateways. After the U.S. technology sector bust, the author lost everything. His most painful experience was a bitter divorce—his wife ran away with his children. Homeless, hungry, and angry, he turned to God for answers and, ultimately, he worked his way out of the mire. The author’s childhood anecdotes are vivid. For example, when he received the highest grade on a final exam, it’s easy to imagine the boy’s beaming face as his teacher allowed him to stand on a table while the class clapped. Sometimes the memories are powerfully moving, as when the 12-year-old Ndukwe was asked to bathe his baby sister’s dead body. Each chapter also ends with the author’s takeaways, or thoughts for reader reflection. While well-intentioned, these numbered thoughts are often redundant, interrupting the flow of otherwise fluid prose. For example, at the end of a chapter about his instructors, he writes: “The teachers’ love and affection for a child can have a profound positive impact on the child.” While true, this sentiment is already evident in his anecdotes about his compassionate teachers. Despite this snag, Ndukwe’s spirited storytelling makes the book worthwhile.
A dynamic patchwork of memories and life lessons.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9990705-0-5
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Ikebiebooks
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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