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AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALERS

Name: AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALERS
Author: Clinton Cox
ISBN: 0-471-24650-6

by Clinton Cox ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2000

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Brief biographies of two dozen African-American doctors, nurses, and healers from the earliest days of this country to the present comprise this latest in the Black Star series. Biographies are divided into four chronological sections. Particularly in the early chapters, it is interesting to note how often information is simply lost: James Durham of New Orleans, first black doctor in the United States, vanishes from history after 1802, and it is not known when or where Civil War nurse Susie King Taylor, who published an autobiography in 1902, died. The struggles of black healers to secure a medical education when so many schools were closed to them and to continue their training in segregated hospitals come across clearly in story after story. Daniel Hale Williams was the first person to perform heart surgery (in 1893—the patient lived another 50 years), and Charles Richard Drew invented the blood bank in the 1930s. Minor misspellings and a wrong definition aside (obstetrics is the branch of medicine dealing directly or indirectly with birth, not a “branch . . . that deals with children”), the text is clear; it can be coy in spots, not defining, for example, what syphilis is, nor explaining why Jocelyn Elders had to resign from the office of the Surgeon General. (index, not seen, b&w photos, chronology, notes, bibliography) (Biography. 10-14)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-471-24650-6

Page Count: 156

Publisher: Wiley

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

- BOOK REVIEW
HOUDINI
by Clinton Cox

- BOOK REVIEW
COME ALL YOU BRAVE SOLDIERS
by Clinton Cox

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FORGOTTEN HEROES
by Clinton Cox

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GREETINGS FROM ANTARCTICA

by Sara Wheeler ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1999

Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her...

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In an eye-opening companion to such works as Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (1999) and Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Ice Story (p. 66) on Shackleton, readers get a contemporary look at Antarctica.

Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her godson, Daniel, describe a harsh environment so cold that dental fillings fall out. Double-page spreads dotted with full-color snapshots form short chapters on the icy region, suiting up, the difficulties of everyday existence, food and drink, shelter, transportation, entertainment, and wildlife. The last third of the volume is devoted to current scientific pursuits as well as an overview of famous expeditions to the nearly uninhabitable “bottom of the planet.” The cheery photographs – most by the author – show her dwarfed by the Barne glacier, posing with Emperor penguins, even building an igloo. While the chatty letters highlight personal details of the trip, boxed inserts provide background information. Key dates in Antarctic history complete this accessible profile, ideal as entry into units on the region. (maps, charts, diagrams, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: July 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-87226-295-2

Page Count: 44

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

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ROBERT FULTON

FROM SUBMARINE TO STEAMBOAT

by Steven Kroll ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1999

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From Kroll (Lewis and Clark, 1994, etc.), a handsomely illustrated biography that introduces a fascinating historical figure and will make readers yearn for more information. The facts are covered, including Fulton’s stints as sign painter, air-gun inventor, and apprentice jeweler; Kroll states clearly which details cannot be pinned down, and the probable order of events and incidents. The text is informative and lively, although in places the transitions are abrupt, e.g., one of the only references to Fulton’s personal life—“Meanwhile, on January 7, 1808, Fulton had married Harriet Livingston. She bore him four children”—quickly reverts to details on the building of boats. Warm gold-toned paintings convey a sense of times past and complement the text. Especially appealing are the depictions of the steamships. A welcome volume. (chronology) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)