On Jan. 1, 1927, Coco Irvine, almost 13, began a year-long diary of her daily life in St. Paul, Minn. In the 1970s, she revisited the handwritten diary, edited it and had it typed up. After her death, it was privately published and distributed to the family. The University Of Minnesota Press has now framed it with essays from the retired journalist who discovered it in the archive of the Minnesota Historical Society. “Through no fault of my own” is a repeated refrain, as young Coco gets into one scrape after another: telling a dirty joke at the dinner table, setting off the school fire alarm and crashing her sister’s car. The glimpses of Coco’s privileged life in the Roaring 20s are intriguing and humorous, but what makes this account so appealing is the clear evocation of what it is to be 13—impatient to be grown up yet still childlike in many ways. Coco’s innocence will make today’s readers smile. Her newfound interest in boys, especially one she calls “He,” who might or might not like her, will resonate with middle-school girls. Peg Meier’s introduction explains the story’s provenance and provides some context; her conclusion summarizes the rest of Coco’s life. Give this actual diary to readers who have enjoyed books in the Dear America series. The tiny type font may put them off at first, but before they finish the first entry they’ll be hooked. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8166-7306-3
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Univ. of Minnesota
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
One of the great pitchers in baseball history (and one of the most outspoken and disagreeable), Gibson recalls his storied career with the capable help of Wheeler (I Had a Hammer, not reviewed) and shows he's not done being ``difficult.'' A ferocious competitor who made his living pitching high and tight, Gibson had a reputation throughout his 17 years with the St. Louis Cardinals for being just as uncompromising and angry off the field, especially concerning racial matters. Gibson was raised in an Omaha, Nebr., housing project, where his older brother was hero, mentor, and coach. After college, Gibson, who claims that he was better at basketball than baseball, signed a contract with both the Cardinals and the Harlem Globetrotters, playing one year for the latter. He calls his first professional baseball manager, Johnny Keane, ``the closest thing to a saint that I came across in baseball.'' When Keane replaced Solly Hemus (whom Gibson despised) in 1961, it turned the Cardinals', and Gibson's, fortunes around. Known for his extraordinary performances in the postseason, Gibson had a World Series record of 7-2, with a 1.89 ERA and an incredible 92 strikeouts over 81 innings. He won 20 games in five different seasons and in 1968 posted a 1.12 ERA in 305 innings. Gibson offers some fun and insightful recollections of big games, friends, and teammates such as Tim McCarver, Joe Torre, and Bob Uecker, and legendary matchups with Juan Marichal (``the best pitcher of my generation''), Sandy Koufax, and Don Drysdale. Despite his Hall of Fame credentials, Gibson claims he's been ostracized from the game and hasn't held a baseball job since 1984. Though he grouses a lot about being slighted by major league baseball and rehashes all-too-familiar racial difficulties, it is refreshing to get the fiery Gibson's take on the grand old game. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) (First printing of 75,000; $75,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-670-84794-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
paper 0-8225-9684-9 Late bloomers will take heart in this tale of a classic underachiever who went on to make popular, record-breaking films. Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars series and other movies, just barely graduated from high school. As a youth, he dreamed of becoming a race car driver, but after being badly injured in a collision he began “filming cars instead of racing them.” Following a stint at the University of South California’s film school, Lucas, in his various capacities as writer, producer and director, piled up the series of successes for which he is known, and changed “the film industry by uniting entertainment, business and technology” in the process. The section on how Lucas got the ideas for Star Wars, and its subsequent incarnations—e.g., the first two drafts never mentioned “the Force,”—will fascinate fans and casual movie-goers alike. White is admiring, characterizing Lucas variously and vaguely as “complicated,” “intriguing,” “intelligent,” “humble,” and “intensely private.” That Lucas is driven is clear, but readers will close the book—which ends before the opening of The Phantom Menace in the spring of 1999—knowing more about his career than his soul. (photos, notes, bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 2, 1999
ISBN: 0-8225-4975-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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